par-teh

Martin attended a classmate's birthday party today. There were many nice things about. Martin enjoyed the cake and ice cream. My husband, who took Martin to the party, got to meet more parents of autistics kids then he ever had before. It was like an impromptu support group. In a good way.

I was worried about one thing: the party was held at an ice rink. I was a little concerned about the setting. Martin doesn't like to try new things. He struggles to follow directions when told how to do new things. And it can be hard for him to tell his limbs what to do. I wouldn't say he's uncoordinated, but learning new physical skills is not easy for him.

To everyone's surprise, Martin happily put on skates when the other kids did. He held onto the instructors, and went out onto the ice. He stayed glued to their sides the whole time. But he did it. He stayed out on the ice with everybody else. A complete shocker.

This is a kid who gets upset when he visits a zoo that is not set up exactly like the one in Akron. This is a child who will eat strawberry jam, but not raspberry. But today he went to a brand new place, tried on skates, and went out onto the ice with absolute strangers. I'm taken aback. Par-teh!