Yesterday, I had the pleasure of taking my kids to a birthday party at the roller skate rink. It was great. My husband and I took turns with the kids. Neither one of them knows how to skate. I would walk beside one and my husband would walk beside the other.
My daughter picked up fast on what to do. It’s been a year since she was last on skates, but she is young and learns fast. My son hasn’t been on skates for over a year, too. He had forgotten what he had learned. I had to teach him what to do, again.
It was interesting to watch my husband and son together. My husband let our son clutch onto his arm and be pulled by him. My husband took our son out on the floor first, and I took our daughter. I told him that he was doing it wrong. I told him that he needed to let our son move his legs. This led to us switching kids.
It didn’t take long before I another parent told me that I could have them tighten the wheels on his skates. Normally, they wouldn’t do this, but she said that they made an exception for her son (who is also autistic). I took my son off the floor and went and asked for the wheels on his skates to be tighten.
After that, things got a lot easier and fun. My son was able to control his legs and feet better. I was able to get him to skate with only a little assistance from me. Most of all, I was able to be with my son and enjoy him having fun.
During my turn with my son on the skate floor, I noticed something that was amazing. The mothers and grandmothers that were on the sideline would encourage my son and say how great he was doing. No one looked at my son like he was different. No questioned me about him. These were complete strangers and they looked at me and my son like we were a normal mom and dad.
They didn’t know that my son was autistic. They didn’t know that teaching him how to skate was extremely difficult. All they saw was a mom teaching her child how to skate for the first time. Of course, it wasn’t our first time, but I didn’t volunteer that information. I took the praise and smiled. I continued to go around the floor with my son. No one thought my son was rude because he didn’t answer back. I’m sure they probably figured he was too busy concentrating on not falling. I knew it was because he is nonverbal. To everyone else, except those there for the party, he was normal.
I have to say, though, that the best part of the day was watching my son sit down for the cake and hotdog. He was so happy. The smile on his face was wonderful. I know that the best part of the day for him was each time dad and mom would pull him on the floor. Yes, I did treat my son for his hard work by periodically pulling him across the floor. Every time I looked at my son and husband on the floor, hubby dearest was pulling our son. We all had fun and I am so happy that I have this memory.
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