The Speed of Dark

When an autistic child, on the first day in a special needs school, gets upset and crawls out a third floor window and won’t come in, you hope for someone like this Thai fireman.

Some points to consider:  the boy’s mother (not the teachers) knew that his favorite superhero was  Spiderman.   (When in doubt about what to do with an autistic child in some situation, ask the parents–they really do know more about that child than anyone else.)   Mr. Somchai, the fireman, had the costume and clearly didn’t worry about the possibility that some adults might find a fireman in a Spiderman costume a little…silly.

Sometimes, working with children with autism, we need to be willing to risk our dignity (one of the hardest things for adults to give up–we worked so hard to get it!)    But to make that contact–to make the social, human linkage work–it’s worth the risk.