The lighter side to raising a child with Asperger's

My little boy Drake, is the most unique character I know. Drake was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome a few years ago and while yes, this provides for many challenges, it also provides a unique view on life. I want to share some of the lighter side to having a child with Asperger's, maybe if you have challenges like his in your family, you'll be able to see. See that life is hard sometimes, but it doesn't have to always be.
Enjoy! Jessica

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Invisible

As many children with Asperger's, Drake has a hard time making friends. He is most comfortable at home engrossed with his Lego kingdom or Pokemon battles or whatever Mario-game is obsessed with at the moment. Last year his teacher assigned a paper for the kids to write on their best friends and Drake wrote the paper on his younger brother, who is generally willing to follow along with whatever made up game Drake has concocted. I know, how sad. His step-Dad and I discovered something sadder last night though, while we discussed what we needed to do with him in the afternoons since I need to go back to work.
Drake has mentioned the existence of an imaginary friend over the last few years, his name is Invisible. He would mention Invisible as a companion as he was playing by himself in his room, talking away to someone that seemed to be there. "That's what I told Invisible", he would say as I would mention a task that he needed completing. "Invisible it's not nice to beat up Ugly (his bear)!", I'd hear as well. I know it's bad that he doesn't really have any "real" friends besides his brother, but I figured if he had an imaginary friend at least there was someone he was talking to, right?
As I mentioned, I need to go back to work after being unemployed for 6 months. While I can send Drake's younger siblings to daycare for a couple of hours after school, Drake has gotten to old to go anymore and I am concerned about him spending more than a couple of hours by himself. I mentioned my concerns to his step-Dad and that I really didn't want him being by himself after school for so long. Drake is perfectly fine by himself after school, walking home, getting a snack, doing his homework, he just crawls into his little world if not given any social interaction and it is difficult to get him to come back to reality with the rest of us. He has done so well this school  year, showing some independence being a little more responsible and I told his step-Dad that I didn't want him to backslide at all with me not being home anymore.
"I mean, he's doing so well...", I lamented, "I just don't want him NOT doing so well with me going back to work." His step-Dad assured me that he'd work out his schedule and make sure he's not by himself forever. "He is doing very well and we get along and he'll be fine", his step-Dad soothed. I wasn't convinced that he fully understood what I felt about the situation and blustered,
"Did you know that his imaginary friend isn't even his friend anymore?"
"I know, I heard about that..."
"and he still exists, he just isn't his friend anymore..."
"I know..."
"I mean, how sad that his imaginary friend isn't even his friend anymore?!"
"Yeah...", he admitted while shaking his head.
"and Invisible is now stuck to the ceiling!" I retorted laughing.
Folks, I'm not sure why Invisible is stuck to the ceiling your guess is as good as mine! Anytime I hear Invisible mentioned anymore, I hear that he is not Drake's friend and that he is stuck to the ceiling. Apparently, his step-Dad is aware of this as well and we laughed at the impossibility of the situation. I hope Drake will truly be okay, for I really worry about this, and that he won't be ditched by anymore imaginary friends...um, that ultimately get stuck to the ceiling...yeah. ;0)

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