I thought it would be interesting to interview my son. I have not changed his answers at all. Some are short and sweet and others interesting. My son has ASD and SPD. He currently attends a specialist high school but he was in mainstream through primary school.
Here are his answers:
How old are you?
I’m 11
What do you enjoy doing?
Playing on a screen or anything to do with technology.
What do you find easy?
Maths, playing games on my phone and ICT.
What do you find hard?
Calming down and writing.
What is autism?
It’s to do with your brain. Different parts of your brain work differently to other people. It means I’m better than other people at some things like maths and I find some things difficult that other people find easy like writing.
Do you remember finding out you were autistic?
No I don’t remember.
What do you like about being autistic?
Not much
What do you not like about being autistic?
Not being able to do what other people can, like playing paintball because I get too stressed.
Do you like school?
Yes I enjoy the school I’m at now. The people there are kind, there aren’t many people in my class. There’s only forty children in the school.
Have you always liked school?
No I didn’t like my primary school.
Why not?
It was very crowded. There were a lot of children in each class. I didn’t think anyone understood me. It was the complete opposite of the school I’m at now.
How do your sensory processing disorders affect you?
I don’t like some noises like loud or long beeps, car horns, artificial lights, they annoy me and wind me up. I wear ear defenders to help.
I don’t like light touch (touches my arm) no one likes that though do they? I like my weighted blanket.
I can smell things that some people can’t.
I like to swing and spin.
Can you describe a meltdown?
It’s too hard to describe a meltdown because all you can think of when you are having a meltdown is nothing.
What helps if you are having a meltdown?
You (Mum)
What helps if you are feeling stressed?
Fun snaps because you throw them and they make a loud bang and you can throw them as hard as you want. Going on a screen. Pets calm me down.
How do you find sleeping at night?
Hard – I never feel tired.
What annoys you?
Noises, people touching me, if someone ignores me, if someone laughs at me. If I’m told off for something I haven’t done. If I don’t know where I’m going when we go out. I don’t like surprises.
Where is your favourite place?
Space because it looks fun to have no gravity and it’s endless.
What are your favourite games?
Minecraft, Roadblocks, Escapists, Balloons td5, Scrap mechanic, Kerbal space program, beamNG.drive. I play Balloons td5 on my phone the rest are on my computer.
Update:
Five months on from being interviewed for this post, and after me realising that my son felt being autistic was limiting him, he has participated in his first paintball training session. With a lot of explaining before hand, a bit of help and me getting hit by a lot of paintballs, he had a great day. He really enjoyed it and is hoping to play again!
#autismwithoutlimits
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Please feel free to follow my blog or like my Facebook page which I keep up to date with new posts as they are written. I also have a closed Facebook group for sharing days out and holiday ideas and tips and anything autism related. You can find me on Twitter @KidsOnTour.
What a sweet boy. My son is 14 with Autism and ADHD. I love their perception on what Autism is like. Try as we do to understand we can never fully “get” it. Thank you!
Thankyou, I especially liked his answer about meltdowns – it was so simple yet made a lot of sense!
I love this! It’s so interesting when we interview our children to find out what they are thinking. I did this last year and I was amazed at their answers. He sounds like a great boy who knows his own mind. I love that he can verbalise how he feels about certain things; many 11 year olds would find that tricky. X
A very endearing interview, he explains so well what autism means to him. I’m so glad that he’s happy at the school he’s at now. Thank you for sharing.
Thankyou, Im happy about that too, its so nice for him to come home from school with a smile after years of heartache!
It’s so awesome to get to hear how he feels autism affects him. My son isn’t very verbal yet (10 yrs old and he’s getting there!) so can’t answer questions like this. I love getting insight from people on the spectrum like this. 🙂 #TheMMLinky
Thanks me too! I loved his answer about meltdowns! I asked him a few other questions but he had no clue how to answer them bless him x
This was a great interview and so useful to read, my daughter would struggle with answering questions like this so it was great to get insights. His answer about what annoys him particularly.
Thanks for linking up with #SmallStepsAA x
Thankyou! I asked him a fair few other questions that he had no idea how to answer but he is very clear on what annoys him!x