Wyatt LOVES BARNEY!
Barney loves Wyatt…and I love the both of them!
It is a long affair that began when Wyatt’s autism did. Wyatt’s case is what “they” call regressive-autism. He hit his developmental milestones like …roll-over, babble, smile, sit-up, stand-up,walk…and slowly talk. He was a bit slower than his (10 yr. older) brother Aaron. However, Aaron did everything FAST…too fast. Still does but, THAT… is another blog best left un-written!
Wyatt absolutely loved to count and recite the alphabet! He could get any random letter off of the fridge whenever requested. So happy and proud to do it! He could spell out his name…we would start him off…W…Y…and he would excitedly chime in ATT! It seems like Wy accrued about 75 words. I can’t say for sure…I never really kept track of them or listed them. Why would I?
After the first words are uttered and notated its usually…FULL SPEED AHEAD…with “Why, what, where, when, how, can I, will we??! I remember thinking , (as a girl looking toward motherhood) how will I teach a child to speak? When I asked an adult about that…there was a pause and a,”well it just happens.” So through…OSMOSIS we learn to talk without much trouble?! Words push through our “stream” of consciousness effortlessly. LUCKY US.
Wyatt NOT so lucky. Toward the end of his 3rd year…his speech began to blurr. Words he had mastered began to “fall apart” so to speak. One consonant after another would drop off, until there was nothing left! We were dumbfounded and had no idea what was happening. We were “hoping” that it was a temporary set back…nothing serious. Yet other behaviors began as well. His obsession with back and forth motion as he watched it in reflection. At first …we thought, cute. Until we realized , it was the start of his self stimulating behaviors. Him literally moving to “activate” his brain.
Barney became very important to him during this time … as he entered his abyss. Barney was literally the last word he clung to! The word he tried to hold on to as all the others were stripped from him ONE BY ONE. That was 2002…and Barney is as big a part of our lives as ever. It just makes him HAPPY! The singing and dancing gets him up and moving, laughing and chirping! How can you not love a guy that’s been a life-line to your child?! Using both hemispheres of the brain occurs effortlessly for most. Not for autistics.
Movement therapies are now emerging that force autistics to use both hemispheres of the brain. This explains the “innate” side-to-side or rocking motions that are so common! Barney is also BIG ON MANNERS and TURN TAKING. Essential elements in A.B.A. Therapies… (Applied Behavior Analysis.) So BARNEY has been fighting the GOOD FIGHT! For years… an unwitting therapist if you will! Many autistic children continue on with Barney as their typical peers out-grow him. As Wyatt approaches 11 …we will continue to do movement therapy with Barney. Our BARNEY A.B.A. ! We will learn manners and greetings and as he so aptly says…we will keep learning “HOW TO BE A FRIEND!”
