Is what Grampa Bob began calling Wyatt. I can’t remember exactly when that started. It was clear though that Wyatt liked to rub his skin, your skin…a random strangers skin! WHOOPS…Wyatt! “Get back here”…Wrangle wrangle! That has happened before. Beware of Tactile A.S. individuals when you wear those summer tank-tops LADIES! Wyatt will put his lips on the soft skin of his own under-arm. People think he’s smelling his arm-pits! Makes me think of that crazy actress on Saturday Nite Live!
It can be COMICAL…but, really not a laughing matter. JUST a big thing for A.S.D. (Autism Spectrum Disorder) INDIVIDUALS.~~”SENSORY ISSUES!”~~ I mean, WE ALL have them BUT, people on the SPECTRUM really have them! We as people love to be TACTILE some MORE THAN others!! (lol) Touching, and being touched! There is alot to be said on that subject !! We as people are VERY SENSORY ORIENTED! Really, if you think about it ALL LIVING CREATURES ARE!
Mechanisms for survival ALL stem and revolve around the 5 senses! Taste, Touch, Sight, Smell and Sounds! People on the SPECTRUM will have different degrees of “caliber” on this 5~sense system. That is part of what people “don’t get” about Autism. Individuals are JUST THAT …Individuals with greatly varying degrees of impairment! Most OTHER ” Syndromes”… or “Diseases”can be generalized. People “afflicted- suffer” in the same degree for the most part.Not with AUTISM and that is only a small part of it’s COMPLEXITIES! 
However, realizing THAT CONCEPT alone IS KEY! Because it is pervasive and underlying! A great start in UNDERSTANDING this “many- headed animal! ” Wyatt’s proclivity toward rubbing his SKIN was a subtle CLUE! I never knew it at the time…but, I SEE IT NOW. His tactile needs were presenting themselves. His lack of “Central Nervous System CONNECTORS”…had him seeking out EXTRA STIMULATION! He would be on the concrete patio rolling around in his walker BACK & FORTH through the sheets drying on the line! So CUTE…I thought.
Anytime we would enter a building with a huge TILED FLOOR…down he would go. Laying as much of his skin as possible on the cool flat sensation! LIKE A CAT… Wyatt would sprawl! I found him like that in the bath tub a time or two! I really did’nt think ANYTHING of it! Looking back now …I SHOULD HAVE! He was walking, talking hitting the milestones. He’s fine, SO WHAT if he morphs into a “CAT” every now and then!!? My kid feels the world through his skin…”SO~ WHAT?” At least he did’nt put everything in his mouth! ….. I THOUGHT !!
Imagine your body has the NEED TO FEEL in ways that typical people cannot fathom… Everywhere you go you have these urges to FLOP AND DROP. Or shake and wiggle HANDS & ARMS to feel SOMETHING! Generally society does’nt understand this! More than likely they will assume the individuals are just spoiled brats, acting -out ,acting “inappropriately! ” When in REALITY…they were witnessing the whole OTHER ANIMAL that we are DEALING WITH ! ~~AUTISM~~ Until there is some kind of way to re-route electronic brain signals…we will just have to continue DEALING with our kids “unorthedox need to feel! ” The matter at hand is to get dialogues going to PROMOTE FRIENDSHIP through COMMON UNDERSTANDING! This NEEDS TO HAPPEN…Sooner than Later!!
