Affection and Autism do not always go together. Not in the sense that we typically think about it anyway.
In our world, affection goes beyond physical affection. The words “I love you” show affection. Saying “mom” and “dad” fall into this category for us too. I believe there was a very short period of time where our little man said “dad” and “mom” before he regressed and was non-verbal.
Now when we hear the words, “mom”, “dad”, “I love you”, we melt. Every. Single. Time. I wanted to throw a party, balloons, confetti, streamers and more, when our son signed (yes, sign language) “I love you” for the first time. We worked so hard on muscle memory and how he could help his fingers to sign. So when I gave him the sign and he gave it back. I melted. Ok. I may have screamed. Gave him a huge hug. Yelled for my husband to come see. This routine also happened when he said “mommy” and when he said “I love you”.
THERE IS SO MUCH HARD WORK PUT INTO EVERY LITTLE ACCOMPLISHMENT, SO WE CELEBRATE!
Our little man has such a personality too. He likes to tease me by saying “daddy”, while shooting me a grin.
We know we are so blessed that our little man is physically affectionate too. He is very cuddly, loving and caring. Little man is a sensory seeker and has a need for deep pressure input. He frequently asks for “big hugs”. We quickly respond with a big embrace. This is big for us, because for years he did not know how to; a) ask for what he wanted, and b) ask for the physical affection which helps his body regulate.
To all the mommas out there that have a kiddo with autism, and may not get the physical affection. I pray that you know you are your littles “person”. And that means a whole lot! It got me through many tough non-verbal days.
