Cuddle, cuddle

I met the cutest boy yesterday. Don't get too excited; he's 3. His name is Frankie, and he has autism. Curly brown hair past his chin, big bright eyes, and clutching a pillow shaped like an eight, he had no qualms at meeting a stranger, and was surprisingly outgoing. Nonetheless, he freaked out when he walked into the interview room with 20 people watching. "People go away! People go away!" Big tears sprang to his eyes, which were now even wider than they were before. Mom pulled him up on her lap and sang the "Cuddle, cuddle" song, after which he was calm enough to say "Sit in purple chair" (I think all three year olds sound the same when they say "puh-puhl"). Then he turned to me and said "Hi, Lowa" so nonchalantly, and I wanted to scoop him up then and take him home. I think you have to have some knowledge of how difficult it is for kids with autism to respond in social interaction to get an idea of how remarkable the whole thing was. In the middle of the interview with his mom, Frankie was drawing on the dry erase board, getting rather close to the wall, and I said loudly, "Frankie." And he looked at me and moved his marker back to the board. "Thank you." When his mom said, "Frankie, time to leave" after an hour of her talking and him playing, he responded, "Two more minutes," mimicking her words from earlier when he was getting into the cupboards. He laughed and laughed, unusually pleased to be the center of attention. "Bye, Frankie" I said as I was leaving. "Bye, Frankie," he mimed back as kids with autism do. "That's not my name," I said with a smile. "Bye, Lowa" he smiled back, again a huge accomplishment. I just melted. I was on a cloud the rest of the day. I don't know if I'm being drawn to a specialty involving developmental disabilities, but I know I am grateful for my exposure to kids with autism over the past 7 months and am excited for any chance to meet more in my future clinical experiences. Our lectures this morning made it painfully aware how big of a problem autism spectrum disorders still are, and I'm glad for my exposure thus far and whatever gains I can make because of it. If you ever get a chance to work with kids on the spectrum, do it. They're incredible, and they never stop surprising you.