My son, Shay, loves to talk and talk and talk....
His "thought train" refuses to stay on the track. Any passengers that choose to board are gifted with surprises and views that they never ever could have imagined on their own. They are in for a treat, as long as they don't mind going along for the ride and having hardly any say in what stops are made or what direction is taken!
With Shay there is a lot of me teaching the art of conversation (you know, where all parties are invited to contribute meaningfully) and him teaching me the art of letting magic and dragons and wings and deeply imaginative adventure surround us.
It's fabulous and fun! But, sometimes, when I'm teaching the art of collaboration and conversation, I fear I'll stifle his creativity and unique mind. I want him to learn to listen and contribute and allow during conversation but if I stop him from taking over and talking too often I may cause harm.
When I'm teaching back and forth type chatting I explain that, unfortunately, our world has little patience for listening to people talk almost entirely about the wild world in their brain.
Or, does it?
No. I know better than that!
This world adores books and movies and stories that are told masterfully! And my son is doing more than talk, he's also writing a book, a movie, and a short film.
Brilliantly, for those times when he needs to talk at us rather than with us, he has created his own YouTube channel. A place to talk and talk and talk and take us along on his "thought train" where we can choose to tune in when we want to.
Enjoy this video (in which I make a cameo appearance!) from Shay's channel where the video just stops (at around four minutes) because it thinks he's talking too much. tee hee!
Shay's ideas are indeed strange! How lucky this world is to have people like him, willing to stand out and seem odd and explore the unique and organic stories that grow where few of us have the ability (or courage) to travel.
One of these days, not too many years in the future I'm certain, we'll be able to see and read his ideas--not as sporadic tid-bits and snap shots, but as well crafted fully imagined books and movies.
I know better than to rush him. I won't let him sit around avoiding or fearing, but I know well the value of enjoying the ride and learning the skills and not feeling overwhelming pressure. A little pressure, yes. But not overwhelming.
So, for now, I'll keep teaching the art of shared conversation while I also listen to his magic mind. A collaboration of his motivators and mine.
It's all so exciting!!
And, for those moments when I just wanna celebrate Shay and not care about teaching or waiting till his stories are masterfully crafted, there's YouTube!!!
Hugs, smiles, and love!!!
Autism Answers with Tsara Shelton (Facebook)
