Charles' and Wally's Autism Adventures

     Wally likes climbing on rocks.  The beach we often go to here in Beverly, MA has a nice pile of huge boulders at one end of it.  Can you see the problem?  Well, this last time I could not keep him off them.  I know what you're thinking...Come on Charles, he's only 3 and half!  You're the parent so you're in charge.  Just tell him it's not safe and carry him back to the beach towel.  Above all, stay safe on the sand and away from huge sharp rocks that either of you could fall off of into the ocean!       Well, I didn't.  I couldn't.  He's forty pounds, very strong and doesn't really understand verbal directions.  So once he decided he wanted to climb on those rocks the situation escalated quickly.  He was pleading, crying out, reaching, flailing and as I picked him up bucking his head back (by far his most dangerous weapon).  I successfully avoided the head butt by carrying him sideways, but ...

Wally and I walked up to the main campus of the Seminary where my wife and I are currently enrolled.  It was a lovely evening so I thought I'd try it.  Going on walks with Wally is always a risky thing because he's very fast, and likes to wander and sometimes doesn't like to turn around.  Now that he's bigger and stronger, if he gets upset and starts kicking or head butting, you could be a mile or more from home with a bloody nose or worse and have to carry home 30 pounds of flailing, screaming, angry boy.  But the weather was nice...so I took the risk. Up, up, up the hill we went in silence.  When we got to the top of the hill this lovely flower arrangement of our school acronym GCTS appeared and Wally headed straight for it as soon as he saw it.  I guessed that he wanted to play in the mulch so it was a good thing bath time was next.  I sped up so that I'd be right next to him in order to at least minimize any destruction he might infli...