Good Fear
Today was a big day. Wally was afraid. Once I realized this I did experience the expected fatherly compassion and desire to comfort him. But this was mixed with a surprising third emotion: a deep sense of relief. Wally WAS afraid! Some people laugh in the face of danger. Wally doesn't even notice it is there. I have never seen him be afraid of anything...except for during Finding Nemo, the barracuda and sharks made him run out of the living room. But real fear at "normal" things that "normal" kids are all afraid of. Never. Until today. This general lack of fear or boundaries is one of the oddest and most stressful parts of Wally's ASD. He doesn't notice where cars are. He climbs everywhere on anything to any height. Due to his limited language skills words rarely make a difference, especially if we're outside. Most of the time he's just so curious and wants to explore everything so he just ...