Wallyboy!
I've been rewatching the Marvel movies in timeline order while I wait for my sons to fall asleep. They will not stay in their beds unless I am still in the room, and sometimes it takes them a long time to fall asleep. As I've been reflecting on these superhero stories, I'm realizing that their super abilities empowered them to be able to save the galaxy...AND often led to great challenges in their lives. Many people misunderstood these superheroes. This comparison only goes so far but it is helping me believe that my son Wally who has ASD can do great things, even if there are a lot of difficulties along the way and even if most of the rest of the world does not understand him...even if I don't understand him.
Since he was very young I have often called him, "Wallyboy!" Little did I know that he has a brain that can do amazing things! You can see in this picture how he has amazing climbing abilities and often looks like he's about to take off like Thor or Iron Man. So that's Wallyboy's first supper power: Super climbing.
It is so easy to focus on the challenges of Autism. Wally's ASD makes many "normal" activities very difficult or impossible. Falling asleep, staying asleep, eating different foods, going outside, going to a new place, paying attention to people, new people, change, sitting still, loud noises, bright lights...there are challenges every day.
But that is only one of the many perspectives on ASD. Wally's uniquely wired brain can see and do things that mine cannot. Thinking about his life through this lens of possibilities and abilities helps me to imagine a better future life for my son. I love dreaming about this. When I'm watching him look at the world I can see that he can see so much more than I can. It's almost like his eyes have...super powers. So that's my next guess about Wally's super powers: Super Eyes that that can see and organize space, shape and color in amazing ways.
God is the only one who truly knows all of the possibilities for what Wally CAN do. As his Dad, I get the honor and privilege of watching him develop and grow. I want to see him thrive, whatever that looks like. I want to see where his superpowers will take us. In any case, I am a huge fan of of my Super Wallyboy!
Right now ECAD is training a service dog for Wally, to help him with all those "normal" things that are challenging right now. If you think about it, service dogs are basically dogs with super powers, so it makes sense that Super Wallyboy should be joined by a new super dog sidekick. We are so excited to see how Wally's life will improve with this dog helping us out. If you'd like to help us get this dog you can give to ECAD on behalf of Wally here:
Thanks,
Wallyboy, Superdog and Wally's Dad
Wallyboy, Superdog and Wally's Dad
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