I love this! I don’t know who the author is (I would love to give them the credit) because it is so true! Many people ask us how do we know what my son wants?

My answer is always: Although he doesn’t speak, he does communicate.

How do we know that he wanted to go to Baskin Robbins? Because as soon as we would pass by it, he’d get very excited, start jumping, and would start to clap. Clapping is his sign for ‘more’. Then he’d try to move the steering wheel towards Baskins.

But it has a lot to do with us. We try to listen. We ask him, ‘Is this what you want buddy?” And his reaction tells us.

The trick is to listen. To really listen. And if you see past the disability, there’s an actual person that has likes and dislikes, just like everyone else.

And when it comes to my monkey, he is silly, and funny, and gets mad, and asks for forgiveness, and wants hugs, and likes to be around his family, and loves his doggies.

He’s just a typical kiddo, who happens to have autism.

💙