Curtis is nothing if not honest. While this a common characteristic, Curtis sometimes takes it to the extreme. Like many other children with autism, Curtis likes to keep things plain and simple even if that means hurting someone’s feelings. This is just one reason you need to have a thick skin if you are going to be around him because if he doesn’t want you there, he will be the first one to tell you that even if it hurts your feelings. That being said, no matter what you will always know exactly where you stand with Curtis. Over time we have been working on the fact that sometimes his complete honesty can be hurtful to people, but this can be difficult for him to grasp because he knows lying is not okay either. He hasn’t quite learned that sometimes it’s okay to smile and nod or give a neighbor or acquaintance a friendly hello even if you don’t care to do it. Now that he is in school, these simple social interactions are even more important for him to understand. Fortunately, Curtis has spent a great deal of time studying people’s facial expressions and what they represent. This has come in the form of casually identifying emotions while reading books, looking at clearly labeled pictures, practice drawing facial emotions, and questioning myself and others about what X emotion looks like. Because he has had all of this practice he has become more aware of how his actions or words affect other people around him. He still second guesses himself when identifying these emotions and often will ask, “Are you mad?” or whatever other emotion you may be trying to convey. Fortunately, I have a long standing trusting relationship with him so when he does ask I am able to answer that yes I am mad at him and he knows that I will still show up tomorrow in spite of this. Perhaps his little challenges are his way of making sure that he knows where he stands with everyone else as not everyone is as blatantly honest as he is.

Jamie, In-Home Support

Curtis is finishing up his first grade year and naturally his parents are quite proud. He has never been in day care and is rarely supervised by anyone other than his mom and dad. We are protective parents to be sure but as those most familiar with the challenges a typical day can present for Curtis, we feel our apprehension is justified. For the past two years he has been a part of a typical classroom setting with a 1:1 ed tech who facilitates his learning and perhaps even more importantly, his social interaction with his classmates.

Emotions are very difficult for Curtis to understand. He may see a child cry and his instinct is to laugh. Here he is pictured next to an emotional thermometer starting at calm and escalating to scared. When Curtis started school he was anxious, timid, defensive, insecure and lacking communication and social skills. We were lucky enough to get a fantastic support person who began building a level of trust and support to make him feel comfortable while at school. Once the trust was built, he was more amenable to the social groups, sensory input work and problem solving steps his ed tech was putting into place. Each day Curtis comes home with a summary of his day assembled by his support person. She lets us know his moods, progress, distractions, anxieties, and the outcome of her front loaded day play. School is not easy for Curtis but he loves it. He loves it because he receives the support he needs to be successful. And he inspires his parents and others who know him by taking the challenges school represents (the loud cafeteria, screaming kids, games and jokes he doesn't understand) head on and coming out on the other side with a smile.

Greg, Dad