Curtis is still finding comfort in asking a lot of questions. He's been doing it pretty much since Halloween. The flow of questions is constant, whether he's relaxed, stressed, eating, or working. It's mostly funny but occasionally infuriating. Seems like at some point this behavior will be gone and replaced by another. For now, here is a short representation of the questions he has been throwing at me, Laura, Jamie, and Caron lately.





"Is it okay if I left some hair out there?"
"Is it ok if I did anything with my fingers?"
"Is it ok if I touch the table and then my glass?"
"I didn't sniff my water did I?"
"What would happen if there were no guns and MLK Jr. was still alive?"
"Is it okay if I got some lemonade on your bag?"
"What would happen if the Earth was split into two circles?"
"is it ok if i did anything?"
"Is it okay if I dropped a fingernail in the fire?"
"What would happen if i got an eye booger in the heater?"
"Is it okay if I got a little pizza grease inside my ear?"
"Is it okay if anything ever gets on my jacket?"
"What would happen if the world was heart shaped?"
"Is it okay if something comes out of the Earth?"
"Is it okay to let go?"
"Is it okay if salt got on the wood?"
"Is it okay if I touched your knee?"


Greg, Dad

Happy New Year.

Curtis is turning eight this weekend and very much looking forward to it. As his birthday approaches, we have a new behavior to deal with, or rather, the current manifestation of a behavior that has been around for years in one form or another.

We have long suspected there was some OCD associated with Curt's autism but as his mom said, do we really need to throw another acronym on top of the others he already has? When he was younger, he exhibited a lot of OCD type behaviors commonly associated with autistic children. He would line up cars and toys and get disgruntled if you messed with the order. The trains on his track had to be in the exact right order too, and he would pick up on it and stare you down if you switched them up. His current kick however is enough to drive any parent or caretaker up a wall.

Remember on Halloween when I posted Curtis' reaction to our checking his candy for tampering? It started a rash of "Is this poison" questions before he would eat anything. It hasn't stopped since. In fact, it's morphed into questions like these, which come continuously throughout the day seemingly without a break:

"Is it okay if I touched the table and then my nose?"

"Is it okay if I eat this after I touched my jacket?"

"Is it okay if I got drops of water on your shirt?"

"What will happen if I dropped some crumbs on the floor"

"What will happen if I sit on this pillow?"

"Is it okay if my arm touched the back of your leg?"

"Is this black dot on my food poison, this chip isn't poison is it, is anything here poison?"

This doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the questions me, his mom or caretakers are getting on a minute by minute basis. Most of the questions are nonsensical and can be answered with either "yes" or "nothing" but for the four of us who spend the most time with him, the questions have been non-stop for the past couple months and received with a mix of humor and frustration. It appears there is a soothing quality in it for him to ask these questions and get the answer he's expecting. The questions he's asking aren't educational or inquisitive, more along the lines of foolish and unnecessary. Though he still asks great questions as well. Most of the time I laugh because even though it happens all the time, the ridiculousness of the question he asks still catches me off guard.  As we explore solutions to him asking all these questions, which may or may not be the result of anxiety, I can't help but think there isn't much we can do about it. And that soon these questions will give way to another behavior that accomplishes the same goal for him.


Greg, Dad