My Awesome Son

[@calebpalmer5859]

That was really great to watch! Your relationship with each other really came through.

[@sciencenotsrigma]

He looked self-conscious, when he said, “That’s me.” I like how he expertly reframed that as, “That happens to me.” That’s right! Autism has symptoms, but WE are not our symptoms!

[@FYERFIGHTER]

It was great to meet Awesome Declan. What a great personality! Great way to bring awareness to your community and WAY beyond here on KZbin. It was interesting to hear a lot of his challenges in his own words. We've had limited "training" on autism at work, but from what I've learned, the best practice is to speak to the parent or guardian first to see how to approach and mitigate the need for why we were called. Everyone is unique! Love it!

[@RestlessMule]

I think that’s good training to consult with a parent or guardian first. It has to be very difficult for first responders “walking into” a situation with no background information or context. As always, thanks so much for watching and commenting.

[@sciencenotsrigma]

He really is awesome! 😎

[@SpokedInTheEyeMoto]

The first video I checked out was your most recent, but this one caught my eye. I have a 6 year old son who is on the spectrum. I usually just say, he's autistic, otherwise people ask, "what does on the spectrum mean?". He also has cerebral palsy, and his tutor thinks he may have ADHD. My son has apraxia so has been in speech therapy for years.. I've often thought of making a video like this. Geez I can't believe how glad I am that you commented on one of my videos so I could find your channel and find this video. Thank you so much for opening up in this video.

[@RestlessMule]

Oh wow, thanks for sharing your son’s story. I definitely know what you mean about saying “on the spectrum.” Like you, if I mention it to people I typically say “my son is autistic” to dumb it down for them. 😆 In my experience most people know very little about autism unless they know an autistic person. Thanks so much for watching and commenting. My son will be excited when I tell him this video received another comment. I would definitely watch any video you post about your son’s experiences.

[@sciencenotsrigma]

I’m autistic, and I’m loving this video! I love how he finished the phrase about, “When you’ve met one autistic person.” I DEFINITELY alphabetized everything, and went about researching my special interests in alphabetical order. Also, that’s so typical that when you mentioned animals, he busted out with a very obscure one no one has heard of (at least, I haven’t, but I could tell you everything a certain music artist released, chronologically, plus a lot of other details, etc.). I was an A student, but there were complaints about my messy desk on every report card, too. I do not have ADHD. You are, obviously, an incredibly supportive parent, for a child with autism. I am so impressed! I love what Declan said about not judging people.

[@RestlessMule]

It’s been a long road to get to where we are now. My wife and I just really want Declan to be comfortable and happy with who he is rather than feel pressured to be like someone else. He can easily spend hours upon hours researching his special interests and then spend just as much time telling people all the things he knows about those subjects. He’s a really smart kid, but at times he struggles with instructions depending on how it is worded. From our experience I can say it makes a HUGE difference having a teacher that understands and accepts that he/she may need to word things differently for students to understand. I have to remind myself of that same fact sometimes because there are still times that I think I’m being very clear, but he doesn’t understand what I’m saying because of how I worded it. His difficulty understanding instructions is interesting when juxtaposed with his vocabulary. It can be confounding to people that don’t know he’s autistic. He regularly uses words more typical of an adult’s vocabulary and it’s not uncommon for him to use words that I have to lookup with an online dictionary. Thank you so much for watching and a sincere thank you for sharing some of your own experiences.

[@FelliniMotorcycle]

Thank you for this video.

[@RestlessMule]

Thank you very much for watching and commenting. It means a lot to me.

[@mymidlifemoto]

This was awesome man! You’re a good dad. I’m still going to give you a hard time in videos tho!

[@RestlessMule]

Thanks, I appreciate it. I mean I appreciate the compliment…not you giving me a hard time. As you know, I treat you with the utmost respect in my videos. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@mymidlifemoto]

@@RestlessMule oh yeah, respect, of course! Hmm… there’s a poop raven reference that comes to mind…. Yes nothing but respect from the mule! 😂😂

[@RestlessMule]

@@mymidlifemoto I’m being besmirched. 😆

[@sciencenotsrigma]

@@RestlessMule. Don’t you love how kids give people ideas about you, like that you’re in the FBI? One time I was loading up Bai, mineral water, juice, etc. on the conveyor, and my son tells the clerk, “My mom drinks a LOT!”