The Magic of Autism

On Monday, I got home from work and walked in to a full family room of boys. This is an identical visual most every night. Colton, Jamari, and Eric were playing games. As I headed up the stairs to change into my workout clothes, Jamari said, "Wait! Put your arm out." He then put these most beautiful, colorful bracelets on my bare arm. He had spent the day making me bracelets. Of course, Colton piped up and said, "Mama, I will make you some too!!!" And with that, I headed to the gym with my arm full of homemade bracelets.

When I got home from the gym, I loaded Jackson, Jamari, and Colton in the car and we headed to get ice cream cones. On the way home, Colton said, "Mama, Jamari thinks that spiders made us." I said, "Oh, Jamari. Tell me more." Mari said, "Well, Colton said Heavenly Father made us. So I asked Colton who made Heavenly Father and Colton said that Heavenly Father's father made Him. And Colton said that Heavenly Father made Jesus. But, what if spiders made us?" Colton said, "It's really not that hard. Heavenly Father made us. The end." And with that, the conversation switched to Colton telling me that he got Jamari in to the scouting program in our ward. He said that he talked to the "teachers" (leaders) and told them that Jamari needs to be doing scouting stuff and that he needs to be picked up from his house every Wednesday. Oh!! Ok. "Jamari, is that okay with your mom?" I asked. He said, "I guess!" And with that, we ate our ice cream.

I realized last night that Colton's world really is magical. Most of us are nervous to have religious conversations with our friends and neighbors. We don't want them to dislike us or to make things awkward. For Colton, that's not a concern. To him, this is all stuff that people should know. It's simple. It's so simple. Jamari wasn't in scouts, or going to church. To Colton, that needs to be fixed... so he fixed it. To Colton, the thought of people not knowing that Heavenly Father created us is not okay. So, he fixes it by telling them that it's pretty simple. In his world, this is all very obvious and simple. To the rest of us... what is OUR problem?!

I love this kid more each day.