Jack the Modern Cowboy

This is Jack. For the first year of his life he hated baths. We gave him a bath whenever he was truly smelly, so not very often did he bathe. We tried everything. We warmed his towels, warmed the house, used the kitchen sink, anything. He hated it. Looking back on this year of Jack sensitivities, I find it humorous that we didn't catch on that he wasn't a normal kid. But we hadn't had another kid, and just (rightly) assumed our child was special.

He is four now and for the last year we have known he has autism. In his four years he is constantly changing. Take that first year of bath phobia. He was a hypersensitive child. He now has replaced his hypersensitivities with hyposensitivites. This means he craves the same input to his system that used to be so off-putting. So bath time is now enjoyable. He, with his 45 inch/44 pound 4-year-old frame, will lay in the bath and slowly spin. While spinning, he grinds those teeth and hums. I imagine those underwater vibrations sound very much to him like all the sounds adults, teachers and other children make all day. Except in the world of his bathtub, he isn't forced to repeat or make eye contact. It is a cocoon.

Today he had strep throat. I knew he was sick, but I didn't know what was wrong. He communicates through action and by the late afternoon I knew it was time to call the doctor. It is not ever easy to know your boy is different and life in a neurotypical world will always be challenging, but it is painful when he is sick. I wish he could just whine because his throat hurts or scream that he has thrown up in his room, but instead he is stoic and silent, like a cowboy, and I discover it heartbreakingly late.

I am grateful for his bath time cocoon, and hope he finds more things like that. We need them.