I have several stories to share. Here is one that taught me that we have to watch our words. I sat waiting in the doctor’s office with my son in my lap. Another mother sat down beside me with her son. She appeared to be a very doting mother holding her own child and talking with him in a very sweet voice. However, I noticed the little boy seemed very preoccupied with something outside the window. He even looked scared as he kept looking from his mother to the window in such a serious manner for such a young child. She consoled him and gave him his Ipad and then he seemed content. My son sat beside me performing his favorite pass time, drawing super heros. Both boys were inches apart, buy did not interact. We talked for a little while and realized that both of our children had language delays and were on the Autism Spectrum. We shared some commonalities with each other as well as advise that each had to offer. Funny how much we can learn from a complete stranger. Suddenly, the little boy wiggled from his mother’s lap and ran to the waiting room door. He appeared to be trying to lock it. He ran back to his mother with panic on his face and said the bad man’s out there. We both looked at each other. She asked him, “what bad man?” In the most serious manner that a six year old could possibly portray said, “the kidnapper is out there.” We both looked confused, but then a realization came across her face. She replied to her son, “honey mommy is so sorry I scared you when I talked to you about this yesterday. There are no kidnappers out there, you are safe.” She hugged him close for a good minute and he seemed again to be content. He returned to his Ipad and she explained to me that the day before, he had hidden in the clothes rack at the department store they were at and scared her half to death. At the time he was only a foot away, but when she realized he was not by her side she panicked and circled around each of the racks in the area. After calling his name repeatedly in a panicked cry, he appeared in front of her. She said she grabbed him up and told him never to do that again. There are kidnappers who want to take little children away from their mamas.” She and I talked a little longer and both of us realized how impactful our words can be, especially to a 7 year old child with Autism. It was after this moment I began creating simple stories that my son could relate to that could teach him what to do and how to act in various situations. These types of stories are now known to be social stories, which I will talk about more in a later post. Children with Autism often take our words literal so it is very important that we speak explicitly and if possible show them visuals and/or a demonstration of what we want them to learn and understand.