A glimpse

"Remember when I said, 'Someone stole my pencils!'?"

Nope.

"Remember, I was at school."

No, I am not at your school.

Apparently, it was second grade, and she said it once and must have received some incentive to keep doing it, and expanded the schtick to include all her other desk objects (erasers, paper, water bottle, etc.).

Are you still saying it this year?

She is.

The conversation revealed that 1. She still struggles with the me vs. world perspective--"theory of mind"--by thinking I can somehow know all things even without being there 2. The perseveration is alive and well.

Dear Bitchy Bus Stop Mom,

Yes, I know the constant monkey sounds and monkey act that my kid does at the bus stop every single day is annoying. But at least she is cheerful every day. Not moody and bitchy like you, or sullen and miserable like your son appears to be (can't say I blame him). And here's a tip about dealing with autism (not that you would know or care): you have to be consistent. You can't play along with the monkey stuff only on days you feel like it, then reject it and be annoyed on the days you don't. That's why I don't play along with it at all, because every joke I laugh at or any silliness I participate in is a careful choice, because I know I could be stuck with it every day for the rest of our lives. That's why the monkey thing has lasted so long, because just enough people have laughed or humored her or played along on occasion. That's all it takes.

Elf on a shelf: Keep it clean!

You 'elf on a shelf' people need to keep it clean! At the bus stop today the parents were sharing photos of their elf on the shelf pooping out hershey's kisses. The kids all thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately, so did LS. When she's still talking about it and reliving the moment in June, and they are sick of hearing about it, I will remind them it's their fault. But all they have to do is hear about it at the bus stop once a day. For me it could be years of hearing about it daily, any time, all the time, and in appropriate places and at inappropriate times.

Obsessions and intense interests

It's normal for kids or adults to "get really into" something. The difference between them and an autistic person who "gets really into" something is that the typical people will still do other things and in the case of children, the interest will likely pass by more quickly. With an autistic child the interest is MORE intense, MORE consuming, and lasts LONGER than with a typical child. Every interest Little Squirrel has had has been this way. Her friends will get interested in My Little Pony, and LS does too, but the friends will also have interests in Princesses, Spiderman, or other characters. But not LS. It was all MLP, all the time, for a very long time. That one was over a year. Before MLP was Angry Birds. All Angry Birds, all the time. After MLP was Phineas and Ferb. All P&F, all the time. Now it is Minecraft. This one will last longer, I can tell. Because she's not just obsessed with playing it but also with watching others play it on youtube (Stampy Cat and Amy Lee and Squid are the only ones she's allowed to watch). She doesn't watch or play anything else but Minecraft.

Interests quickly become obsessions and obsessions ever more quickly become perseverations. Watching Stampy Cat again and again is familiar and predictable. Playing Minecraft brings the comfort of being in a familiar world where she can control everything.

Even the squirrel perseveration started as a joke at school over a year ago, where she made a face that looked like a squirrel, then everyone laughed, so she did it again. And again. And again. That spiraled into this whole 'schtick' about squirrels that got the whole class involved (poor teacher). But what was just casual fun for her friends, to say SQUIRREL! and make squirrel faces, was all-consuming for LS. So now that it's over a year later and her friends have long ago moved on to new things, and LS is still doing the squirrel act, but not as much at school anymore since even the word alone has been outlawed in the classroom and her friends have long since been tired of it. So she saves it all up for home. For me. All squirrel, all the time.

Except for when she is doing the newer 'schtick' that involves a monkey face and scripted repetitive speech about a monkey. She alternates between the monkey and squirrel acts pretty equally. I don't prefer either one. They both make for a very long weekend. So people probably wonder why I let her play and watch Minecraft so much, I just can't even explain that at least she's quiet and it keeps the squirrel and monkey away.

Omg the perseverations

"Squirrel!"
"Squirrel.....squirrel....squirrel....."
"The squirrel wants a nut." (she wants me to say, 'I don't have any nuts.')

"Ooo ooo ah ah."
"The monkey wants a banana." (she wants me to say, 'I don't have any bananas.')
"Monkeys everywhere."
"You're living with a monkey for the rest of your life."
"You asked for a kid and you got a monkey."

It's either the squirrel or the monkey script, all day, every day when we're together. It was a long weekend. Can't wait for work tomorrow!