My son is amazing. Like, uses words in a unique way, has very specific interests, seems to genuinely care about people, even total strangers, and doesn’t seem to notice peer pressure. I think he might be on the spectrum, because he doesn’t seem aware of his own solitude sometimes. But it’s not a worry, only an observation, and we will get him evaluated when it’s time and could be useful information to him (or when he starts to affect himself).
He has Tourette’s, which is part of his oddness in the way people perceive him, but mostly he’s just a quirk, and loves it. He loves to play alone. He doesn’t mind playing with other people, but seems to prefer the world inside his own head. Sometimes he even tires of video games and goes off to create his own, drawn on paper, because it better suites his visions. He has hundreds of “paper friends” - laminated drawings or print outs of characters from shows, games, or his mind.
His birthday is coming up in a month, and all he wants is a ventriloquist dummy. A real ventriloquist dummy. He’s been talking about it for months. We are going to get him one, and I know he will be delighted.
He wants to be four things when he grows up: a plumber (because Luigi is a plumber), a writer (because he has 1,000 imaginary friends in his head and they all have stories to tell), a stunt man (he is incredibly risk averse, don’t think he’s thought this one through), and a ventriloquist.
I can see the path he’s traveling down, and it’s a heartbreaking one. I don’t want to change him, I would never encourage him to hide who he is or try to fit in, but who he is turning into is going to be a tough journey for him for a bit. I know he will find his people eventually, but kids are so cruel to otherness. Part of me hopes he will be too inside his own head to even notice, but that’s wishful thinking.
I’m worried his heart is too sensitive for this world and his interests are too peculiar. Am I too concerned about this? I guess I’m looking for some words of comfort from parents of awesomely quirky kids who made it through and became awesome quirky teens or adults. I was a quirky kid, but I was ashamed of my quirkiness and was self-aware to a fault and changed how I presented myself, until even recently. I don’t want that for him.
Maybe he will end up as an actuary. He could be; I see a lot of myself in him.
Anyway, just looking for some reassurance that he will survive the ugly mastication of this terrible world.