Saturday, January 19, 2013

Ninja reflexes

 Impulsivity is one of the potential (and common) traits of autism. From a young age, Cédric has had a tendency to all of a sudden throw himself at things, start running in the direction of his choice, grab whatever interests him, ..., without any consideration of the potential dangers for the objects, other people or himself.

As for me, I've always been really bad at sports. I couldn't catch a ball thrown at me because of lack of coordination, especially eye-hand.

But ever since Cédric has been with us, Dave and I have developed ninja reflexes!! We can catch a sippy cup before it reaches the ground, stop a thrown hand before it catches other people's food, stop the dude before he starts running into the street.

The trick? We follow the eyes. Cédric always plans his moves and as that take a little time (connection problems in the brain), if we keep a watch on what he's looking at, we know what he's about to do and we can stop unwanted actions.

The price? We're always on guard! When Cédric is with us (and in general, because it has become a way of living and it's hard to stop), we live in a state of alert with all our sense on the lookout for the merest sign of danger.

The benefit? Ninja reflexes!!