Life With Spongebob

Raising an autistic child is difficult...no scratch that...perplexing and eluding.  Some days are great and others...well, not so much.  From meltdowns to clothing issues to food textures to public outings to changes in routines...it is like running in a hamster wheel.  I run and run and run but yet I am in the same place. 

My youngest child is two and has classic Autism.  One thing with Autism is even when the child is verbal their communication is limited.  They have what is considered literal language.  Therefore, a few weeks ago we told him that his favorite cartoon character's name is "Spongebob".  But...the quotations were put around the wrong word.  For the only word my son heard was "name".  Now...he believes his name is Spongebob and calls himself such and he calls his mother, Spongebob, and his dad, and his brothers, and anyone else.  But he only associates the word Spongebob with the word name...for example...if I were to poing to his dad and say "What's his name?", my son would reply "Spongebob" and he does this whenever we ask him someone's or his own name.  Word associations...simple things that we take for granted.  Same thing with the question "What do you want?"  I answered this question for him once and said "Juice".  Now he thinks the only answer to the question "What do you want?" is "Juice"...even if he wants something completely different.  It is frustrating...mentally he is wanting a certain toy but he is telling me "juice" and when I hand him a cup of juice he throws in in the floor and begins to scream and headbutt. 

It is almost like being a foreigner in a strange land...where no one understands you.  You have needs and wants but no one can accomodate you.  For as challenging as this is to me, I can't begin to imagine what it is like for my child who can't communicate his feelings to me.  It is so hurtful and sad most days...but then there are those days when I can ask him what his name is and he shouts "Spongebob" and I see that little face and it doesn't matter.  He is my Spongebob and no one can take that away.