A Day To Remember

 

 

 

 

 Max getting ready to walk out on the field.

 

 



 

 Max and Malachi

                               

 

 Max and Malachi walking the field with his team.

 

 

Didn't know it was Autism Awarness Night. 

 

 So cool to see this on the big screen.

 

 

 Max cheering on the D-backs with shouting out BEAT LA!

 

Max was tickled with the mascot wearing red underwear that said BEAT LA.

He laughed the whole way home.

 

Next Day's Game

                               

 

 Max hit a home run.

 

 

Max running over home-plate.

 

 

After the game on Saturday Max asked me if he would ever be typical

 like everyone else. I asked him what does he mean by typical?

He responded with, "You know Mom, when I don't have autism anymore.

I asked him what is so bad about being Autistic.

He said, "Nothing, I think if I wasn't autistic, I could be an celebrity.  

 

His question stirred emotions of how I have also dealt with not feeling like I fit in because of having CRS and being blind in my right eye.
Max opened my eyes to what really is important.
 It's about being YOU the person God intended for you to be.
We are all so different, even typical people as Max calls them have faults and desires to be something other than what they are. Each of us have habits that seem odd to some and make others think we are not normal.

What does it mean to be normal?

A question I ask myself many times.

Magnificent Max in the month of March.

Max believes his world opened up to another level, since he turned 13. He believes he can now watch any PG-13 movie, because it has the number 13 in it. I have tried several times to explain to him that I don’t even watch all PG-13 movies, because some of them do not meet our standards.

Max takes everything as it’s stated. For instances he believe if his teacher tells him his homework isn’t due until March 12^th then he will not hand it in until that date. He had a project due on March 29^th in Social Studies on World War 1 using a poster board and designing it with a slogan. Frustration stirred as I tried to remind him to get started on it a week before it was due. Max would remind me that he can’t hand it in until the due date and that he can’t even start on it until a couple of days before it is due. I tried to explain to him he could hand it in before the due date and he express his opinion that I was wrong. Max takes everything literally. I have realized it’s how people with autism see life.

It was a joy to see Max excited about his family coming over to celebrate his birthday. His Aunt Terese had her birthday a few days before him and we sang Happy Birthday to them at the same time. I could see how he felt of value as we rallied around him and sang. His smile touched his ears and his eyes beamed with joy.

The last month and half have been busy, with baseball practice. I’m so thrilled that one of Max’s dreams of being a member of a baseball team came true. It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for him. The Little League started a team for children with special needs for the first time . What a blessing for Max. He loves to bat and was in a bat-a-thon a couple of weeks ago. He hit the ball 152.5 feet and won a wooden bat. This Friday he is going to walk out on the Diamondback baseball field with the players and yesterday he was interview by one of the news stations about being on a baseball team. He takes baseball seriously. He wears his new team jersey with pleasure along with his batting gloves, baseball hat, red belt, white pants, and cleats. For his birthday his brother in law and sister got him a new glove, battling gloves, and bat and his brother and sister in law got him a bat with some balls to practice with. I know it warms his heart to have his sibling support him.

 

We were able to attend General Conference in Salt Lake City and Max had a hard time with all the people around him. He sat next to me with his suit coat over his head during the two hour meeting. He was quiet, but I sensed it was hard on him to be among so many people. Sometimes he will put a cloth grocery bag over his head and play his I-pod to close himself off from the world.

 

A wonderful blessing happened for Max in Utah, he gained some new friends. It warmed my heart to see him building unity with his second cousins. They wanted him around and he wanted to be with them. What a joy it was to watch him interact with them.

Max's words and thoughts.

I will turn 13 in 1 month

 

Being on the baseball team is the best because I think that it is the best.

 

Minecraft is the funest game

Becase i think that it is interesting because  you get to craft  your own world.

 

 My mom asked Siri a bunch of questions and we laughed to every questions and we thought that it was funny.

 

 

Max's Dream

"Mom's this is Max, can I stay after school?"

I took a deep breath before responding and realized he wasn't due home from school for another three hours.

"Mom I need to stay after school for Baseball tryouts."

Before I could get a word in his teacher spoke.

"Tonight at 6:30 there is a meeting for the students to be involved with sports. Max wants to come and be on the baseball team."

The phone went dead...yes three months ago I dropped it in water while I was soaking my toe. Silence was all I heard while I held the phone to my ear and rushed quickly down to the basement to get the other phone.

After I called his teacher back we discussed how difficult it would be for Max to be on a typical team and compete. Plus, Max doesn't know the rules or guidelines for playing baseball. He is talented though with hitting a ball and he can catch a ball.

Right before we ended the conversation we both came to the realization that the school team wouldn’t be a good fit. We thought of other ideas like having him be a ball boy, but I knew in my heart he wouldn't want to sit on the sideline watching others hit the ball or run from one base to the other.

Disappointment was definitely in both of our voices. It tore me into pieces knowing that I had to tell Max that the school team wouldn’t be the best for him.

 

Special Olympics here we come!

I Pod or Lego's

 

Christmas brought a new outlook for Max.

One that stopped the obsession with Lego's, and started a new adventure with his I Pod that he got as a gift from I and my husband.

At first I never thought anything could pull him away from his Lego's, but the minute Malachi showed him how to use it and play games

 he hasn't been able to take his eyes off of it. 

 

 

I have been teaching Max how to use my I Pad and here are a couple of pictures we took together.

 

 

 

Two weeks after I showed him he took over three hundred pictures of himself

on my I Pad at Church.

Which will take me a while to delete.

 

Here are four of the three hundred and fifty eight pictures that he took.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving vs Foxhole

It didn't become apparent to me until after the last dish was rinsed on Thanksgiving Day and the relatives and friends had left that Max disappeared downstairs during dinner. I looked over the photos several times trying to find one of Max and there were none. It was as if he was a fox going down into his foxhole or den to escape from everything and anybody.

I have noticed over the past couple of months that Max has been isolating himself from others.

His world has become smaller in some ways. My I pad, our computer and sometimes the Wii have become his obsession. I have other friends who have shared their concern about their child who has autism and also desires the same world as Max. They shared with me the frustrations with how difficult it is to get them away from the technical world, and learning to develop people skills and interacting.

I have noticed that the internet has overpowered the thought of having a face to face conversation. We don’t call or send a message even through email anymore.

 It’s all done with a text message or facebook.

Max's speech herapist is trying to get him to say hi to at least two people a week at school. Each Monday when has therapy she will ask him if he said hi to anyone. His response is. "I was busy or I was in a hurry when I walked down the hallway to class."

I have wondered how many other typical children say hi in the hallway or if they just send a text message through their phone or facebook instead.

Max doesn’t have a cell phone, facebook or email address.

Max is in the first stages of puberty and I have notice changes him in the past two months. Changes in his height and shoes size which he wears a bigger shoe than his father and oldest brother. He is more interested in our family conversations, but less likely to want to be around groups of people. He does love his orchestra class and enjoys performing at the concerts.

Life is good with Max apart of it. He gives warmth that brings comfort to my soul.  He helps me to stay grounded in seeing what really matters in life. It's that one sweet smile, a tight hug, and words, "I love you."

 

 

It's hard to believe this was six months ago when Max graduated from sixth grade.

We have a new visitor.

Knock, knock...

Who's there?

Elf...

Elf who?

Elf Jerry, who loves you!

Max loves his elf  and he decided to name him Jerry. Malachi, Max's brother wanted to name him Pippin. So we call him Jerry Pippin. Max wrote Jerry a letter and ask him some question.
I was surprised when Max showed me the letter right before he went to bed.

Here is the letter.

Jerry wrote back and told Max that his favorite color was red and that he doesn't mind being called Jerry or Pippin.