Today, my DS asked me how my day had been

[Mandatorymongoose]

I just want to share this with someone because I am so surprised and pleased.

DS is 9. He is currently under assessment for ASD. He has never in my memory started a conversation with me by asking about something unrelated to his needs / interests.

He is a wonderful, sweet, bright and funny child. He will mostly answer questions addressed to him (although sometimes just by saying no and leaving the room ) and will approach you to talk about his particular interests (mostly maths / coding and certain games) or if he needs something.

Today, he out of the blue asked me if I had enjoyed dinner and how my day had been. It actually took me a second to register the fact he was asking and to process how to answer.

I realise this might seem a bizzare thing to be so pleased by but social communication is such a challenge for him and it's just made my day really lovely.

If there is something small that has made your day lovely do share it so I can feel pleased on your behalf too!

@RedemptionOrNothing your cat has just improved an already marvellous thread! 😂

So nice to just hear/see nice things 🥰

This is lovely news OP, so happy for you both.

Awwwww❤️

My eldest ds took ages to ask me this. Now at 13, he always asks me when I pick him up. Then when the conversation peters out..... He asks me again! Sometimes he will ask me 3 or 4 times 😂. He will then apologise because he's already asked it. While this is clearly odd, it is because he wants to sustain conversation with me and I absolutely love it. He didn't speak until 3.5 and was in speech therapy until 7.

My autistic DS was way older than 9 when he first did this - you must be really proud. It sounds like he's working really hard on his social skills.

My son is nearly 17 now. When I get in from work he says "Shall I make us a cup of tea?" Melts my heart every time. He has never volunteered a "love you " - he only says it back when I say it. But the fact that he goes out of his way to make me a cuppa when I get in every day shows me that he does. He's a really lovely boy.

@LeanIntoChaos I love that. If DS wants to ask me repeatedly I will merrily answer all day long!

That is so wonderful OP. I am so happy for you.

@mynameisnotmichaelcaine ah that's such a caring thing for your son to do (my NT DD who is 23 barely offers me a coffee 😅). DS also never volunteers an "I love you" he wouldn't say it even as a response for quite a while. I've got a weird fondness for the times I would tell him I loved him and he would very seriously reply "okay", we do still get those days!

Although he is still going through assessment (I will actually fall off a chair if they decide he is NT) school have really supported him for the past few years with interventions/ social PE / talk about etc. and it does seem to be helping.

It's been an ok but meh day for me - this thread has made me happy.
Thanks for sharing, OP and others.

My granddaughter did the opposite of making me smile for a short moment today by tricking me into 'drinking' one of her imaginary culinary delights. My first thought was - oh no she doesn't like me.

She's in year 2, and when I take her to school and pick her up she's immediately chattering away in her own little world.

Walking to school, I had to say what drink I would like and I replied Black Forest Hot Chocolate with cream and cherry syrup. She flapped her hands about for a good while and then handed me an imaginary drink which I made a good mime of drinking and making slurping noises.

She said what on earth are you thinking with? I can't believe you drank that nana because I put mustard seeds all over it.

I felt deflated and that she must think so little of me. Then I thought it was hysterical and we made up all sorts of delicious drinks with deceptive twists. I'm sure this game will last quite a while.

My granddaughter will be assessed for ASD hopefully in the new year. We also suspect that her two younger brothers will need assessments. DGS who is 3 in Jan is non verbal, as is his brother who has just turned 2. Their mother, my daughter, was assessed as on the spectrum, along with dyspraxia and dyslexia. She was later diagnosed with EDS which explained the dyspraxia.

Every little achievement made by the boys is a huge step for us. We all went to see Santa yesterday and were wondering how the boys would react - one of them ran straight up to him and gave him the biggest hug, he wouldn't let go. (Got the best photo.). Santa was caught unawares - he said that didn't happen very often. The other one threw himself on the floor and started banging his head.

This has made me cry 🥲How precious!
My NT son doesn’t stop talking and today his sister who has depression was listening to him and she smiled and made him promise he would always be so happy. These little moments are everything.

That’s gorgeous! I would let him know as well, responding something like ‘wow it’s so lovely to be asked about my day’ or ‘I felt so happy when you asked me that, it showed so much care.’

Maybe next year my son will ask me about my day 😂 I don’t think. He has progressed from info dumping about his interests to trying to make out like he’s doing it for you. ‘Mummy what’s your favourite sea animal? Oh right, well mine is the hammerhead shark and guess what?’ I do notice that recently when he has a superhero monologue he will occasionally throw in a ‘just like Daredevil’ or ‘you like Black Widow don’t you mummy’ to keep me interested.

Awww! it's lovely to hear all these stories. My DS is a young adult with autism and still lives with us. I work from home and have done for a few years (pre covid) We always had a ritual of coffee and cake when he got in from school mid afternoon - I took a break and we chatted (not at length - he was and still is a very yes/no to questions. He works full time these days so the coffee and cake stopped - has just had a few days days off work and went to the shop bought a cake and made us a coffee for the last couple of days 😍

Thank you for sharing something lovely. 💕

A lovely thread ❤️

@myothercarisaporsche they all sound like fabulous children! I love the tricksy drink game, DS would find it hilarious too I think.

Really happy for you, and glad you shared 💐

@Kanaloa I absolutely did tell him (twice! Once immediately and once just before bed when I was saying what a lovely day we had had and how much I appreciated how good he has been)he vibrated at me in response for some reason but I didn't take that as a negative!

What a lovely thread OP!
❤️
I have NT teens (well there's a bit of a ?over one of them) and I still fall off my chair if they ask me how my day's been!