Autism at Play

I look out at my children running with the neighborhood kids, playing, laughing, running and I smile. Until I see one of my little angels alone and off to the side. She's playing with the voices in her head. She's avoiding the world around her for the world in her mind.

So what do I do? How do I get her to play with the others?

Sometimes if I go to her and play with them all she will join in for a while. But I noticed, that after only a few minutes she starts to cry or scream. The other kids pull away. She looses the glow about her and her smile is replaced with a frown. Once she goes back to playing by herself, her smile returns and hear her laugh.

Perhaps we has adults place too much on what should be done. We follow the directions of others and make our decisions based on what everyone else does. If she is happier to play by herself, who am I to say no? Am I right to force her to play with other children when she clearly does not want to? She will interact with others when she feels to needs to. When she wants something from them or they ask her a question. Yet when the necessity for interaction is done she happily goes back to her world.

As her mother all I want is for her happiness and well being. So long as she is happy playing games with the invisible friend she has in her head, so be it. I will not try to make her into what this world dictates as normal.