I brought Kate to her usual therapy session after school. Three hours of intense ABA. Kate did not greet her therapist as she entered the room.
The therapist gave an enthusiastic, “HI KATE! ” Kate said “K”.
“HI KATE!”
“K”
Determined to get a HI from Kate, the therapist contined, “HI KATE!”
“K”
“HI Kate!”
“K”
This went back and forth for many, many rounds. Until finally…..
The therapist said, “HI KATE!!!!!!” while she poked Kate’s belly.
Kate yelled, “QUIT IT!” And she walked away.
Sometimes our kids just want to be left alone. And they have a hard time saying that they are tired, or that have had their fill of the same scripted, polite greetings. Our kids have to dig deep sometimes and come up with a script to use that fits the situation. “QUIT IT!” she said. And I feel proud of her. Was it rude? Yes. But so is an adult getting on eye-level and repeating herself over and over.
I am waiting for the day that Kate can say, ” I am here at therapy and I would rather be outside playing on this warm, sunny spring day. So, leave me alone. Lets get the work done so I can get to the park.” But, for now, all Kate can say is, “Quit it!”
And I know exactly which video she got that phrase from! Its amazing how closely parents of autistic kids pay attention to their children. Otherwise, when our kids use their scripts we have no idea what their intentions are, where they got it from. It helps to know where the scripts originate from, out of context they have less meaning. And it takes the work of a great detective to track these scripts down sometimes. My script senses are usually on high alert. Ask the proud mom of a “typical” kid what their child’s favorite script is and how many times they use it in a day. And you’ll hear “Huh?”
Scripting….its so common for our verbal kids on the spectrum. A true example of how their brains are set up differently to learn.
Script senses….an acquired sense, that only the parent of a child with ASD masters. And, oh how many other skills I’ve had to acquire to deal with autism.
autismstorybookmom 
Comments on: "Quit It!" (1)
I can TOTALLY get this. My son learned language through scripting and still uses it today to a degree. My daughter, who is also on the spectrum, grabbed me around the waist the other day and said “I’m so proud of you”…I know that’s from a Dora the Explorer episode, but I was SO PROUD of her that she learned how to apply it in our relationship. Everyone learns differently, and I’m always attuned to their “scripted” conversations, reminding others that just because they use and learn language differently doesn’t make it the wrong way, just THEIR way!! Thanks for sharing. 🙂