Snake Oil Treatment and "I Love You"s

Hutton started Auditory Integration Therapy last week, or as Hubby refers to it, Snake Oil Treatment. AIT involves listening to music through headphones for 30 minutes, twice a day for ten days. The music is all blended together in some weird way I don't understand. Yeah, Hubby doesn't really think it does anything, but I'm willing to try most anything if it's covered by insurance and can't hurt. It's not like I'm taking Hutton into a viper pit and telling him to trust God to pull him through.

Mike, the guy who comes out to do the therapy (watch Hutton wear his headphones for 30 minutes) is very interesting, though. He trained under Guy Berard in France, and has told me lots of good stories. Apparently Dr. Berard is able to drink most of a bottle of red wine at lunch and still hike up a mountain afterward. Mike wants to retire someplace other than the rainy, dreary Pacific NW soon. He's lived in Australia, but apparently Australia and New Zealand don't want any more old people, as they don't give visas to retirees. Who knew?

Mike was telling me Monday about talking to Temple Grandin after a speech she had given. They discussed the idea of humor, as Temple had several jokes in her presentation. Temple said she never knew what other people would find funny, as she never really gets jokes that others do. So Mike asked her how she knew what to say. Temple said she would just keep the things that got a laugh. If there was no response from the audience, she'd take the joke out the next time. Seems like a pretty good plan, even for the non-autistic giving speeches.

Mike has been very good for my "Hutton's Autism Level Ego" -- meaning, he's always commenting on Hutton's verbal skills being very good, or saying that Hutton seems like he's more Aspergerish than autistic. Before I had a child with Autism, I don't think I would have taken having someone tell me my son acts like he has Asperger's Syndrome as a compliment, but now I sure do!

Speaking of (writing of) Asperger's Syndrome, I read this weekend that Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickenson's daughter, Nicky, "quietly and peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages to her brain" last Thursday. Nicky had Asperger's Syndrome, as well as poor vision, which had kept her from following her dream of being a geologist. Very sad. I don't think I'd ever consider committing suicide "quiet and peaceful" though. Seems more anguished and desperate to me. Again, very sad.

Enough sadness. Back to the idea of humor. That is hard for me, to think that Hutton, like Temple Grandin, may not be able to understand what others find funny. I have a great sense of humor. (Yes, I'm biased.) Seriously. I love to laugh, and tend to go for sarcasm and black humor. I think it's going to be hard to have a child who will never "get" the same things I do. Well, I'm kind of jumping ahead of myself, I know. At least Hutton laughs at "normal" humor. Today we were watching Cars. The scene in which Lightning McQueen wrecks the main street of Radiator Springs causes Hutton to laugh hysterically, and then he wants to rewind it several times. It is a funny scene, I'll grant him that!

To end this random post, I will add an AWESOME verbal exchange I had with Hutton today as we were watching Cars:

ME: This is a funny movie isn't it? [And because Hutton looked so happy and cute] I love you, Hutton! [Harrison had fallen asleep by this point, so didn't get an, "I love you."]
HUTTON: I love you, too, Mommy!
ME: OMFG! I can't believe you said that!

OK, I didn't say the last part. I was just thinking it. I praised Hutton for the great sentence. Because, really, it was a very good sentence, even without the meaning. I would have been excited by him repeating, "I love you," as he normally gets by with short sentences, but to add the "too" and "Mommy" put me over the moon!