Pretend Play Breakthrough!

And we have a winner for the first ever thing Boo has pretended to be.  I was treated to the following conversation last night as I dried him off after bath time:

Boo (holding tongue): Bootungisback.
Sam: What?
Boo: Boo's tongue is black.
Sam: Um.  Looks pink to me.
Boo: Boo's eyes are orange.
Sam: Oh! Is Boo a gruffalo?
Boo: Yes!
Sam:  Silly Mommy, I thought Boo was a boy.
Boo.  No-oo.  Boo is not a boy.  Boo is a gruffalo.
Sam: So that must mean you have purple prickles all over your back?
Boo:  Yes!
Sam: So, is Mommy a gruffalo too?
Boo: Yes!  Mommy is a gruffalo too.
Sam: What about Daddy?
Boo: Yes!
Sam: A whole gruffalo family?
Boo: Yes!
Sam: Excellent.

Not as unique as we thought...

I'm happy to report I've now discovered proof that Boo and I are not the only book reviewers to put an autism spin on the books we read.  If you're here for the Autism Spectrum Bonus, you should also check out Spectrum Mom at Autism Reads.

A big thank you to Leisa Hammett for pointing Spectrum Mom out to me!

In search of decent phrasing...

I’m searching for phrasing to cover concepts in the autism spectrum which are often described as “high functioning” or “verbal” or “responsive” (et cetera) that is more inclusive and less offensive. The concept of high and low functioning is nebulous at best, given that it’s only one aspect of a complex set that define how autistic people think and dream and interact with the world. And tying high functioning to the ability or desire to verbalize doesn’t make too much sense to me, either. I’ve currently settled on “more typically interactive” to get across kids that will understand and/or participate (verbally or otherwise) in conversations like the one described in my Bear Snores On Review, but I’d value other opinions on better options.

Please feel free to comment with your views.