Just Go With It

Many people with autism also have obsessions.  These are things that they will talk about, look at, and learn about.  Nathan has obsessions.  Some doctors and therapists over the years have told us not to allow him to get "sucked in" to his obsessions.  But we haven't really listened to that advice.  We use his obsessions to our advantage. We use them to get Nathan to do what we want him to do.  For example, we say Nathan, if you come and sit with us for dinner, we will talk about animals with you.  I think Nathan's obsessions have actually lead to other, more sophisticated obsessions.

Nathan taught himself to read and write when he was 2-years-old

One of Nathan's first obsessions was the alphabet. he was obsessed with the alphabet.  He taught himself to read and write when he was 2.  He also loved animals.  He used to love to talk about animals and draw animals and put them in alphabetical order.  He learned EVERYTHING there was to know about animals.  He knows every species, what it eats, its habitat, and I mean EVERY species.

Nathan loved going to farms, zoos, fairs, anywhere he could see animals 

The more exotic the animal, the more Nathan liked it

His obsession with animals taught him a lot about geography.  Now he knows every country, continent, and ocean of the world.  He knows what every country's flag looks like, its capital city and its climate. Learning about countries led him to learn about world landmarks.  He knows the major landmarks of every country in the world.

This is a map of South America that Nathan
drew on the computer from memory

Nathan loves landmarks, even replicas of landmarks

He loves to read encyclopedias, almanacs and dictionaries

His obsession with landmarks led him to learn about architecture.  He now wants to be an architect and build his own treehouse.  But not any treehouse, his dream treehouse would be bigger than our actual house and hold all of his other obsessions- every video game ever made, the most powerful computer in the world, billions of dollars, an ultra high definition television, every episode of Spongebob Squarepants, and a long list of other things.

This is Nathan's favorite hat,
because it has flags on it

I know that some people will say that Nathan gets sucked into his obsessions and at times he does.  It can be difficult when you need to talk to Nathan about something or his teacher needs him to pay attention to a lesson, and all he wants to do is talk about the history of video games.  But his obsessions also create an easy reward system.  You never have to think about what you're going to use to motivate him, you already know what he wants to talk about, read about or research.  And I am so excited to find out what his obsessions of today will lead to in the future.  So, I say, instead of trying to ignore or stifle a person's obsessions, why not embrace them?  Just go with it and see where it takes you!

Just like his mom, Nathan is obsessed with
Walt Disney World