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    The Autistic Prankster: Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism
    The Autistic Prankster: Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism
    The Autistic Prankster: Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism
    Ebook91 pages1 hour

    The Autistic Prankster: Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism

    By Mark Ferdinand

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    About this ebook

    Autism Books. We know about all the challenges. These stories focus on the fun and the funny side of autism. While he may not have typical communication skills, surprisingly this can be an asset in the humor department. Funny autism-related moments are a daily occurrence with this young character, and this book is a collection of the most memorable.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMark Ferdinand
    Release dateFeb 5, 2019
    ISBN9781386579335
    The Autistic Prankster: Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism
    Author

    Mark Ferdinand

    Mark Ferdinand lives on the South Texas coast with his wife, daughter and son. Fishing the surf, hunting, gardening, carving, auto and home repair occupy his spare time. He has written on the topic of autism spectrum disorder from a father's perspective in parenting articles and in other non-fiction venues. Having limited typical communication skills, his son introduced Mark to new ways of interpreting his needs and aspirations. As his son grew older Mark became fascinated by the story potential within these amazing children. This prompted the creation of a dynamic adventure story focusing on a character with autism. After completing his first novel, Fortune on the Spectrum, he decided to compile a group of lifetime stories that brought him to the unusual occupation of snake venom extraction called You're Gonna' Get Bit!: Harrowing Tales of Herpetology. Corpus Christi author and Texas author Mark Ferdinand. Mark writes novels with autistic characters, Texas fiction, and true tales of reptiles and amphibians.

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      Book preview

      The Autistic Prankster - Mark Ferdinand

      Part I

      Who We’re Dealing With

      It seems I have this boy, this very interesting boy. He is not normal at all, quite different in fact. Not what I expected when I dreamt of a family and dreamt of a son. I most certainly got something different, and most certainly got something more.

      The boy I dreamt of was regular and typical. The boy I dreamt of made sentences and adored his Poppa. We went on hunting and fishing expeditions together. He played little league baseball. His friends came over to play.

      Life plays tricks on dreamers like me, and this boy of mine has become life's ultimate trick, life's ultimate prank. Good one life! You got me nicely and I completely get it. Know that I would not have it any other way.

      My son Anton showed signs of certain delays in typical development fairly early in life. There was no dramatic change that we can pin a time or date to, there were just ongoing realizations. We began to take note of certain tendencies here, and lack of progress in certain traditional milestones there. 

      We had other realizations, however, that countered the concern for his delays. In fact, Anton learned to walk far ahead of the point on a typical child’s timetable. He had no lack of coordination of any kind. He was quite mobile, enthusiastic and happy.

      At a certain point, though, we began to notice the lack of normal speech development along with certain behavioral anomalies. Again, he was enthusiastic, but quiet. Way too quiet. Yes, there were a few noises and pops and faint imitations of words, but there were not the first words that we were expecting.

      Speaking of expecting, we had access to many of the popular pregnancy and parenting books of the late nineties. This was still a time where the internet was in its infancy, and autism was never on the radar.

      We engaged in the comparisons. We checked and re-checked the speech milestones he should be reaching as stated in all of our books. These would vary slightly between books, but he eventually passed several milestones by without achieving them.

      One of the most common red flags of the possibility of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis is the suspicion of a hearing impairment that is later tested and ruled out. We noticed that Anton would be slow to answer to his name being called. Often he would not respond at all. I can remember repeatedly calling his name as he stood in front of the television, laughing and enjoying himself while blissfully unaware of my request.

      It would only be after a couple tries of yelling with intensity Anton!...ANTON!! that he would finally turn his attention toward us. Well, we thought, it seems we may have to get his hearing checked at some point.

      Once we managed to get his attention, there was something else we noticed. There was an obvious case of poor eye contact. He would be looking in our direction, but his eyes would not be locked in on ours in the same instinctual manner that comes naturally to the typically developing child.

      While this improved greatly over time, it was still greatly lacking during his first five years of life. This was another prominent autism indicator that we would only later come to find out about.

      Once again, we were guiding ourselves through all of this with the aid of the childcare books we had available to us. These books did not delve into the causes of not meeting typical milestones or the next steps to take if they are not met. We only knew that he was slow in meeting them, or not meeting them at all.

      Interestingly enough, Anton was making his way into his toddler years precisely at the same time that the internet was unfolding, becoming ubiquitous, and becoming a practical information tool.

      Not even a couple years before, the web was still a novelty. It was a phenomenon that not everyone was utilizing or finding valuable. Information on many topics was highly disorganized if it was there at all.

      At the time of Anton reaching two years of age, however, things on the web were starting to change. More information became available at a more rapid pace, seemingly at the same time we were seeking it. The more research we did on developmental disabilities, however, the more we became concerned.

      We were starting to lean toward the possibility of Anton having autism, but were still very much in the camp of waiting for things to improve. Autism was nothing close to being in the forefront of national discussion as it is today, so we were going on our own instincts and hopes. Even as the information was now appearing on the web, and growing.

      We put blinders on for a little while longer. We had other things going on in life in moving to a new state, buying and selling homes, and settling in. This pushed us through another half a year before we reexamined and assessed the situation. There was no denying it now, progress was not what it should be, and it was time to have him looked at.

      I took Anton to a local doctor. He was a nice enough man and a general family practitioner. He observed Anton for a little while and attempted to communicate with him. Although he clarified that we should get a clear diagnosis from a neurologist, it did not take long for him to theorize that he had autism.

      I was mentally prepared for this in some way. I had done so much research in books and on the web that was steering me to this same conclusion, but still it was jarring to hear. At least now, we knew.

      I focused my questions on what we can expect for him in the future as an adult. In my mind and in much of my research, adults with autism were not discussed, at least stories about them, other than Rain Man, were not easy to find.

      He told a story about an acquaintance of his who had an adult male relative with autism. How he was functioning pretty well in life, but had his quirks. He mentioned a chronic difficulty with buttoning up his shirts.

      He didn’t have much more information for me. He was realistic in his outlook and I appreciated that. He stated that there would be challenges for us but Anton would benefit from therapy sessions. Is he going to become president of the United States? Probably not. I recall him saying. He also cautioned that if it was his son, he would get him in to receive ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy right away.

      Well I guess that’s that! I thought. My wife had a similar outlook on the news as it was simply confirming what we already suspected. It was official now that we would be raising

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