Pretending to be someone else became part of his ritual. In playing a video game he could pretend to be in the action along with the animated participants, memorizing dialogue as if he were memorizing the lines of a play. As he grew older he learned to add his own lines - ad lib according to the situation occurring on the video screen. This really took off when Matt became a member of the
He loved it. He found the skits to be funny and when Matt found something funny you knew it – his laugh was (and still is) a very deep, heartfelt emotion bubbling up from his very soul and it was (and still is) very contagious. His ability to speak fluently had not yet arrived and he had trouble reciting lines – not that there was any problem with his ability to memorize – only in his actual ability to speak. Matt had difficulty with pronunciation and grammar, and his roles in each skit were usually more active and less talk. He loved it. Not having to speak took away the stress of being different. He never seemed uncomfortable performing to large groups of strangers. This was most likely due to the closeness of his team, his ability to keep focused on them, and his ability to tune-out the rest.
Matt eventually got too old to be in
Matt still pretends. Each video game he plays, he puts himself into the starring role, memorizing dialogue and even adding his own remarks where appropriate. The act of pretending has helped advance his speech. His voice is now clear, his grammar correct. He still has a small stutter when he can’t find just the right word and still uses an “umm” before a long sentence - possibly his way of organizing his thoughts before speaking.
Pretending has also given Matt a way to be normal. He can enter any fictitious world and be “The Man”. He uses the pretend play as a way to practice interactions, hone conversation skills and be someone who is not autistic – even if it is only for a few hours each day.
Pretending. It is a simple behavioral stage that all children go through. For the autistic child, pretending must be learned - just as they learn every other behavior – by practice and observation. After Matt saw his first play - Sarah’s play - he was hooked. The days, months and even years of listening to her play on tape drove us crazy. Yet, now, years and years later I can look back and see the importance of that play. It was a beginning. Matt knew if Sarah could do it that he could do it. He knew it was acceptable and normal. He knew it was fun and entertaining.
Matt’s autism cloud may have hindered his interaction and speech abilities, but his natural instincts showed him the way out from under that cloud. Pretending is definitely one of the wonderfully great methods he used to light his path.
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