Lesson: Don't Say Anything, Just Observe!

One of the "homeworks" from our Floor Time classes about Autism was to carefully observe Diego and notice the things that call his attention. By doing this we are able to find different ways to engage with him based on what he enjoys. This works GREAT! Whenever we follow his lead we get to create a bridge of connection with him. "Following your child's lead" this is an idea that we heard ever and over in our classes. The concept is that instead of creating our own focus of interest for him we should go the other way around and let him show us what he is interested in and join him. I have done this several times now and it is such a wonderful experience. The teacher always asked us not to talk or ask anything or present him with anything, just relax and OBSERVE. By doing this I realized how often we impose our ideas in our children (which is many times important too) but it has been a revelation for me just to shut up and look. One of the things that I discovered is that Diego is fascinated by plants and nature in general.

Whenever he has the opportunity he runs outside to play with the plants in our backyard.(We keep the back door closed because it's not safe for him to be outside by himself). He is always trying to open that door and I realized that he just wanted to play with the plants. He enjoys how the plants move, he loves to carefully touch the grass, he looks at the flowers from very close, he almost touches them with his nose, he likes to put his body against a bed of ferns that we have...it is a whole feast for him. I have rediscovered our backyard through Diego.

I have also enjoyed nature since I was little but as we grow up we lose a little bit our sense of wonder. The other day I was telling my friend Margie how crazy our lives were right now since there is so much going on. I told her how, at the supermarket, I left my car key inside the car and the car self-locked and I had to take a taxi to our house and come back with an extra key to pick up my car...she said that when things like that happen is because we need to stop for a sec and take a brake and I couldn't agree more with you Margie.

In my personal case there isn't a better rest time than when I create something with no other purpose than pure and personal enjoyment so I knew that I just needed to do this. That's when Diego's fascination with plants game me an idea. After I took a five minute brake (I lay down on my couch and closed my eyes) I went outside and picked up a group of the elements from our backyard that Diego likes the most and I decided to play with them in my studio. All of the pictures below are the result of this wonderful resting-creative time. After I finished I had a big smile on my face and the confirmation of the idea that sometimes we really need to stop and become like a child, rediscover the world around us and play. Thank you so much Diego for being such a great teacher for me AGAIN! I always learn the best lessons from him and Natalie :)

Lolita :)

David :)

Francisca :)

Ismael :)

Julianna :)

Noelia :)

See you tomorrow!!!!
Elsita :)