It's Lonely at the Top of Mount Mineenee

One of my fears with having a child with autism, is that they will grow up and never find that special someone.  I have seen an overwhelming amount of children with autism grow up and never date, never get married and never have a family of their own.  I have firsthand experience with Dale (Chris's odest son from his first marriage).  I was constantly trying to arrange playdates  with my friends, asking if their kids would come and play with Dale.  He is a grown man now, still living with his biological mother and has NEVER been on a date with a girl.  He's never kissed a girl.  He will be alone because the social barriers are too much for him to overcome.

Michael is much more personable.  He has had a lot of training through the excellent counselor at our school, to overcome problems and social issues.  He even memorized a little girl's phone number and called (repeatedly) for a playdate.  They did get together and had a wonderful playdate.  I am happy that they will have many more.  Michael does have friends!  Maybe he will break the typical mold of an autistic child.  He has a lot of love to give, and is such a sweet boy.

Yesterday there was prediction of a lot of snow so daddy (Chris) went outside to start the backhoe and tried to remove the snow.  Chris asked Michael to come out and help him, and so they were outside for about an hour.  Chris came back into the house, but no Michael.  We figured we'd let him play outside in the snow.  After an hour or 2, he was still out there.  I was busy doing chores and forgot he was out there.  As I was making our bed, I looked out my window.  There was Michael, all alone on a big snow pile.  Chris had shoved all of this snow (a few storms ago) into a big mountain of a pile.  Michael affectionately named it "Mount Minee nee".  Michael sat on top of this pile licking at snowflakes that fell from the sky.  He loves his pile of snow, but he was out there.....all alone.


I watched him for a while from my window, and felt a mixture of emotions.  The overwheming emotion I felt was lonliness.  I asked Chris to go get him and bring him inside.  When he got in, his little hands were freezing cold.  Sometimes Michael is unaware of dangers.  I suppose a lot of autistic children are....unaware.  He didn't come in when he was cold.  I asked him if he was lonely outside by himself.  He said, "Yes, I was lonely.....all alone."  I asked him, "Why didn't you come in and be with the family?"  He never responded.

This is a fear I have.  Will he get into his own world like he sometimes does and not realize he is lonely?  Will he realize he can do something about it?