Christmas was Christmas. Lots of lovely family encounters, always made a little more challenging by Billy's dislike of crowds. But, for better or for worse, the family get around it.
This was the first time in all of our lives, Billy was able to articulate how he feels in the situations we all just take for granted.
At one point, he sat down with his Nanna and said, 'Nanna, I hate people!' She asked why, and he replied, 'They make me worried.'
Later, when most of the people were gone, Nanna asked if he still hated people. He said, 'I like the people, just not ALL of the people in the same place as me.'
This is a huge moment for him. In the past, we'd have 'behaviours', now we have 'opinions'. It's awesome, mostly because the behaviours are far less extreme now that he feels he can articulate his opinions.
We now have a challenge on our hands trying to help him learn some appropriate responses to feeling overwhelmed.
Right now, when he's backed against a wall, he asks people to leave. Not so good. Or tells them he hates them. Also, not great.
We'll work on escape spaces, and polite ways of expressing his needs.
For now, finding the words will do for me!
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