Rest

Our middle son, Mike, is autistic. He is not as verbal as Kay and uses a lot of echolalia when trying to communicate. What seems to come a bit easier for her, is a daily fight for him. He is like everyone else. He wants to be seen. He wants to be heard. He wants us to know that what he has to say matters. He just ‘speaks’ and communicates with us in a different way.
I am always reminded of this especially when I am feeling unwell or if I have just had a rough day at work. May it is because when I am tired, stressed or upset, I get quiet. My emotions are not specifically expressed in my words but rather on my face.
Last week, I was in tears due middle back pain and just doing simple things took so much more time and effort. As I laid across the bed with my eyes closed, I could tell that someone had entered the room. Before I could even open my eyes, I felt this warm, light touch on my cheek. He was cupping my cheek with one of his hands. When I opened my eyes there was Mike standing there. He has a way of opening his eyes super wide, as if surprised, when he is about to talk. He strokes my cheek, like he always does when he is concerned, and he says one word, ‘Rest’.
I smiled and wondered if he was giving me a command or if he was letting me know that he knew what it was I was doing. I smiled and cupped his hand against my cheek and told him, “Yes, rest. I will”. His smile grew even bigger as if I was the child and he was the parent who had given me a command and I was following through with it.
‘Rest’, he said.
Sometimes our autistic children know more about what is going on around them than we give them credit for.