The Whole Ugly Truth....as told by my son....

So one of the "blessings" of being on the spectrum is this charming relationship my son has with the truth. It just spouts from him like water from a fountain, like oil from a well, like blood from an open wound....okay you get the point. The thing is, sometimes you don't want your kid to be honest. WHAT? Well let me start with the first time my son shared some of his honesty. It was his birthday. He was having a party. There were many many people at our house and it was loud and crowded and he was probably tired and overwhelmed. (here is where that hindsight thing comes in again) With out warning he stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Okay party is over! Get out!"
     At first people laughed but then looking at the expression on this newly four year old's face they could see he was not kidding. There was a rush to the door as people said their good-bye's. My mother in law is still upset because apparently she did not hear his public announcement and he took it upon himself to approach her privately and tell her to leave.  "I don't want you here anymore Grandma. Go home."
According to her, this was the most painful moment of her life. The fifty times I have had to hear about it have become mine.....
So he tells it like it is. Have you gained weight recently? Wondering if those pants look silly on you? How about that breath of yours? Want to know what that is like? Head on over to my house and have a free evaluation. There have been times when I have looked at him in a loving way, (I thought) only to have him say, "Why does you face look like that?"
Oh well. His observations aren't always immediate. One time he set me up. He had gotten taller and walking through our bedroom he was finally able to see that our television was propped up by four of his building blocks. (we had a rather high foot-board at the time and it made it hard to see the T.V.... so we improvised) He said to me with some indignation, "Aren't those my blocks?"

"Yes, they are, but I am just borrowing them, I will give them back!" I said rather annoyed since, in fact I paid for them....geez what a selfish little kid....why did he have to get taller anyway.....
So like a week later we are at the grocery store and as the food is crossing the belt and the nice lady at the register is ringing everything up my sweet little son is watching very carefully. He asks me in a calm voice, "So are you going to pay for all of that?"
Thinking I had a great learning experience on my hands I said, "Of course son, we always pay for things, we don't steal."
He then shouts...."Well you stole my BLOCKS!"
Totally set me up.

   This goes on and on and gets worse as he gets older, in some ways. In other ways we have learned to modify the behavior and warn him ahead of time what is okay to say and what isn't. He knows what is right, but sometimes it just comes out. For example you should not ever under any circumstance teach my son what tourettes syndrome is. We learned that this summer. Because he will share what it is like with complete strangers and your very well mannered aunt. If he knows something, he just has to tell. So don't share your secrets with someone on the spectrum. Well at least not my son. Maybe this is a quirk that is all his own. Definitely  makes our life interesting....