Abel

Written March 2019
by Ember Nixon, Abel’s mom
 

Abel is a 7 year old boy who has autism. Abel lives with his mother, his Papa and Nanny and his aunt who have become his tribe of fighters. 

Abel is very loving, but can be stubborn at times. According to his nanny, he is a “grasshopper and a scalywagger, and also a mischievous marvin”. Abel is the joy of my life, one minute he is intensely into his surroundings, then will jump up and hug and kiss me. He has a joy about him, but will and can spew words you don't want to hear out of a childs mouth when frustrated or told to do something he dislikes. 

Abel loves trains, any kind of train will stop him in his tracks. He also loves the titanic, he will take any legos he can find and build a titanic out of it, might not be exact but they always have the 4 boiler stacks. He is learning to ride his bike right now. He always wants to be on the go so we take trips to the ocean a lot, I believe it's his calming place. And he loves, I mean loves Walmart. 

I believe his strengths are his picture-like memory, this boy can watch something once and will know every line said. His ability to build with legos without directions. He loves to bake. 

Some days we face meltdowns and it seems the older he gets the harder it's been to bring him out of them, but we charge ahead. I believe though the public's view on him is the biggest challenge, they don't get it and say rude things sometimes, and we hope one day people will get it. Instead of lashing out at them, we try to inform them, if they want to listen, and that is where the challenge gets bigger. Abel is working on doing non-preferred activities, he has a hard time with it. We also try to get him to play more with others.

Abel says he wants to be a train conductor when he grows up and I hope he gets to.

My Hopes and dreams for my son are that he can do anything he wants, that he finds a good friend who will stick with him through life or as long as it lasts. I want my son to be happy no matter what and I will try my hardest to make his dreams come true. The sky is the limit as long as I can figure out how to get him there.