KINDRED SPIRITS

Yesterday, my friend’s 23-year-old son came to visit. Tanner is pretty social for a child on the autism spectrum, but he became absolutely ecstatic when he met Adam for the first time. Tanner talked for a solid 20 minutes without taking a breath, wanting to share everything about his life and learn all he could about Adam’s. 

My friend and I were amazed at the “kindred spirits” sitting side-by-side drawing and discussing comic books and video games. In fact, my friend kept commenting how, in all six (almost seven) years of Tanner’s life, she had never known him to be so talkative or so animated with anyone.

I was half-heartedly listening to the chatter in the background, but my ears perked up when I heard this:

Tanner: “I’m an autism kid.”

Adam: “Oh yeah? Is that what your mom told you?”

Tanner: “Yeah. Are you an autism grown up?”

Adam: “Yeah, a little bit!”

Tanner: “Well, I have my own blog…”

Adam is an adult with Asperger’s. I had mentioned this to Tanner a long time ago. Apparently, he had held onto this information and sprang to life when he finally met him. Tanner ran over at one point and said, “Mommy, I really like this guy! He’s so cool!”

…Another argument for knowledge being a powerful tool for a child with Asperger’s. Tanner was able to connect to someone with the same “label” as him – someone super-cool, handsome, and totally normal. He was excited, comfortable, and in great company. 

Ya know, Kindred Spirits.

"Kindred Spirits" by Brian Andreas