Parenting children is hard enough already and then you throw in a child with autism. The rules of parenting have changed and you soon find that you  will have to throw out all of those "Parenting" books. They just don't apply. What would child guru Dr. Spock say?

AUTISM: It is a word that so easily sums up this weekend!

YouTube is Scott's newest obsession, seems harmless enough. He enjoys watching Thomas the Train, rockets blasting off, car engines revving and now in the spirit of the holidays-Christmas light displays. It is amazing to me the things that people will video tape all in the name of entertainment. How he came across his most recent video segment I do not know-toilets flushing.

Scott has always had a thing with toilets. Since he was old enough to reach the handle he has always flushed. As a smaller child, we could keep him out with a baby gate. Not long after he would push them over, so we upgraded to the knob protectors. Then all of his physical therapy paid off and soon he was strong enough to squeeze and turn the knob.  So our next upgrade was to lock the knob from the inside and use a coat hanger to open it. Hi-tech huh? Shortly after his flushing tapered off and we were able to open the doors again. That is until now, with his YouTube obsession.

So he is ready for his computer time. He pushes the office chair as far away from him as he can get it-as to not get in the way of his stimming. He stands in front of the computer, he never sits for anything and soon he is clicking that little blue "E." He's online! He remembers that YouTube starts with Y, so he types Y in the address bar and up pops the link. It's a good thing our computer remembers everything we type. So now he is in and then he remembers how he found the toilets, though I still do not know myself. There he goes-getting his "high." How do I know? When Scott is getting that sensory input that makes him happy inside he flapps his hands, stands on his tippy toes (makes me cringe), and drools like a leaky faucet! This is called stimming. I can just imagine how tingly he must be feeling in his gut. While his computer toilet flushing obsession seems harmless, the watching quickly developed into an action. 

Triggered by this weekend's events, we have now upgraded our bathroom door locking system once again, key entry only.

Friday evening dad took Scott potty. Because of his extreme "habit" he must be supervised, watched like a hawk. While dad (the hawk) turns his back to get some toilet paper, Scott quickly flushes the toilet. The hawk turns back around and discovers Scott's underwear are now missing! "Scott where's your undies?" "I flushing!" replies Scott grinning from ear to ear.

Friday night our tub began to gurgle with each flush. Saturday night neither one of the toilets would empty. Today I have a plumber coming over to clear our lines. Well, at least I think I  know where all of his socks have disappeared to.

Parenting on a Whole New Level!