Advice

I have gotten quite a bit of advice over the years from family, friends, teachers/therapists, busboys at McDonalds. You get the idea. This may sound strange but I love getting advice from people. This is mostly because you never know when you will get the random 'gem'. For example, recently it was the tip to pin a washcloth to my autistic son's shirt to keep him from chewing his way through another wardrobe. Very helpful. I have to admit though, that I enjoy the 'bad' advice as much as the helpful ones. I have certainly had a lot of those too. My all time favorite came a couple of years ago from my son's ABA behavioral therapist. He was going through a particularly aggressive stage at the time. This posed a real threat to his younger brother who was only about two years old at the time. I had found the toddler with marks on his neck looking suspiciously like fingerprints after I had put them to bed one night. The two year old immediately became my new roommate. When I discussed the situation with his therapist, her bright idea was, "Don't ever let him out of your sight." Sounds easy enough right? To answer the question I am sure you are all thinking, no, she did not have any kids of her own. She couldn't believe it when I told her I didn't think that was going to work out for me. She laid it on pretty thick, reprimanding me for not putting my child's safety first. So I finally told her I would do my best. But here's a warning for all of you, "Don't try this at home". People look at you funny when they see a four year old duct taped to your leg.