Love the stories. I have a 12-year-old with Williams, would love to get out like you are, and we do so at times, it hard due to his mother is in hospice, so we do what we can.
The hugging and sitting on laps, I just had to laugh, and yes, he would kiss everyone if he could. We have been careful with the hugging, that may have been due to when he was ten he ran into a lady with Autism, was chasing her around the cart trying to hug her, for the life of him, could not understand why she didn’t want to be hugged. She was an adult, I could see in about 10 seconds I had to intervene quickly, did not wish her striking out, and that is prone to happen if you corner a kid, and she was a full grown adult with this condition, so we made a deal, from then on he could pick out one store, it happens to be the grocery store, they all love him, they ask for hugs when he sees them, but that is the only place he can do this, although it is a struggle to get him to remember this.
I would post more pictures, but I am a political writer, not afraid to write anything, have caused some concerns when threats have come in, so I refuse to post modern up to date pictures of him, he should be protected at all costs. But I have to say, I read your articles, it is nice to see that I am not the only one putting up with this, it has been challenging because I am not only taking care of him but the wife as well, he was my late in life surprise (was born on my 43rd birthday, so I had to deal with that as well, but the joy of it all has made every second worth it.
Please keep on writing, I enjoyed reading.
2 Comments on “This Is What Williams Syndrome Looks Like”
Love the stories. I have a 12-year-old with Williams, would love to get out like you are, and we do so at times, it hard due to his mother is in hospice, so we do what we can.
The hugging and sitting on laps, I just had to laugh, and yes, he would kiss everyone if he could. We have been careful with the hugging, that may have been due to when he was ten he ran into a lady with Autism, was chasing her around the cart trying to hug her, for the life of him, could not understand why she didn’t want to be hugged. She was an adult, I could see in about 10 seconds I had to intervene quickly, did not wish her striking out, and that is prone to happen if you corner a kid, and she was a full grown adult with this condition, so we made a deal, from then on he could pick out one store, it happens to be the grocery store, they all love him, they ask for hugs when he sees them, but that is the only place he can do this, although it is a struggle to get him to remember this.
I would post more pictures, but I am a political writer, not afraid to write anything, have caused some concerns when threats have come in, so I refuse to post modern up to date pictures of him, he should be protected at all costs. But I have to say, I read your articles, it is nice to see that I am not the only one putting up with this, it has been challenging because I am not only taking care of him but the wife as well, he was my late in life surprise (was born on my 43rd birthday, so I had to deal with that as well, but the joy of it all has made every second worth it.
Please keep on writing, I enjoyed reading.
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