6thof9

Halloween night: "I am glad that Trevor and Gavin are here to say "trick or treat". Sometimes people are not so nice when Josh doesn't say it." "Well next year you should just dress him like a mime, then no one would expect him to say anything!" "I am not sure about a mime, but maybe Charlie Chaplin..."

I wasn't able to get this out of my mind. If Josh were to dress up like Charlie Chaplin he should know who he is. And why shouldn't he? Charlie Chaplin is a very funny man who does not speak. Would silent films interest my son? Josh is so funny but he has only seen people who are funny with what they say. He needs to see how funny people can be even when they don't talk. And maybe if he sees this, he will want to do this! And silent humor is universal. He could make friends with anyone. And everyone loves a funny person, he would be able to make friends easier! By doing this, I am helping him build on a talent that he already has. Why haven't I done this yet?

So I showed him a clip of Charlie Chaplin on youtube. It was okay. He did laugh but he seemed like he didn't appreciate it totally. So then we looked up Mr. Bean. Josh didn't just laugh, he literally howled with belly laughs. At the end of every episode he would intently sign more over and over again. I have done this a couple of times with him now. I think we will start by just watching, then talking about what makes him so funny. Then is practice (if he wants) making faces in the mirror, using our body to express what we are feeling in a humorous way, fake falls, etc. I am pretty excited about this. So much of the time I feel like we are just trying to survive. Survive school, the house, responsibilities, each other. When we do take a break from surviving and actually live, it often includes rough housing, playing music together, dancing and singing, when what maybe I should be doing is introducing him to ways that he can use his differences to really shine. I feel a new need to hone his particular gifts into something he can use in the future. Mr. Bean may seem like a strange way to begin doing that but I feel like it is the perfect fit.

Here is our favorite episode so far.