It's All About Context...

In my morning class is a sweet little guy with Autism, I. He is just the happiest, funniest kid with Autism I've ever met. Despite being mostly non-verbal (he has distinctive noises he makes & occasionally will parrot a word we use) he definitely communicates what he wants through eye contact & body language. Plus he's a snuggler, which I love!

Today was PJ Day at school as it was the last day before Christmas Holidays. We were having popcorn for snack before sitting down to watch a short Mickey Mouse movie and I was requesting away, as usual, using his PECS (small pictures he gives us to tell us what he wants).

He decided he was thirsty & reached for his Juice pec. The velcro was really sticky & he was having a tough time pulling it off his book when, clear as a bell, he muttered,

"Aww, sh*t!"

My EA & I immediately locked eyes. "Did he just say...?"

We almost fell off our chairs laughing. Yes, it was inappropriate. No, a three year old shouldn't know that word. But know what, we were so proud! He used it in the right context!

The rest of the day I bragged to other staff about what I said. Yeah, it was also a funny story, but he used a two word phrase, spontaneously & in the appropriate context!

I've never been so happy to hear someone swear before.