Holy heavens, my twin sons are ridiculous honest. They see an overweight person and there is no hesitation before one of them will yell, "Hey, you got a big belly!" or "Whoa, big butt". The interesting part is, they are truly not trying to be disrespectful or rude. They are just plain honest! I suppose this is what a parent of an autistic child may deal with on a daily basis; autism tends to hinder that whole social piece...what is appropriate to say aloud, and what we need to keep to ourselves.
I don't have any reason to believe that either of my children are on the autism spectrum as of yet (concerns? Or course! But also thoughts of ADHD, OCD, and other behavior disorders, but I really do think it's just their age!) however I am trying so hard to teach them that it is NOT OKAY to say exactly what they see, or what is on their mind! It has come to the point where I will actually start to perspire in my armpits, and I can feel my face flushing through my cheeks whenever I see an overweight or obese person coming near us. I will quickly grab a shoulder, turn him away from said person and try to distract with whatever it is I can think of to do so.
We were at the farmers market this past summer and a heavy woman was bending full over looking at flowers. B points, and yells, "Whoa, big butt!" loud enough for those living in Texas to hear him. AH!
Just two weeks ago, at the local bowling alley, L walked up to a very heavy man (so heavy in fact, he couldn't sit at the table, he was turned away from it and eating), and pointed to his belly and said as serious as ever, "You got a big belly!" I'm not sure what the man said in response, as I was whisking my child out of the restaurant area so fast we left skid marks.
I'm hoping it's just a phase they grow out of, and with repeated attempts at my explanations that it is NOT OKAY to say anything about someone's butt, belly, penis, or boobs, they they may figure it out by the time they are teenagers.
Wish me luck!
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