Aspies tend to have difficulty making stuff up, but certainly they can share observations. In fact they're very effective at reporting details accurately, especially if it's something they're interested in.
An example I've used was from when difficult child 3 was about 6 years old. He had the window open while we were driving but as the car picked up speed he had to shut it. He told us, "The wind is poking my eyes."
You will find that Aspies & autistics tend to be especially fascinated with aniimal behaviour, because for them it is a key to understanding human behaviour. They generally do want to fit in and seem normal, but at a basic level they always feel different. That's why Temple Grandin called one of her books "An Anthropologist on Mars" - because she alwasy feels like she's observing an alien culture,when she's trying to understand normal social behaviour.
What they find important in something they want to share, may not be what you would find significant. For example, when we went to Sydney's Summit Restaurant for easy child's 21st birthday, difficult child 3 wrote about it for school.
Here is what he wrote, with names of people modified for the site, of course! He was 9 years old at the time he wrote this. Remember, he is autistic with history of language delay - even by this stage he was showing how much he had caught up on language. But he was still showing, by what he chose to report, that he definitely is on the spectrum! Note his careful attention to punctuation and grammar - classic indication of his hyperlexia.
"The Summit Restaurant
Location: Australia square
We went to the Summit to celebrate easy child's birthday. We went with easy child's boyfriend BF1, Grandma, Cousin and her husband, easy child's friends M and N, easy child 2/difficult child 2, difficult child 1, Dad, Mum and Me!
The Summit was on floor 47.
The lift was going very fast; I didn't feel it! difficult child 1's ears popped. Unbelievable!
When we sat down I realised the floor was moving.
Why the floor was moving it was because it was a revolving restaurant. We moved from North to East, East to South, South to West, and West back to North. Each time the direction changes you get a different view of Sydney. It goes the whole way round in just an hour and a half. There were windows all the way round the restaurant. There was some seafood for lunch. I ate a lot. I ate, ate, ate, ate, ate and ate until I could eat no more. I ate salami sandwiches and ham and salad. And the desserts? There was a lot such as chocolate brownies (yummy), profiter rolls (I didn't like those), there were also cheesecakes, lemon tarts, and difficult child 1's favourite; creme caramel. Then they brought in easy child's birthday cake. It was this big! The cake was full chocolate cake with strawberries and really thick chocolate icing. YUM!
Next I played a game of sensory chess. This chess set was pegged and computerised.
Soon it was time to go. Our lift was H4. We went in the lift. The ride took seconds. Then we went home. Then I played a game of Pictionary.
I had a wonderful time!"
Say no more!
Terry, do make sure you write down all these wonderful things and keep files like I did. I've had such a kick just re-reading what difficult child 3 wrote 6 years ago.
Note that what he wrote was pure reporting. Recount. He also noted things important to him, such as the number of floors and the number of the lift we were in. The chess game is a miniature hand-held computer version, you cna play single player against the machine, which gives us a break. We let him play it when in public and he's getting fed up or has had enough. We used to give him schoolwork to settle him in similar ways. The restaurant was a bit noisy, plus after we'd been round one full rotation, he had already memorised the views and was no longer interested.
Marg
