I'm-a Gonna Say Something UNPOPULAR

Tomorrow, the good folks at the SPD Bloggers Network will publish a post by me which may be met with some backlash, and I am worried a little bit about being graceful under scorn.  I won't spoil the surprise, but suffice it to say that it addresses my take on the whole medicate/don't medicate debate (which is apparently not that often debated I've noticed, just accepted as a de facto protocol).

Nevertheless, last night at Taekwondo, I sat in the parent pen musing about why the main instructor, who is otherwise a very good teacher, is terrible at dealing with my son, and it hit me...this man feels successful at teaching the "autistic" because all the autistic kids he deals with are drugged into submission, and therefore much easier to avoid and ignore.  Mine, however, is au naturale.

Ooops, did I give it away?

I must admit the ones on meds are not as distracting as da Creature, but I would like to note that they are no better at Taekwondo than mine is.  So, if Herr Instructor is so good with autistic kids and all his autistic students equally suck at Taekwondo SKILLS, it stands to be reasoned that what he is actually good at is shoveling children through the machine he has created, not necessarily teaching them to do Taekwondo. and he prefers that they go through the machine quietly.

Going quietly remains one of those life skills da Creature is currently struggling with.  There was, though, one priceless moment in his struggle with silence at Taekwondo....  One day, at the end of a one hour class, Herr Instructor had them gathered around him like usual, and was pontificating (as he is want to do) about how they should do this or that and my au naturale darling did not filter his thoughts like everyone else and said in a voice loud enough to hear in the parent pen outside the room... "WILL YOU JUST GET ON WITH IT?"

I'll take all those parents chuckling and nodding as affirmation that sometimes it's satisfying to hear out loud what you are thinking yourself (but would never say or allow your child to say) blasted at full volume at the very person you'd like to say it to.

Needless to say, Herr Instructor was not amused.

So, see you tomorrow on the SPD Bloggers Network, and let's all talk about this.  I have my reasons, as you'll see, and you might not yet have considered some of what I have to say.