Gimme a Hug, Please?

Posted by admin on May 15th, 2008 filed in Embracing Autism

Little boys usually show their affection to their parents, siblings and yayas by hugging and kissing them. It is their way of expressing how much they appreciate having these loving people by their side.

With my brother’s case, Carlo was a little boy who wouldn’t hug me voluntarily. It has to be I who will do the hugging first and most of the time, he would reject it. Kissing is also an issue. I would kiss him often in the cheeks, but he will never kiss me back.

I just found out awhile ago that autistic children are usually overwhelmed with hugging. One autistic individual even commented that: “It felt like there is a big ocean wave coming at me and i am being swept and lost in it.”

Before Carlo left, we both kept on hugging each other. Of course, majority of the hugging sessions was initiated by me. He would hug me voluntarily from time to time especially if he wants me to call Jollibee or Mc Do for a spagetti with chicken meal. :)

Special thanks to Teacher Julie
for the information.


5 Responses to “Gimme a Hug, Please?”

  1. Cecile Maris Says:
    May 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am

    I did some baby sitting for an autistic child for quite a while. And as I could recall, he avoided the hugging part every time I left. But there came a time when he initiated the hug, it was my last day of baby sitting. Awwww. You sure miss hugging him. :(

  2. philos Says:
    May 15th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    Interestingly enough, while autistics avoid all forms of physical contact for fear of over-stimulation, foreign experts are amazed by the Filipino autistics tendency to do the opposite. Must be the physical love we give our children.

  3. admin Says:
    May 16th, 2008 at 1:26 am

    @Cecile Maris – Yup I really do. The thing that I miss about him most is that he does the sweetest things in the most unexpected moment like kissing while you are feeling blue and yes, when I left for Manila for my OJT last year :)

    @philos – I do really think that the love of every family member contributes to the emotional development of the child. Carlo has a lot of that especially from me hehe :)

    I just realized that I haven’t hugged someone real tight for the last three months waaah

  4. julie Says:
    May 17th, 2008 at 5:06 pm

    Thanks for the wonderful and heart-warming post. Virtual hugs to you, Mica :)

    @philos, yes, they do some hugging and kissing too but some of these are not really done to show affection but rather as a responsibility to show respect, sometimes, parang pilit. Others seem to just want to go near other people to lean on them. Yes, it is a good point that we physically demonstrate how we feel and this is what they learn from us too.

  5. admin Says:
    May 18th, 2008 at 2:04 pm

    There are times wherein i actually “force” Carlo to kiss me. Ganito pa palagi ang dialogue

    “Carlo, Kiss mo si Ate kundi hindi kita bibigyan ng pang-jollibee mo!”

    Ayun magkikiss na wehehe :p Later on nagiging natural na kung minsan unexpected bigla kang ikikiss. Kissing is also his secret weapon to melt a mad sister’s heart :D

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