In Cameron’s case, he much prefers fantasy over reality because it helps him to do several things, including blocking out various things in reality that overwhelm him such as sounds, sights and smells. Also, it gives him control which is ultimately why anyone likes to day dream… he can get the specific answers he wants back to his questions if he’s asking an imaginary person.
I’d like to give you an example from this previous week-end, Cameron found a stop watch that looked somewhat similar to a cell phone. He knew full well that it was not actually a phone but for him, this gave him the opportunity to phone his grandmother and talk to her. He asked when she was coming to his house, what she was doing and had a full conversation.
Afterwards, I actually did call his grandmother and he absolutely refused to say a single word into the real phone. When I put the phone near him, he bent right over in order to avoid having it anywhere near his face and ear.
Many times we’ll ask Cameron if he wants to go outside, or to the park, or the beach… any number of places that we know he really enjoys and most often times he’ll say no. He’s quite content to just grab a couple of toys and pretend they are something they’re not but once we drag him out, he has a great time and doesn’t want to come back in.
Once put into the position he’s fine, but given the choice before hand, he’d much rather stay in his own fantasy world where he has control and feels safe.
Given that I’m older, not Autistic and have a better understanding of the world around us…. I can’t blame him for choosing fantasy.
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