What in the WORLD is that sound?

My head is still spinning from all of the information we learned at yesterday's Easter Seals' Autism Spectrum New Diagnosis Family Orientation Program. But I wanted to share one thing that happened during the seminar....I'm still laughing about it.

The presenter had our class broken into four different topics.....
1. What is an autism spectrum disorder?
2. What causes autism?
3. What happens now?
4. What can I do to help?

During the second session "What causes autism",  there was a lot of discussion. If you don't already know, they don't know what causes autism to occur in a person.....but there are a lot of theories and studies happening. One thing they told us, though, is that it is strongly genetic. According to NICHD, May 2005, "No one gene is responsible. Researchers suspect that there are a number of different genes that , when combined together, increase the risk of autism."

This is something that Corey & I already suspected. We always joke that Ethan received all of Corey's AND my idiosyncrasies. For example, if there is a clocking ticking loudly in a room, Corey can't block it out...it's all he can hear. Ethan has that. I am a schedule-follower, and I don't handle it well when my schedule changes at the last minute. Ethan has that too. I could go on & on with examples. But for this story, you only need to know that it is "strongly genetic".

Continuing on with the story, the Easter Seals seminar that Corey & I were attending was almost over. As a group, we had all decided to work through lunch & leave the class early. But, it had been a long morning...and a lot of sitting. We were starting to get restless. But we are in the home stretch! We are in the "What Can I Do to Help" section, and we are brainstorming ways to address a child's environment...such as using a clock that doesn't tick or having your child move away from the student who is repeatedly tapping their pencil on their desk.

OK...picture this. There are about 5 short "rows" of tables with chairs....4 chairs per row. There were about 16 people in the class. Corey & I were sitting in the next to last row. The man diagonally in front of us starts quickly bouncing his leg. Have you ever sat with people when they have done this? If you are sitting next to them in church, you can feel the entire pew vibrating? Or if you are at lunch with them, the table starts to bounce as well? Can you picture it?

OK....well the man starts bouncing his leg, and because of how he is sitting his chair is squeaking in rhythm to his bouncing leg....short, quick, chirpy sounds. Not loud....similar to a clock ticking or a pencil tapping.

Within SECONDS of this man bouncing his leg & squeaking his chair, 4 people in the front of the classroom quickly turned to see what the sound was just as my husband leans to me & says, "What in the world is that sound?!"

It was so hard not to laugh out loud. Seeing this play out....seeing people getting agitated within seconds....my husband being one of them.....it was soooooooo funny!!!!! And all I could think was.....autism is DEFINITELY genetic!!!!! That's a lesson from yesterday that I will NEVER forget....so funny!