Jake seems to have a hard time processing challenging situations. It's typical for children on the autism spectrum to have problems with empathy - to not be able to see a situation through the eyes of another. Some professionals call this "mind-blindness." (See Wikipedia summary here.)
Jake apparently REALLY cannot understand what teachers or doctors are thinking as they interact with him. I have two stories to illustrate this point.
Jake was in swim lessons for the third summer in a row last month. He has been a little hesitant to learn some skills, but on the whole has enjoyed the lessons. He came home one day, clearly upset, and said "My teacher tried to KILL me today."
Now friends, I want to be a parent who listens to her child and takes what he has to say seriously. But I knew this could not be true.
I replied "I'm sure he was trying to teach you something, Jake."
He was persistent. "NO! He tried to KILL me!"
"Ok, buddy, tell me what happened."
What Jake then told me was that the teacher had him push off the edge in the deep end and swim toward him. But the teacher wouldn't let Jake go back to grab the edge, he was trying to get him to swim a bit in deep water.
I told Jake "It sounds to me like he was trying to help you learn a skill."
Again I got a "NO! He was trying to KILL me!" I DID get Jake to admit that the teacher did the same thing with all the other students and none of them reacted the way he had, so that was progress.
Miraculously, Jake felt ok about going back to lessons and finishing the two weeks we had signed him up for. He didn't pass level 2, thus will be in the beginner's class again next year, but I'm ok with that. He's getting a *little* more confident in the water and I think if he fell in somewhere he'd be able to keep himself afloat, which has been my main goal for swim lessons.
Ok. So.
Onward to this week.
I took Jake for his first eye appointment on Tuesday, just to make sure he doesn't need glasses yet. He isn't showing any signs of eye strain, but his dad and I both have horrid vision - and both started having problems in 2nd grade - and I want to stay on top of it.
Jake was fidgety as usual as the exam began, and became more and more uncomfortable as it progressed. At one point during the exam the doctor had been shining a light into Jake's eyes for what must have felt to Jake like forever. He kept squirming and shutting his eyes, and we told him if he'd just cooperate, it would be over faster.
When he had finally had enough, Jake reared back in his chair as far away from the doctor as he could get, and cried out "He's trying to destroy my eyes!"
We did finish the exam, and Jake doesn't need glasses right now - but literally the second the exam was over, Jake ran out into the hallway and curled up in a ball on the carpet while I talked to the eye doctor for a moment.
Nope, that wasn't embarrassing to me in the least bit.