You Say 'Obsession' Like It's a Bad Thing

One of the first things we were told when Evie was diagnosed was,"You should discourage her obsessions."

Pfffft.

Of course I did the opposite.
She gets on a kick and we indulge her to her heart's content. Sunglasses? Check. Bracelets? Check. Rings? Lipstick? Nail polish, phones, watches, music? Check.
These are her happy and her calm. I just don't have it in me to say,"You're autistic so you love things wrong."
 
And don't forget limiting 'screen time'. 'Screen time' is The Biggest of the Bads.  Her OT was disgusted that we ordered her a Kindle. You know, the Kindle that she goes weeks at a time without touching. She loves herself a phone (and how!) but even that comes down to music. Spotify and YouTube are her two best friends.

Now, my neurotypical son? He's the King of Screen Time. He was 3 years old the first time he sat down at a computer and it was as if he had been born with a mouse in his hand. Talk about obsessed. I never limited his 'screen time'. I was too busy being proud of his mad skills. And video games? He had every major gaming console for years, even when it required numerous family members chipping in to help purchase them. "But violence blah blah blah!" That was never a big thing. When he was 8 or 9 I rented Grand Theft Auto for him. I then sat down with him while he played it and provided a running commentary of things like,"Do you see how stupid this is?", or,"Does this seem 'cool' or 'right' to you?" So when the rest of his friends were obsessed with the series because their parents wouldn't let them play it he was all,"Meh. It's stupid." *poof*  No interest in killing hookers. 

His 'obsession' with technology has earned him several college credits already (he's only a Junior in high school) and landed him The World's Greatest First Job Ever. He gets to do tech support and is making a higher hourly wage than most of the jobs I ever had. And, hey, it's not a soul crushing grind.

Will Evie's interest in accessorizing ever land her a rewarding career? I don't know and, frankly, I don't care. I'm just not going to sit here and say,"It's not normal to want to wear so many watches so I'm not going to let you do it." I wouldn't discourage my neurotypical kid's interests and I refuse to discourage hers just because she's autistic.