Opinionated

Toddlers are SO opinionated! Try to reason with them and their opinion just gets louder.  They think they know it all and are fearless in their approach to getting what they want.  When they’re told no, they dig in and argue their point ad nauseum. In their back pocket, they carry around the tiny human version of the golden ticket – the temper tantrum.

All these things are understandable, and workable, and are usually a passing phase.  That’s how the big humans deal with it…we know it’s just a stage they’re going through.  It’ll pass.

Sometimes though, there is a collision of childlike qualities matched by unequivocal brilliance.  Both spectrums are in full force, living out loud for everyone to see.  And when that brilliant mind is no longer a tiny human, the inability to communicate effectively or accept differing opinions, becomes no longer workable.

When a toddler is “showin his butt” (what my mom calls a temper tantrum) it’s uncomfortable. It can also be embarrassing if we decide to care what onlookers think. Because really, toddlers excel at waiting for an audience before putting on their comedy/horror show.

At the point in time, age wise, when give and take is generally expected, it’s the inability to do so that’s shocking.  Because no one that has Autism grows out of it, the goal is to grow with it. Beyond toddlerhood, temper tantrums are replaced with shutting down, and changes in textures, sounds, and routine might be handled in a more effective way.  But, the one constant seems to be that opinions, opinions, and more opinions, are loud and clear!

Listen to the Podcast: I’m Right You’re Wrong