Friends

Tuesday is Scout night. The night my son looks forward to all week. His time with only Mom and  his "boys".

Having a child with Autism is very different. Nico doesn't make friends easily, especially those that are his age. But through Cub Scouts, he has blossomed. He has made his first "real" friend, A. He's been invited over to A's home. Tonight A loaned Nico a Wii game. But the most touching thing about this friendship is the empathy flowing from this other 7 year old boy. Even though Nico begins each meeting anxiously on the peripheral of the group by the end of the night he is comfortably in the middle of a gaggle of running boys playing "Zombies" or some other such game, thanks to his friend A.  A is very sensitive to Nico's thoughts, emotions and the sources of his frustrations.

Tonight's meeting begin no differently. The boys were showing one another their collections. Nico was watching from the side. I'm not sure what, if anything was said, or if Nico even knew A had this particular game. Under normal circumstances, Nico would have begun "stimming" upon realizing someone had something or anything relating to his favorite character. But Nico sat quietly in his chair as one by one,  the boys begun to share their collections with the Den. Nico's friend, A, leaned over and asked me if Nico would like to borrow a Wii game. I asked A. "Which one?' and he pulled out Epic Mickey. Nico's face lit up upon seeing his favorite character and begun bouncing in his seat. I'm not sure how A knew Nico would love  that particular game or that Mickey is one of his favorite characters, but he did. Just as a best friend should.