Monday 14 March 2016

Getting into the television

Jane and I were walking through a nearby park.  The sun was shining and if you stepped off the shady path into the sun you could almost forget the chilly breeze.  A gentleman with a dog, a big coat and hat walked past us.  Jane was busy commenting on some crocuses that were coming up through the grass.  As she looked back she saw the gentleman and said to me, "Look, I can see Sven."

Of course, she was talking about Sven from Disney's Frozen. By the time I'd figured out what she was saying, the gentleman was a bit far away to say hello, so we talked for a moment how we might see him again another day.  I also made a mental note to talk again to Jane, who is nearly three years old, about not talking to strangers without mummy or daddy.

Then, Jane announced that she had an idea. She'd figured out how we could see 'Sven' again. "You need to get some scissors and cut a hole in the television." Ahhh.. yes, that way we can get into Frozen.

Jane and I laughed loudly for a few minutes while I talked about how we can't cut a hole in the television.

Wouldn't that be silly, clever idea, but a bit silly.

Kids are going to lose themselves in virtual reality when it comes out. However, the event also reminded me of the literal thinking her brother showed in a similar circumstance.

Anthony is an eight year old boy with autism.  Like many autistic children he uses television and books to help him with his imagination.  He was reading a book from school about a magical adventure. Often if Anthony is reading a book that sparks interest we will try and find a way to allow him to experience this.  For example, in one story the children were transported back in time to the Blitz.  We took Anthony to the Imperial War museum to see what life was like during the war.

However, this magical adventure was a bit too far for us to 'visit'.  Anthony had mentioned the trip to the museum to his teachers and they had suggested he imagine being in the new magical story.  So at bedtime whilst reading his book, Anthony asked me, "But mum, how do I get into the story." 

I looked closely at him and realised he wasn't just looking closely at his book, he was physically pushing his cheek into the page.  Next he got out of bed and put it onto the floor to jump into the pages 'Mary Poppins into a chalk pavement picture' style. Like many autistic people, he has had difficulty with communication and realising the real value or meaning of some phrases and questions.

It was adorable of course.  Then we talked about the real meaning of 'getting into the story' and he is now pretty good at using his imagination this way.

As for Jane, well, we are hoping to visit one of the Disney theme parks at Easter.  This will surely blow her mind.

Links
Our blog - Beautiful Belle has a point about books
Our blog - Rocky reality: Autism and imagination


Autism and literal translation of getting into a show on the television

This post is listed on:

Little Hearts, Big Love


“Our

Cuddle Fairy

Mummuddlingthrough

13 comments:

  1. Oh yes, visiting a Disney site would be like jumping into the TV! Lovely logic from a 3yo and from Anthony, and you can see why to them it's logical because if you think about it, television is illogical (or magic!)
    Popping over from #ftmob

    ReplyDelete
  2. In an episode of Ben and Holly when it is 'no magic day' the fairies are surprised to learn that the tv isn't magic. Guess it makes sense really.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember wishing we could jump into the television and get into the story as a child too. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could sometimes? I can see how it could be confusing for children when we talk about getting into a story and trying to make the leap from doing so literally to using imagination to do so. Thank you for linking up to #ftmob :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm pretty sure I wanted to be in several movies. Maybe still do he he

      Delete
  4. Wouldn't it be great if you could 'get into' books like that - as long as you could get out of them if the baddies were coming!
    How exciting to be going to Disneyland!
    Popping over from SS Amazing Achievements.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thats so cute! My daughter has been saying the cutest things today! She called me a sweet pea and then went on about peas in a pod and linked it to different size families! SO cute!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bless them, both lovely ideas. I remember the first time we took Monkey to Thomasland, he really truly believed it was really Sodor #SSAA

    ReplyDelete
  7. We don't realise how strange some sayings we use regularly actually are to people who tend to take literal meanings, do we? 'Pull your socks up' is always a good one. Love that he wanted to go into a story Mary Poppins style though, as I always wanted to do that! #ftmob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still love Mary Poppins. See it a little differently now as a growd up!

      Delete
  8. Daddy keeps on asking our nearly three year old if she would like to be "on TV" and I can tell from the look in her eyes the whole concept totally blows her mind. It is a pretty mind boggling notion when you think about it! Thanks for linking up to #coolmumclub lovely x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Aww I love their imaginations, its such a shame that we loose it as we get older!! I use to love Mary Poppins too and want to jump into the chalk pictures. Thank you for joining us at #BloogerClubUK hope to see you again next week x

    ReplyDelete
  10. I really love this, I love the idea of stepping into the TV for my Disney fix. I hope you all have a great time. You do really have to think about what you say when autism is concerned. It's something so easily forgotten too.

    Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
    x

    ReplyDelete

I read all your comments and appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me and our readers. I welcome any feedback on my posts and you can always contact me directly. Thank you.

Have a look at our most recent posts:

Follow
@rainbowsaretoo facebook.com/rainbowsaretoobeautiful Ann H on Google + rainbowsaretoo pinterest rainbowsaretoobeautiful bloglovin Instagram rainbowsaretoobeautiful