Blind

Today I watched a video on FB of a blind, autistic, 10 year old boy singing "Open the Eyes of My Heart". It was moving. Not long into it, I was crying and made Gabe watch it. I explained how much they have in common. Gabe's only question was what blind meant (after I had already told him what it meant). So to help him understand, I told him to close his eyes. I told him all the things that this boy had to do without seeing. I then asked him if he thought that would be hard. He said no. I asked him if he thought it would be easy. He said yes. So I tested him. I told him to close his eyes and walk to his room... Cheating ensued. So I blind folded him and repeated my request. Without so much as a hesitation he headed straight for his room. I could see him take in when the floor changed from tile to carpet. I could see him take in when he stepped on my vacuum cord. But really none of that really slowed him down much. He even turned in the hallway at just the right time. I thought for sure he was cheating and checked the blindfold making sure he couldn't see through it. Nope. I then put it back on him and told him to walk to the kitchen. He headed right back out the door. He was a slight bit slower and ran into a couple things, but only those things that are out that aren't normally there...my craft table, Christmas boxes, a chair pulled out from the table, etc... And even when he did hit these things, it was not in a fashion that I would have, stumbling and knocking things over. It was with grace, of all things. He easily side stepped them or gently used his hands to locate ends and corners all without much hesitation. This was very shocking. This is the child that runs into things with his eyes OPEN. I've come to the conclusion that, much like a blind person, he memorizes his surroundings. The places that he has spent enough time in to remember. Then he can go through those areas without thinking about it, without paying attention. But if something is out of place, or in the wrong spot, or if he is moving too quickly, we have an incident. This is so he can zone out like he does and do his thing. It explains how he is able to stay in one area someplace else when we ask him to while zoned out. He simply memorizes the location and can be free to zone out. This makes me want to rearrange the furniture every other day.... It also is very enlightening. I'm not yet sure what to do with this information but I think it is fascinating!!