Autism: The Mother of Invention

Autism:  The Mother of Invention 

by Pamela Mari

I guess I shouldn't complain.  My son with autism doesn't ask for $200 sneakers.  He doesn't ask for $500 gaming systems.  I don't have to listen to him lamenting about the fact that he doesn't have the latest cell phone or computer game.  His requests are relatively simple with one exception.  He usually asks for things that "don't exist".  

By this I mean he asks for things that he sees in videos.  He obsesses about creations that no toy maker in the world gives a darn about and certainly isn't going to put into production.  

In so wanting to give him what he desires I have become a creator of the un-purchasable.  My Mom used to tell me 

"necessity is the mother of invention".  

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION:

proverb has been defined as– when the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting or achieving it.[3

Very true at our house.  

One example. Joey likes to watch Winnie The Pooh.  There is an episode in which Tigger pretends to be "The Masked   Defender" (or Offender, as I think Joey sometimes calls him).  Tigger takes on the persona of Zorro and does battle with a runaway bale of hay sporting all types of junk that it acquires as it runs through the Hundred Acre Wood. 

The intro to the cartoon mentions Piglet's new "stinky sidekick", which of course is the yucky bale of hay monster.  Joey hears this as "stinky inside kick".  So for years now he's been bugging me to build a "stinky inside kick".  I've been putting him off for years.  But this year I felt he'd waited long enough.  I promised him we would make it at Halloween.  We went to the local pumpkin and flower mart and bought a small bale of hay.  But shortly thereafter he developed a case of conjunctivitis, which in our house are deadly words so I thought perhaps it better to not use an allergy laden mess of hay.  I chose a cardboard box.  This stinky inside kick had arms,  supposed to be a garden tool and a plunger.  I used a potatoe masher and a turkey baster.  It needed a belt and sneakers.  Belt made out of yarn and sneakers fashioned out of cardboard.  But the real catch was it was supposed to drive wildly on a wagon.  We have no wagon.  So we used an office chair on wheels.   The googly 3-D eyes were made of the bottoms of take out soda cups.  Joey dressed himself as "The Masked Offender" by using a bathrobe, a belt, an old cowboy hat and winter gloves.  He was ready to defeat the "stinky inside kick".  

A more recent "invention" challenge was presented to me this week.  In the movie "Lilo and Stitch: The Movie", Lilo and Stitch the alien, reanimate evil experiments like himself, by using a machine that utters:  "Container ready", "Experiment 625 activated".  The machine dispenses a small ball which they then drop in the bathtub and an evil experiment creature is created. I knew my son would not settle for my voice saying the computerized sounding voice, so I took my Iphone and recorded the segments from the movie.  Now, to create a machine.  Humm, I went to Radio Shack and got a small bluetooth speaker shaped like a can.  I could then transmit the recorded lines to the speaker.  But now, what to use for the experiment "pods".  I got sour balls, the round candies, in the loose candy aisle at the supermarket.  I only grabbed a handful because I don't particularly like "sour balls" and didn't want to be stuck with a lot of them after the activity.  WRONG!!!  Half way through the acting out of this scene I ran out of sour balls, I had to dig them out of the water and try to salvage them to be re-inserted in the water bath.  Note to self:  Next time buy enough "experiment pods".  Nonetheless, he was pleased to hear the sound coming out of the speaker and it was successful. 

And last but not least how could we forget the day Spongebob, Mr. Krabs, Squidward and Patrick venture onto  "dry land" in a challenge issued by their friend "Sandy Cheeks" the Squirrel.  This video scene shows the aforementioned characters taking on the form of puppets, on sticks as they blast out of the sea and onto dry land.  This meant I had to create a Spongebob, Patrick Starfish, Squidward, Mr. Krabs and Sandy all in "puppet on a stick" format.  Spongebob, Patrick and Squidward were all carved out of household cleaning sponges.  Mr. Krabs was purchased in the seafood aisle of the supermarket, a real steamed crab.  And dear Sandy Cheeks was last.  She was shown as a real "hand puppet" in the video.  I called the toy store in our town known for horribly expensive but rare and unusual toys.  "Do you have a squirrel hand puppet?"  "Ok, I'll be right over".  After scoring Sandy at the toy store I brought her home to try to construct a "diving helmet" which she wears in Spongebob because she obviously is not a water creature, so she needs air.  I cut the bottom off a spring water bottle and it fit her head just right.  So now my son was able to play out all the characters just as they are shown in the video.  

I'm so happy he's not into Spiderman!