One of the funny things about Autism is that Pookie has a set of rules in his mind that he thinks govern all things. We are learning these rules and they have really helped us relate to him and understand why he does certain things. Some of his rules are:

1. Everything that has a beginning, must have an end. If he is flipping through a book, he cannot leave until he has turned the last page. He cannot leave in the middle of a puzzle or a song. He can leave in the middle of a free-structure activity like block building or trains. These things he understand to be on-going, with no real beginning or end. But, he prefers to sit in his booster seat until the song finishes on the car radio. He prefers to bring the half finished puzzle with him if he is forced to change rooms. Our response is to respect his desire to see things through. We sit in the driveway until the song finishes. We tell him to finish his book and then come to the table. He does.
2. When something is available in a wide range of colors, these items should be grouped together and sorted. Pookie likes to draw. But sometimes he cannot get past the sheer number of colors available and he seeks to organize them into a proper pattern. He lines up the markers, usually in rainbow order. He adjusts the group until they are just right and then messes them up, so that he can organize them again. Our response is to limit the number of color choices. We put out just 4 markers, 2 for him and 2 for Geetle. If they want more, they have to trade a color in. This keeps him on track.
3. When things are new, its best to look for an old pattern to help you understand what to do. Actually, we all do this, right? To Pookie this means that if he does not understand what to do in a certain situation, he guesses or just uses muscle memory. For example, he usually puts the milk back in the fridge for us after dinner. He is also asked to put away ketchup, butter, etc, depending on the meal. If I were to ask him to put away crackers, he would put them in the fridge too, because that is where most everything else goes. Our strategy is to give him clear instructions for new situations.
4. Things have logical partners or groupings. If given a deck of flash cards, Pookie will alphabetize them. If given 3 balls, one red, one yellow and one green, Pookie will ask where the blue one is. If he finds Bob the Tomato under the TV stand, he will run around the house until he finds Larry the Cucumber. Our strategy is to understand this, but do our best to keep him from becoming too rigid. For example, we will tell him that there is no blue ball, just play with the other ones. He will hesitate, and usually ask for the blue ball one more time, but soon he will be happy to play without it.