A Picture Says a Thousand Words

Tonight we had a Relief Society activity and they provided daycare for the kids, so Jackson and Carter went off to play while I had some much needed adult interaction.  When the meeting was over and I got the boys, they came tearing into the cultural hall with papers they had colored in their hands, running around like caged animals that had just been set free.  After the initial burst into the hall, I herded them over to me and had them help me put away some of the folding chairs, which they were super proud to help do.  They also helped carry some items to the kitchen, which made Mommy proud of their helpful little attitudes.  It wasn't until we were in the hallway on  our way to the car that I saw what they had drawn.  I could not believe what was on Jackson's picture.

It was actually a picture of something!!!  (Usually he just draws math equations when given a blank piece of paper or something of the same nature.)  This is huge!!  He totally used his imagination and that is a very big milestone for a child with autism.  I've never seen him draw something like this before.  The first thing when looking at the picture with him that caught my eye was the "To Shea."  I asked him if it said, "To Shea" and he said, "Yes, I made it for you.  You're Shea."  (I have no idea why he didn't just write "Mommy!")  Then I told him how much I liked the rainbow and I asked who was under the rainbow and he said that it was him and then he continued to describe what was in the picture.  He told me that he was holding an umbrella and that it was raining and the rain was coming out of the sky.  Then he asked if we could hang it on the fridge when we got home.  You had better believe that I told him yes!  I told him that I was never going to get rid of it and that I love it!  I was completely blown away by his picture!  I have no idea if the girls watching him helped him draw it or not, but I'd really like to know if they did.  I'm going to try to find out, but even if they did help it's obvious that he did the actual drawing and just the fact that he would want to draw something like this instead of numbers or math problems is incredible!