St. Elsewhere

Just about everything I know about Autism I learned by watching the TV show, St. Elsewhere. On the show, Tommy, Dr. Westphal's son, was Autistic. In fact, in the finale it turned out the entire series took place in Tommy's active imagination.

Those who have met Theo have commented on his spaciness. My friend M-'s theory is that Theo is deaf. But I have evidence to the contrary: one of Theo's favorite activities is playing fetch. We do so with these crinkly cat ball toys so whenever he hears me pick one up or unwrap aluminum foil he comes bolting into the room all ready for our next game.

I suspected he has vision issues since there are times I'll put a treat out in front of him and he can't located it until I literally hold a piece in front of his noise and place it right in front of him. Yet when we used to play with a laser pointer Theo would chase the little red dot all around even trying to leap and get it when I pointed on the ceiling.

I never get a sense that Theo is really with me when we're together. The exception is when he's sleeping on my chest, and in those little moments I can tell when he adjusts to my movement and vice versa that we are truly sharing a moment together. Most of the time it's like he's in his own world making me wonder if there's such a thing as an Autistic cat.