The inspiration for the name of my blog came from our two oldest children. Our 10-year-old daughter and our 8-year-old son have both been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. While Autism may be a convenient label to affiliate with them to help describe some of their behaviors, it is still really too narrow of a box to capture who these two precious souls are. It may be that Autism isn't really the most accurate label at all to apply to them.
While sometimes it's comforting to have that somewhat "solid" explanation to hold on to, I'm inclined to allow my view of them to be more open and flexible. Raising them has presented enormous challenges to my wife and me. But it has fascinated me to observe and ponder on the unique nature of our children. The title "Without Bounds" captures so much more about our children than any clinical diagnosis from a psychologist ever could. It describes the way they impulsively act out any and all desires they have at any given moment. Their disregard of conventions, traditions, culture, and rules is often a source of frustration for us at home. But that also gives me a glimmer of hope for them. I anticipate that their "thinking outside of the box" and living "without bounds" in general can allow them to reach beyond what others may initially view as the limits of their potential.
Example: Atlantis
An example of the limitless possibilities came up recently. Like most boys his age, our son often becomes obsessed with certain themes and brands as marketed by various enterprises that generate products targetting young children. Lately he has become very interested in Lego toys and some of the themed incarnations of those toys. One of those themes is Atlantis. He has been asking a lot of questions about Atlantis. At one point he asked my wife to read to him about Atlantis. We happen to have a book presenting the vision of Atlantis from the point of view of a somewhat recent Disney animated movie. He promptly declined, tersely declaring "that isn't the real Atlantis."
Then, one night he asked me, "Dad, is Atlantis real." I recommended that he explore that question by going to the original source. I said that he should read about it in Plato's Republic. He took to that idea enthusiastically. I had an old copy of the book given to me by a friend in college. Our son and I had an exhilirating run throughout our house, searching from bookcase to bookcase for the book. We finally found it on a shelf in the family room downstairs. He happily clutched the precious book in his hands as we climbed the stairs up to his bedroom, at one point declaring that he was going to become a diver when he was older. His excitement was thrilling for me to see. He had in mind an exciting journey of discovery and adventure. Of course I recognize this was induced by the very Disney movie he had earlier rejected, as well as the depictions of Atlantis shown by the Lego toys. But it overjoyed me to see him aggressively pursuing his ambitions to the extent that he could as a young boy. And now here he was, with the secrets to Atlantis to be found buried within the words of Plato himself. Later that night I found him with the book in bed, scanning through the book searching for clues about Atlantis. He soon tired and fell asleep.
Of course I'm not so deluded to really believe that my boy is just going to start plowing through Plato's Republic. This is the same boy that sometimes can't even get through his comic books on his own unless Dad is there to help him read. In fact, as I peeked at the place he had marked with a scrap paper, I discovered that he had actually made it as far as page 'x' of the introduction. The introduction start on page 'viii.' :) It truly would be neat to see him explore the ideas of mathematics and philosophy presented by Plato. But I'm pretty sure he will quickly tire of the plan and give up. Nevertheless, I was so impressed by his willingness to branch out just a hair. I feel like one day just such a whim will truly captivate him or his sister and lead him or her through fantastic growth and learning. I can't wait to see that, because I really love seeing the sparkle in the eyes of my son and daughter as they reach for their dreams, reaching well byond the bounds that most of us seem to stay behind.
