Humor is a funny thing

I really want Andrew to like Bugs Bunny. I know that at age seven, I was in love with cartoons and especially loved both Bugs and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Of course, unlike this mean mom, my mother let us watch television.

I won't go into all the reason why I chose to not have a television and why I haven't let Andrew watch any television since we adopted him. I will say that, considering the repetitive language he exhibits, I am glad that I made that choice. I would rather hear the same inane facts about trucks or rocks that he learned from a book than the inane script of some television show.

Having said that, a primary component of autism is social awkwardness. I don't want him to be ostracized, so one thing that we (both his father and I) have decided is okay is monitored doses of YouTube. If it were solely up to Andrew, we would only watch truck videos, with an occasional train video thrown in for variety. What we have tried to do is show him bits and pieces of movies and older cartoons, to try and broaden his horizons.

That hasn't gone as well as I had hoped. I was positive that Bugs would leave him in stitches. It didn't. He doesn't even find Mr Bean particularly funny. I tried that today and his response, "This isn't funny." Man, I thought it would be right up a seven year old's alley.

The problem with humor and autism is that many autistic people see the world in very black and white tones. Humor is gray. For example, we went to the library and, of course, we checked out some non-fiction truck books. But, evil English teacher mom that I am, I insisted that he check out three fiction books that he can use to practice reading and interacting with literary techniques (all gray area concepts). He chose a book titled Recess Riddles. Each page has a kid friendly joke and a picture that helps re-enforce the punchline. My favorite joke was this one:

Why is the library the tallest part of the school?
Because it has so many stories.

Now, maybe I'm a very simple soul, but I chuckled while my child stared dumbfounded at the page. He did find the picture of the towering books to be mildly funny. I should explain that he knows all the meanings of "story": a) a narrative and b)a floor in a building. When I spent about five minutes explaining that it was a play on words, all he said was "Oh, word play. Okay." The rest of the book followed suit.

Let's face it, jokes and humor are nothing but figurative language; puns, metaphors, etc. And, perhaps there are plenty of seven year olds who haven't been allowed to watch television who wouldn't get that joke. For me, it's a reminder to keep my extremely sarcastic side in check. It's a reminder of the million and one lessons I need to share with my son. Perhaps, this is why he told me today, three times even, that I need a flat screen television here at my new place. I don't want one, but, if it helps him be less of an outsider, I'd have to consider it.

For the record, Andrew regularly laughs at all sorts of things. As far as popular culture, he thinks the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are pretty funny.