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everything-autism

Knock, Knock

John’s obsession with having all the doors closed has been taken to a new level. I have no idea what has brought his current obsession to the fore, but I can safely say it is logistically one of the more challenging for me to get to grips with.

IT started with John yelling ‘Door’ every time I entered a room that he was in. It was a frantic race to get in and out before he slammed the door shut, taking with it one of my limbs. This resulted in my nerves being in shreds.  Therefore, whenever I took him his meals, my coordination was all over the place. The food ended up on the walls, carpet, computer and me. John thought it was hilarious.  I thought he was over this particular obsession – how wrong could I be.

He was in high spirits when I collected him on Friday, he was playing hide and seek with his support worker. I heard his muffled titters from behind a door somewhere upstairs, while she pretended that she didn’t know where he was. Eventually we managed to get him to open the bathroom door, which involved a sort of coded number of knocks in a set pattern, we set off back home. “What’s with all this knock knocking stuff John” I asked.

“Door. Knock. Yes.” Explained John, demonstrating by knocking on the dashboard, the window and his head. He looked at me and nodded.

“Oh right, well that explains everything,” I replied looking back at him. I couldn’t help but laugh he is such a funny boy, well, funny man, he is 26 after all!

When we arrived home John stayed in the car while I opened the front door and carried his goods and chattels into the house. I heard the door slam and assumed the wind had caught it. That’s when I heard ‘The Knock’. It goes something like this…..two slow knocks followed by three quick ones and then two slow ones again.  Knock-knock…. knock-knock-knock….knock-knock…..do you get the idea!

I opened the door to find John jumping up and down. “Oh sorry John boy, did the door slam on you?” I ruffled his hair and he got me in a headlock yelling “Knock” down my ear.

That  night I woke up with a start, it was pitch black and I was disoriented. John was jiggling about on the landing clearly in need of the toilet and was banging the bathroom door with his toy helicopter.
“Door mummy peas, WEEEEE,” he shrieked signing for toilet while crossing his legs so keen was he that I understood how desperate he was.

I opened the door to find John jumping up and down. “Oh sorry John boy, did the door slam on you?” I ruffled his hair and he got me in a headlock yelling “Knock” down my ear.

I opened the bathroom door and rushed in and he slammed the door behind me.  I stood there in the pitch black.  It was clear that John’s need for the toilet was interfering with his ability to knock in the right sequence and he was just randomly banging on the door, so I opened it. John shut it again, he needed to get the sequence right or he felt he couldn’t go in the bathroom.

I knocked from inside the door in the right sequence to help him, it worked. He knocked in reply, I opened the door but before I could get out of the way he stormed in pushing past me in his hurry to get to the toilet. I stumbled and grabbed hold of the nearest thing to stop me falling backwards and I felt a warm trickle on my hand. I had grabbed hold of the side of toilet rim just as John was breathing a sigh of relief!

First published by Julie Ellsmoor on her blog Close Encounters of the Autistic Kind