No soup. No soup. No soup!

Here is your autism story for the week:My daughter woke up today to the sound of Nathan (age 15) yelling at me in the kitchen, "No soup. No soup. No soup!"I am thrilled that he used his words instead of just throwing a tantrum as he would have just a few years ago (without my knowing what he was upset about).  You see, Nathan has low-functioning autism. Anything he actually can verbalize, we celebrate:).I was in the process of making Nathan's lunch for school.  He always keeps an eye on me when I do this, so that I don't put anything in there he doesn't want to eat.  All week long he has been eating rolled up lunch meat, a few slices of cheese, fruit, pretzels, water, capri-sun, and some gummies for a treat.I thought he might want something different today in his lunchbox, but I thought wrong!Kiddos with autism often crave predictable schedules, foods, and routine.  Change is very hard for them.  That is why he ate spaghetti for lunch most of last year.  That is why he took the same thing to school today for lunch that he has eaten ALL WEEK LONG.  It's not that he doesn't like soup, because he devoured it the other night for dinner, and he has taken it to school to eat for lunch before (without the yelling).I may never know why he didn't want soup in his lunch. So, it is a mystery.I still am just tickled that he told me he didn't want soup today, "No soup. No soup. No soup!"He barely made the bus this morning with his new lunch safely packed. My daughter later came downstairs and told me, "I prayed for Nathan this morning that he would calm down."  Thank goodness for answered prayers!