Autism: Can you Be Spontaneous and Watch a Movie?

On Valentine's Day I surprised my children by taking them right out the door the second they got home from school and going to the movies. We saw the new Lego Batman movie and it was fun. The kids were hilarious though—they were like, “We can’t go to the movies, we need to do our homework first.” I told them that we could do homework later. Which to most children would be fine, but two of my sons are on the autism spectrum, and they were a little stressed out by this sudden change.You see, they are so used to their schedule that they have a hard time when I change it (even for something fun). That is the nature of children with autism. Don't you dare change up the beloved schedule or you will feel their wrath.We went to the movie because I had already pre-purchased the tickets amid mumbling and grumbling.I later asked Jacob if he enjoyed mom being spontaneous and just taking him to a movie after school. He said, “No. I need to do my homework first. But if I have to go to a movie you need to let me know before.” Yup—autism and sticking to the schedule. That is pretty important. Parenting kids on the spectrum makes me giggle sometimes.