On Sunday, Andrew and I went to see a performance of the St. Olaf Choir. My niece is a freshman at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and coincidentally happened to be home on break when the choir was scheduled to pass through town. My whole family went together except for David who stayed home.
As I sat listening, I wondered if we would ever be able to take David to this type of event, but for now I hadn't even considered buying him a ticket. There is no way that he would have been able to sit through the two hour performance. It would have been a waste of money and an exercise in frustration for both of us.
David loves all things musical and I know there were a few selections he would have especially enjoyed. But, would he have been able to act appropriately? Quite certainly the answer is no.
David would not have been able to sit quietly, listening to the performance. He would have wanted to dance in the aisles, waving his arms to the music and if he were especially fond of the song he would have joined in the singing. It wouldn't have mattered that he did not know the words; he would have inserted whatever word was running through his head and sung it over and over again.
No, David would not have acted appropriately, because he would have actually given an outward expression to the fact that he was enjoying the music, probably wondering why the rest of us didn't join him and preferred, instead, to wait until the end of the song to show any appreciation and quite reserved appreciation at that.
Honestly, David has some behaviors that I would really like to change and then occasionally I wonder if maybe his way isn't better.
You are so right! I do think that David's way of listening to music - letting everyone know how much he enjoys it - is great! However, I can just see the Holland if everyone were up, dancing, waving and singing. Possibly a bit disconcerting for the choir.... Glad you got to enjoy the choir!
ReplyDeleteAudrey is the exact same way. Loves music and I so want to think that I'll be able to take her to performances some day. Once a year there is a local college here that has a special concert for autistic kids...they let them do whatever they want and Audrey never sits down and dances in the aisles. But then I worry that if I let her do that then she never know how to behave at a regular performance.
ReplyDelete