Then I noticed another serious looking little girl. She looks a few years older than Alice and is standing on top of the slide glowering down at the other kids. I see two smiling girls approach her and she waves them away like mosquitoes. I smile; maybe Alice will have a play mate after all? When Alice is drinking her juice I walk over and climb on to the play structure and stand nest to this peculiar kid and said hello.
She says “I went to the Museum of Fine Arts yesterday and saw a sword that belonged to real samurai and the whole suit of armor that they wore from Edo period…” and she went on and on. Like a little adult. I smiled. I ask.
“Do you like playing with other kids?”
“Well” She thinks she frowns.” I do like one friend named Daniel sometimes.” She speaks with no emotion and she never looks me in the eye. I am thrilled I am sure that I have found another Aspie girl! I am so excited I ask my new friend where her family is sitting. I can’t wait to meet her mom I have been dying to meet another family going through what we are. The girl and I walk over to meet her, but there is no her. It’s a dad is reading a java book, no not as coffee book, a high tech manual. I am standing there realizing that I have no idea how to ask him if his daughter has Asperger’s syndrome. Can you walk up and point out that someone’s kid has an autism spectrum disorder? I kind of hint around that our daughter’s are alike. He has no clue. On the other hand he is the one sitting in a park on a beautiful day reading a computer technical manual? The dad probably has it to.
Now I am standing there staring at him with nothing to talk about. I ran over their all excited to meet him and now I am standing there trying to think of a fake reason why I am there. Ok heck if he has Asperger’s he has no idea that we are in an uncomfortable situation. I smile and Alice runs over and ignores the kid and falls in love with the Father. I eventually have to drag her kicking and screaming all the way home.
