January is National Hobby Month. Hobbies can improve mental and physical health, reducing stress, create avenues of socialization and creativity, boost self-esteem and contribute to lifelong learning. For me, my New Year’s resolutions sometimes center around my hobbies – finishing that quilt, reading that great novel or bicycling more miles. For my son, Kieran, hobbies have provided a way through and around the challenges of Autism.
If watching videos can be designated as part of hobby-land, this was probably Kieran’s first venture. At first he watched the credits over and over. This, coupled with being read to, led to him teaching himself to read. He also watched Home Alone, Big Daddy and Disney videos over and over – leading to speech development. At first, he simply repeated the lines at random. Later, we noted that he used them in appropriate situations. Eventually, he branched out and started creating his own lines. While his communication is sometimes roundabout and unusual, he can now make himself understood to those who take the time to listen.
At age 8, he began piano lessons and followed his classmates after lunch to choir practice. He learned to sit still because he was motivated to do these things. He sings. He dances. He plays piano, guitar, recorder, ukulele, and the drums. We provided him with art materials and he draws and paints, attending an art program twice weekly. (I’m sure the video games developed eye-hand coordination to assist in this.) A high school photography class and a cell phone led to another hobby – Facebook. For a time, the cell phone fed his interest in learning French. He swims, he bowls, he runs, he bikes and he has become very willing to try new things – all, I think, because he was given opportunities to explore new hobbies from time to time.
He is not a savant – he doesn’t do all of these things with expertise. They do, however, bring him (and us) immense joy and provide all sorts of opportunities for friendship.
My challenge to myself this year is to introduce Kieran to another possible hobby or to help him expand into another dimension of one he has already explored. And, maybe, I will find some time to do the same for myself!
Wishing you all peaceful and joyful times in the coming year.