In the Light of Historical Wonder

I peeked into Dawson’s room to check on him as he slept, and paused as I soaked in the scene. The Christmas tree stood in the corner of his room and his gentle facial features were highlighted in the light of colorful twinkles. Upon further inspection, I saw that Dawson had strategically placed his ornaments on the front of the tree - the ornaments he had acquired throughout his 8 past Christmases. 

Each ornament represents a moment in his life, a topic that he had been all-consumed with - all- consumed with wonder. 

Like many children on the spectrum, Dawson has had a history of becoming overly focused on, or fixated with, specific topics of interest. This was one of the indicators that helped guide us to identifying him with autism.

And there he lay with all his special wonders looking upon him as he slept. 

The first fixation for Dawson was trains. As his babysitter, Kelli, had shared the Thomas the Train toys with him from her own children, Dawson quickly became all-consumed with trains. He preferred Thomas and Percy, naturally, but he learned to just be excited about any type of train he could be exposed to. Though he was surrounded with countless train-themed items in our house and at the babysitter’s, we found that Dawson found the most joy in just laying on the ground and watching the wheels spin. 

And then, came the Henry the Train episode of 2017 that brought us all to the mercy of 2 day Amazon shipping. Dawson had received a beautiful deluxe train track for Christmas and had become hyper-focused on the green number 3 train, Henry, that was pictured on the face of the box. There was one major problem though - Henry was not included in this set. Dawson became overtaken with frustration - the box showed Henry, so where was Henry? We tried to convince him that his 7 duplicates of the green Percy could become Henry, but he knew better - Henry and Percy had different features, about which he was an expert. Looking back, the 2 days it took to receive Henry from Amazon seem minor now, but I know that as we were living them, they felt like an eternity. 

There in the twinkle of a green light, I see a dangling train ornament representing his first wonder. 

Thomas slowly became replaced with Dawson’s next beloved character - Rubble, the yellow dog on the hit show, Paw Patrol. My husband and I found it enlightening that Dawson was not drawn to the main two dogs in the show, Chase and Marshall, but to the quirky construction dog. That was until we tried to find him toys in this character. Though it took extra effort to find the yellow toys, our family all took the challenge head-on and we quickly acquired a collection of Rubble action figures, vehicles and pillows. Dawson loved watching Paw Patrol and would grin as he would say, “Rubble on the Double” alongside his favorite pup.

We learned, however, that as much as he loved Paw Patrol, a live Paw Patrol event was not the best way for him to enjoy his favorite show. After we had Kamden, my sister came out to visit, and excitedly purchased tickets to take Dawson to Paw Patrol Live! She planned an entire evening and with excitement they embarked on an evening of rescue-pup fun. At this point we were unaware of Dawson’s autism identification, and could not have foreseen the outcome of the evening. Amongst hundreds of his Paw Patrol loving peers, Dawson became overstimulated and unable to regulate in the overwhelming environment. Both Dawson and my sister left in tears. 

Up near the top of the tree is the Rubble ornament hanging from a gold string, flooding me with memories of Dawson’s Paw Patrol Days. 

Paw Patrol continued to play on our tvs, but quickly became secondary to Dawson’s next, and most influential love - dinosaurs. I am not sure what initiated this wonder with dinosaurs, but I know once it started it never stopped. 

We read books upon books about the prehistoric creatures, and I quickly found myself correcting others about dinosaur facts. Dawson and I would get lost in books about dinosaurs and he would love to compare the same dinosaur in 5 different books at one time. There is a series of books called How Do Dinosaurs… in which they talk about appropriate behaviors through dinosaur actions. At the beginning of the books they list all the dinosaurs that are pictured in that specific book. We would always have to start with this page and Dawson would joyfully match the dinosaurs. The first time each dinosaur is shown in the book, you can find the species name written on the page, however, this is not the case as the dinosaurs repeat. I would stay up late at night going through the pages and writing the names of each of the dinosaurs in similar font to help both myself and Dawson have a successful reading experience. 

As Dawson grew, his interest in dinosaurs evolved. He no longer reached for the fictional books, but for the informational ones. He couldn’t seem to learn enough about the extinct creatures. He would become all-consumed with shows like Dino Dana, which would highlight the unique attributes of different species of dinosaurs. Dawson would watch the show while being surrounded by books so he could refer back to the exact pages that species was on. 

As Dawson grew a little older, he became fascinated with the Jurassic World series, Camp Cretaceous. With his LEGO sets, he would transform his bedroom into the entire Jurassic World Island. Using blue blankets and blue book covers to represent the water, and turning his entire dresser into Dr. Woo’s lab. He would take LEGO sets apart to create his own hybrid dinosaurs - specifically identifying what gifts each dinosaur would have based on their unique features. This was truly the first time I saw Dawson utilizing his creative side and embracing imaginative play. 

And though Dawson has expanded to other areas of joy and wonder, dinosaurs have continued to play a role, even if they’ve moved to the background. 

As a true representation of his time of dinosaur wonder, the majority of the ornaments on Dawson’s tree are dinosaurs. But what I love most is that these ornaments are not multiple sets of well-known dinosaurs like the T-Rex. Instead he has a therizinosaurus, a compsognathus, and others whose names I no longer recall. They all hang delicately on the branches representing Dawson’s most influential wonder. 

As Dawson began to learn about unique characteristics of dinosaurs, he began expanding this wonder into current-day animals. As he watched shows like Octonauts and Wild Kratz, he began to crave more knowledge about sea life. 

Making the direct correlation between the prehistoric mosasaurus and sharks, this became his first area of focus. He began asking for books about sharks, and wanting to learn all he could about these fierce animals. And though sharks absolutely terrify me, I began to become consumed in the books with him. As we read countless books about sharks, Dawson would once again love referencing multiple books at one time and compare each fact to paint the most complete picture in his mind. 

It was at this point in his life that he joined his Nana on a trip to Monterey, California to experience sea life first-hand. He had a week-long adventure and connected all he knew about the ocean and its inhabitants to what he saw and experienced.

And there, in the center of his tree is the ocean and sand ornament from his California adventure. 

There on that tree, each ornament represents a moment in his life thus far, each a topic that has helped him better understand the world around him. As I look at it, I see the 8 years of wonder and joy that each theme, topic, character and creature has brought him and I can’t wait to see what ornaments will be added in the future - ornaments of wonder.