Alex does in fact like penguins because he saw them at the zoo. I’m sure of it.
He stood at the glass of the penguin pool of the Central Park Zoo for perhaps 20 solid minutes. The birds obliged, shaking their heads, shooting their cuffs, and plopping into the water to glide past just inches from Alex’s nose. One or two penguins seemed to wave. One or two looked Alex in the eye.
Every now and then all children at all zoos are captured by the charm of animals — I thought for Alex it would be the tiger at the Bronx Zoo who …read more

When I first came across the notion of perseveration, I thought it was questionable. I mean, so  someone stays locked on a subject or activity. What’s wrong with that? Shows they’re able to focus.
Yesterday Alex spent the entire day asking, Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin? Penguin?
You get the idea. Thank god for ctrl + copy so I didn’t have to type the word “penguin” as often as he said it.
Alex has a collection of toy jungle animals and some sea birds. Perhaps because we went …read more

Disney characters and penguins are 15-year-old Pamela Williamson’s favorite subjects to draw, and Microsoft’s Paint software is her preferred medium. According to today’s Saanich News, Williamson was diagnosed with autism at the age of 5:
While normally Pamela draws from her photographic memory, today she references a picture of herself at Disneyland to guide her drawing. The face, hair, arms, neck and torso take shape and colour in minutes – but she exercises her artistic licence by replacing the mouth with that of a robot’s.
“Pamela is a silly goose!” announces the 15 year old.
With a few clicks and drags of the …read more