Ronnie loves the Three Stooges. He loves anything where people fall down, trip, get hit, stumble, etc. He will burst out laughing whenever he sees that on TV or in person.
One of our favorite interpreters told me that such is common among people who are Deaf. She said that almost every Deaf person she has ever known finds physical acts such as those very funny.
I get it but there are some times that Ronnie's laughing seems really inappropriate.
Falls are not always meant to illicit laughs. Stumbles are often accidents and the person doing the stumbling doesn't like being laughed at. A person fainting usually finds nothing funny about their situation. But it seems Ronnie can't tell the difference sometimes - or at least he isn't distinguishing when it is appropriate to laugh and when it's not.
I have often corrected him when his laughter isn't appropriate, but he seems hurt when I do that. (I don't do it in front of anyone.) I'm really not sure he is getting the message.
How do I help him distingush a pratfall from an embarrassing or hurtful fall? Any suggestions?
Maybe when he has an accident laugh at him or ask him how he'd feel if someone laughed at him?
ReplyDeleteI don't know but I will be watching carefully to see if anyone has a suggestion. We have the same issue with the Blue Jay - in her case, I blame it on the ASD.
ReplyDeleteAnd even knowing, she's hurt my feelings more than once ... like the time I fell off the arm of the couch, crashed through an end table and cracked my head into the wall, putting 2 ribs out of place and giving myself a whiplash. Yeah, ouch. Meanwhile, she was laughing hysterically.
I know you've corrected him, but have you talked to him, to see exactly what his viewpoint is? I mean, why is it funny and does he understand the other person could be injured?
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's looking at it from some far different POV and doesn't get why you're correcting him in the first place.
Michael ( my wheelchair kid ) does this and so does my non chair kid. When I have asked them both why , they rePly because it's funny to see someone else do it instead. Falling is a norm around here and taken kind of light hardedly . Otherwise we'd all be on Valium . Just a thought :)
ReplyDelete