The boy who cried "lalaloopsy"
For those that don't know, the majority of individuals on the autism spectrum get chained to something for a extremely long time. Might be a sentence, a toy, a show, and they won't stop enjoying that said desire for years! My 5-year obsession was based on trains and Legos, and it wasn't really nothing out of the ordinary. My cousin however, his favorite obsession was based on the now dead franchise Lalaloopsy. It was basically dolls that had buttons for eyes, and a slew of toy sets came out for years. Many people say it's wrong for boys to play with girl toys, and yes, while many people, a couple from my family agree with this statement, I feel it's right for a kids to interact with a wide variety of toys, despite being targeted for different genders. I never made fun of him for playing with a girl targeted toy, and in fact, I even joined him sometimes and played with him. There was someone however, who made so much damage to my cousin without even realizing it, that it changed him. In today's blog, I'm going to explain the story of my cousins three year old obsession with lalaloopsy toys.
It began when I barely finished the fifth grade, about six years ago, and I clearly remember this because this went through for the majority of my middle school experience. He came over to my house and we were watching the TV. When the commercials came up, me and my cousin came upon our first lalaloopsy ad. They were recently new, so I never heard of them before this commercial came about. I had no interest in the commercial, but my cousin literally got his face next to the TV screen. The main reason why he gained a huge interest in them was because his favorite movie at the time was Caroline (you should really watch it if you never seen it) and the button eyes reminded him of that movie. The next day when I went over to visit him at his house (a few years back during summer for three years, one would go to the other persons house, and vice versa everyday for summer (if our moms weren't busy), he asked his mom if he could've brought him the mini figure that he saw on TV. She answered yes without a second thought only because she didn't knew that it was intended for girls. Once we arrived to target and we found a aisle just on the franchise, his mom answered "are you sure this is the right toy?" As he grabbed a set of two small lalaloopsy toys, he answered "I want this one!" I saw his mom's face, and it said it all. She managed to pay for the toy, and arrive back home without saying what was bugging her. He couldn't be any happier when he opened the box and began playing with them. I swear, when I asked him to play with me on his console, he chose to play with his mini figures instead. Fast forward towards the end of summer, and he had a Ferris wheel, an ice cream truck, a mall, and a huge (and medium) stuffed doll based on them. Six months later, and all of his conversations started off with his favorite toy. One year later after his first toy, and he had around twenty mini figures, four stuffed dolls, and even a poster. At this point, you guys probably know where this is going. Since my cousin had mild autism (and still does), it basically prevents him from knowing that playing with these specific toys is "wrong" because that's how society thinks. Now that I'm older, I realize that the first part might be right, but society should just accept our lifestyle choices because it's not their life. I for one accept that my cousin played with girl toys because it made him happier than I ever seen him, and people who are happy should deserve to be happy, no matter how weird it might be.
The first year of his obsession stayed constant, but once the second year of his obsession came, it escalated more quicker than time itself. I was two weeks into the seventh grade, when I saw my cousin arriving at my house, bringing a medium sized lalaloopsy stuffed doll with him. Before this date, he would never let his toys leave his house (with the exception of him taking them home, of course). The rare days where he would let some of his toys see the light of the day, he would only play with them during car trips, and leave them inside the car. But that day when I was working on my math homework, he was playing with his stuffed doll, in my house. I mean yes, I would carry a large lego head with lego pieces with me almost anywhere as well, but as much as I don't want this to sound discriminating, I wasn't made fun of. During winter break of the same year, he began carrying that doll with him everywhere. At this point, I sort of began to become self-aware about my disability, so I was my cousins eyes and saw what others thought of him carrying a girls toy. To be fair, it wasn't that bad. In fast-food restaurants, people wouldn't bother him at all. Their was the rare occasion of someone staring at him however, and twice, two different people turned around to continue staring at my cousin. When my aunt was paying for her phone at sprint, I heard a woman mummer right next to me "what is that boy doing with a girl's toy?" My cousin was on the other side of me testing the phones on the shelf like me and that woman, while my aunt was paying for her phone. It was extremely upsetting that society couldn't accept a boy playing with a girls toy, since it isn't that hard to accept. My cousin never realized this at all, and I'm glad he didn't. He went through all the stars, all the comments, all of the disagreements, and he still enjoyed playing with the stuffed doll. It made him happy when he felt upset, and anything that can do that, should deserve to be a part of someone's life. Once the third year and final year of his obsession came about, not only was the franchising dying, but so was his love towards his toys.
If what I about to say never occurred, I'm pretty sure his obsession would've lasted way longer, maybe even to this date still. Once the eight grade started and my cousin began his first year at middle school, the whole franchise basically died. I noticed this when I went to target without him and their weren't any lalaloopsy toys on any shelf. He still carried the same stuffed doll after two years and his toys and he wouldn't let go. When I even mentioned that they weren't even selling the toys anymore, it only gave him a bigger reason to keep the toys for longer. He responded "well, I'll just keep these toys for longer since these are the only ones I'll have." He was ready to take his stuffed doll to his first day of middle school but his mom basically begged him not to take it to school. It worked, but only for about a week. Basically, middle school, where everything is rougher, and now older kids pick on the new kids. My cousin was bullied three times in elementary school, so my aunt knew if she allowed him to leave with the doll, she would've added one more towards the bullying count. In my perspective, the whole him being bullied for anything is just wrong. It's so unfair that someone is bullied for liking something that society considers wrong. Anyways, my cousin just couldn't any longer, so he snuck his stuffed doll in his backpack because he couldn't handle being without his doll in school any longer (he is still pretty sneaky). For half of the day in school, nobody said anything to him. When lunchtime came however, he was sitting all by himself eating lunch using one hand while having his doll on his other hand (his old friends had moved to another school). He was wondering around the school when he sat down on a lonely bench. You guys can probably imagine what's about to happen, but keep in mind that it wasn't a student who bullied him this time. A staff member came and sat down next to him and noticed him holding a stuffed doll with him. Although I'm not exactly sure what he said to my cousin, he said say something like "Why are you carrying a girls doll. If you want to be a real man, you have to get rid of that stupid thing." The last sentence felt extremely accurate to what he actually said because I know he said stupid in one point of his sentence. Since my cousin hated bad words during this time and it was towards his doll, it got him extremely emotional and he ran towards the office crying. Of course, his mom was called that his child came in running to the office saying that an adult called his stuffed doll stupid. The staff member was of course notified that he was autistic and he was basically attached to that doll, but not for long afterwards.
The staff member didn't realize what happened after this whole incident, because what I had to go through was painful. At this point I was almost completely self-aware (a later incident that I had later my eight grade year completely got me self-aware, and yes I blogged it), and when I arrived at his house two days after the incident, his three posters was gone, and all the mini figures were gone. He only had his stuffed doll in his hands, but he had a trash can next to him, and he was ready to throw it away. I asked him "what are you doing?" I of course knew about the whole incident before I arrived at his house, but I didn't know it had affected him this badly. I pretty much saw anger in his eyes as he starred at the stuffed doll that he was holding. It was also kind of my fault for sharing some of my learning about being self-aware because when he answered "I can't believe people had been making fun of me for carrying this doll with me", I knew that some of it was my fault. It made me extremely mad however that society managed to show my cousin that him playing with a stuffed doll was considered wrong. It got me extremely angry when I realized that an adult was a reason why cousin stopped loving his toys. When he said "The office people were laughing at me when I told them what happened", I got mad and I said "Look, if you want to throw away your stuffed doll, then fine." He took one last peek at it, and threw it away. And what that, his three-year obsession on lalaloopsy toys came to an end. You know society is terrible now in days when I expected my cousin to be discriminated at one point. As bad as it sounds, I didn't tell my cousin that playing with a girls toy was wrong, because it was the thing that was making him the most happy, and I knew that somehow society would've caught up with him. He didn't enjoy the rest of sixth grade as a result of this, and because of this (and another thing that's way too personal to say), he ended up moving schools for the seventh grade and he is a eight grader currently at the same school, with three amazing friends of him. It was great for him to switch schools in a way because he made new friends that accepted him for who he is, and I'm glad that he's still friends with them to this date.
Whenever I remind my cousin that he had that obsession of his, he answers "please don't remind me." This is just one of million stories of people being discriminated like this because not many people know a lot about autism. People don't understand that that doll meant so much to him and it made him happy. This is why I blog, so people can become more aware about people like me and my cousin and begin to accept us and our choices. I hope you guys enjoyed my blog, as always I hoped you enjoyed it and follow this page if you'd want to see my blogs before I publicize it.
Just know that society can't break your desires, no matter how weird they are :)
It began when I barely finished the fifth grade, about six years ago, and I clearly remember this because this went through for the majority of my middle school experience. He came over to my house and we were watching the TV. When the commercials came up, me and my cousin came upon our first lalaloopsy ad. They were recently new, so I never heard of them before this commercial came about. I had no interest in the commercial, but my cousin literally got his face next to the TV screen. The main reason why he gained a huge interest in them was because his favorite movie at the time was Caroline (you should really watch it if you never seen it) and the button eyes reminded him of that movie. The next day when I went over to visit him at his house (a few years back during summer for three years, one would go to the other persons house, and vice versa everyday for summer (if our moms weren't busy), he asked his mom if he could've brought him the mini figure that he saw on TV. She answered yes without a second thought only because she didn't knew that it was intended for girls. Once we arrived to target and we found a aisle just on the franchise, his mom answered "are you sure this is the right toy?" As he grabbed a set of two small lalaloopsy toys, he answered "I want this one!" I saw his mom's face, and it said it all. She managed to pay for the toy, and arrive back home without saying what was bugging her. He couldn't be any happier when he opened the box and began playing with them. I swear, when I asked him to play with me on his console, he chose to play with his mini figures instead. Fast forward towards the end of summer, and he had a Ferris wheel, an ice cream truck, a mall, and a huge (and medium) stuffed doll based on them. Six months later, and all of his conversations started off with his favorite toy. One year later after his first toy, and he had around twenty mini figures, four stuffed dolls, and even a poster. At this point, you guys probably know where this is going. Since my cousin had mild autism (and still does), it basically prevents him from knowing that playing with these specific toys is "wrong" because that's how society thinks. Now that I'm older, I realize that the first part might be right, but society should just accept our lifestyle choices because it's not their life. I for one accept that my cousin played with girl toys because it made him happier than I ever seen him, and people who are happy should deserve to be happy, no matter how weird it might be.
The first year of his obsession stayed constant, but once the second year of his obsession came, it escalated more quicker than time itself. I was two weeks into the seventh grade, when I saw my cousin arriving at my house, bringing a medium sized lalaloopsy stuffed doll with him. Before this date, he would never let his toys leave his house (with the exception of him taking them home, of course). The rare days where he would let some of his toys see the light of the day, he would only play with them during car trips, and leave them inside the car. But that day when I was working on my math homework, he was playing with his stuffed doll, in my house. I mean yes, I would carry a large lego head with lego pieces with me almost anywhere as well, but as much as I don't want this to sound discriminating, I wasn't made fun of. During winter break of the same year, he began carrying that doll with him everywhere. At this point, I sort of began to become self-aware about my disability, so I was my cousins eyes and saw what others thought of him carrying a girls toy. To be fair, it wasn't that bad. In fast-food restaurants, people wouldn't bother him at all. Their was the rare occasion of someone staring at him however, and twice, two different people turned around to continue staring at my cousin. When my aunt was paying for her phone at sprint, I heard a woman mummer right next to me "what is that boy doing with a girl's toy?" My cousin was on the other side of me testing the phones on the shelf like me and that woman, while my aunt was paying for her phone. It was extremely upsetting that society couldn't accept a boy playing with a girls toy, since it isn't that hard to accept. My cousin never realized this at all, and I'm glad he didn't. He went through all the stars, all the comments, all of the disagreements, and he still enjoyed playing with the stuffed doll. It made him happy when he felt upset, and anything that can do that, should deserve to be a part of someone's life. Once the third year and final year of his obsession came about, not only was the franchising dying, but so was his love towards his toys.
If what I about to say never occurred, I'm pretty sure his obsession would've lasted way longer, maybe even to this date still. Once the eight grade started and my cousin began his first year at middle school, the whole franchise basically died. I noticed this when I went to target without him and their weren't any lalaloopsy toys on any shelf. He still carried the same stuffed doll after two years and his toys and he wouldn't let go. When I even mentioned that they weren't even selling the toys anymore, it only gave him a bigger reason to keep the toys for longer. He responded "well, I'll just keep these toys for longer since these are the only ones I'll have." He was ready to take his stuffed doll to his first day of middle school but his mom basically begged him not to take it to school. It worked, but only for about a week. Basically, middle school, where everything is rougher, and now older kids pick on the new kids. My cousin was bullied three times in elementary school, so my aunt knew if she allowed him to leave with the doll, she would've added one more towards the bullying count. In my perspective, the whole him being bullied for anything is just wrong. It's so unfair that someone is bullied for liking something that society considers wrong. Anyways, my cousin just couldn't any longer, so he snuck his stuffed doll in his backpack because he couldn't handle being without his doll in school any longer (he is still pretty sneaky). For half of the day in school, nobody said anything to him. When lunchtime came however, he was sitting all by himself eating lunch using one hand while having his doll on his other hand (his old friends had moved to another school). He was wondering around the school when he sat down on a lonely bench. You guys can probably imagine what's about to happen, but keep in mind that it wasn't a student who bullied him this time. A staff member came and sat down next to him and noticed him holding a stuffed doll with him. Although I'm not exactly sure what he said to my cousin, he said say something like "Why are you carrying a girls doll. If you want to be a real man, you have to get rid of that stupid thing." The last sentence felt extremely accurate to what he actually said because I know he said stupid in one point of his sentence. Since my cousin hated bad words during this time and it was towards his doll, it got him extremely emotional and he ran towards the office crying. Of course, his mom was called that his child came in running to the office saying that an adult called his stuffed doll stupid. The staff member was of course notified that he was autistic and he was basically attached to that doll, but not for long afterwards.
The staff member didn't realize what happened after this whole incident, because what I had to go through was painful. At this point I was almost completely self-aware (a later incident that I had later my eight grade year completely got me self-aware, and yes I blogged it), and when I arrived at his house two days after the incident, his three posters was gone, and all the mini figures were gone. He only had his stuffed doll in his hands, but he had a trash can next to him, and he was ready to throw it away. I asked him "what are you doing?" I of course knew about the whole incident before I arrived at his house, but I didn't know it had affected him this badly. I pretty much saw anger in his eyes as he starred at the stuffed doll that he was holding. It was also kind of my fault for sharing some of my learning about being self-aware because when he answered "I can't believe people had been making fun of me for carrying this doll with me", I knew that some of it was my fault. It made me extremely mad however that society managed to show my cousin that him playing with a stuffed doll was considered wrong. It got me extremely angry when I realized that an adult was a reason why cousin stopped loving his toys. When he said "The office people were laughing at me when I told them what happened", I got mad and I said "Look, if you want to throw away your stuffed doll, then fine." He took one last peek at it, and threw it away. And what that, his three-year obsession on lalaloopsy toys came to an end. You know society is terrible now in days when I expected my cousin to be discriminated at one point. As bad as it sounds, I didn't tell my cousin that playing with a girls toy was wrong, because it was the thing that was making him the most happy, and I knew that somehow society would've caught up with him. He didn't enjoy the rest of sixth grade as a result of this, and because of this (and another thing that's way too personal to say), he ended up moving schools for the seventh grade and he is a eight grader currently at the same school, with three amazing friends of him. It was great for him to switch schools in a way because he made new friends that accepted him for who he is, and I'm glad that he's still friends with them to this date.
Whenever I remind my cousin that he had that obsession of his, he answers "please don't remind me." This is just one of million stories of people being discriminated like this because not many people know a lot about autism. People don't understand that that doll meant so much to him and it made him happy. This is why I blog, so people can become more aware about people like me and my cousin and begin to accept us and our choices. I hope you guys enjoyed my blog, as always I hoped you enjoyed it and follow this page if you'd want to see my blogs before I publicize it.
Just know that society can't break your desires, no matter how weird they are :)
This makes me sad because I know how many people make fun of me behind my back... I tend to get very excited about all sorts of things that women don't usually get excited about! It really hurts to read this because the idea that there are "boys" and "girls" toys is stupid - toys are just toys. Yet another reason why autism sucks.
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