What's So Funny, Anyway?

4am.

Oliver roused the household of sleepy occupants with his loud and contagious laughter. I have no idea what was so funny but it must have been really something considering the gales of squeals and giggles coming from his room.

I've only recently read that "inappropriate" laughter is an indicator of autism and I'm sure that is well-documented and said with good reason. But I don't care; I like it. No, I love it when he does that. It is not, in my mind, a sign of pathology. It is a sign of Spring, of Hopefulness, of Character, of Light, and that there are good things that have happened to my boy in his short years with us. That there are good things to come.

With any other kid I might have gone into his room and, considering the hour, demanded: "What's so funny?" But with Oliver I didn't need to do that.

Maybe, just maybe, the laughter is the message.