Alex is a smart boy, there's no question about that. But what Dave and I have been wondering lately is: how much does he understand of what's going on around him?
Recently, Alex had eaten most of his breakfast, except for the honeydew slices, which he has been resisting of late. The rule is, once he has eaten all of his breakfast, then he can have screentime.
With a half-dozen small slices still on his plate, Alex asked if he could have the computer.
Me: Did you eat all your breakfast?
Alex: Yes.
Now, clearly, that wasn't accurate. I could still see the honeydew on his plate, which I prompted him to eat before he got screentime.
The question is: was he lying, attempting to trick me into giving him screentime when he had not fulfilled the requirements? Or... was he attempting to complete the ritual, giving the answer which would usually lead to screentime?
If it was a lie, that is a sign of advanced comprehension. It would mean that Alex can understand what is asked, recognize that I am a separate person from him who may or may not have the required information, and that it is possible to deceive me by giving incorrect information.
If it was a ritual, that is a sign that his comprehension is much less than we'd hoped. It means he does not understand the question, recognizing it only as a meaningless sequence of sounds and interaction. His "yes" in that case is scripted and entirely detached from any reference to reality.
It's honestly hard to tell. We know that Alex uses scripts extensively as its hard for him to compose verbally on the spot. We know that he generally prefers to give "easy" answers rather than pushing himself to comprehend (when asking questions about what has happened in a movie or book, for example).
I want to believe it was an attempt at a lie, but I suspect it was not. We've been cautioned before that Alex could be appearing to understand more than he actually does. This is something we'll have to keep an eye on.
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