My son Braden, who is 9 and has autism, has become quite the little dancer lately. He loves some of Mom's 80's music and has begun to sing some of the lyrics too. Maybe you're familiar with some of my wife's favorite 80's jams, which have become some of my son's favorites:

• No Parking (on the Dance Floor)
• Safety Dance
• Burning Down the House

Braden also really likes King of the Road by Roger Miller and Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz. When we blast these songs in our living room Braden gets all riled up and wants to run around and kick his legs. At first we didn't know he was dancing! Then he spouted out, "Look! I'm dancing!" Ooooooooooooh, that's what that is.

Follow up:

So we move the furniture out of the way so there's more space. That's how we transform our living room into a dance floor. It's quite hilarious. And no, Dad doesn't dance as far as you know.

The best thing about this, from a parent's standpoint, is to see our son so happy and expressing himself without bounds. He's dancing and shouting out his favorite lyrics now and then. Gotta love it!

I'm not sure what the difference is between dancing and having a seizure when it comes to my son. He could be having a seizure on the dance floor and I wouldn't know it. When dancing he has little coordination, feet flying up and down, arms shooting out left and right, but he doesn't foam at the mouth. Maybe that's the difference!

Braden is generally full of energy all the time. He never wants to sit down and stay home. Yes, we can get him to watch a show, but when given the choice, he would much rather get out on a walk and see the flag pole at the Teen Center. Not the flag... just the pole. A bare pole. Haha! He is one unique kid! Somewhere in here there's a joke about pole dancing and autism.

Along with flag poles, he also wants to stop and touch and admire every lock he sees. Padlock, door lock, Pollock, he doesn't care. :-)

Ah, these kids are challenging, but they're also fun on the run.