The Problem Solving Side of Bil

Tonight I saw a different side of Bil.

Only one time when my mother in law was visiting up here (which she does usually just once a year) Bil has stayed with us rather than  his other brother.   His other brother and his wife have a larger house, with a pool, and had a guest bedroom.  Whereas, once we got rid of our sleeper sofa, we didn't have a comfy guest bedroom area.  But the one time we did have a sleeper and Bil stayed with us, he had a bad asthma attack. After that, he didn't want to stay with us anymore.

Until this last trip.  In fact, Bil is sleeping downstairs right now on, of all things, a Coleman inflatable bed.  At least, I hope he is sleeping.  In the meantime, my sister in law is sleeping upstairs in what used to be our son's room.

My mother in law didn't think he would do it.  Didn't think Bil would be comfortable sleeping several miles from her.  Didn't think he would say "yes" because of the memories of that asthma attack, which I think came about 15 years ago.   But she spoke to him, and he accepted our invitation.  However, it turned out it was because of something that had happened earlier this year.

Earlier this year I blogged about my mother in law and Bil staying over as houseguests (along with my sister in law) at this same brother's lakeside cottage about an hour away from here.  Turns out Bil was very unhappy there, because he didn't have his own room. So he hatched a little scheme, to have someone drive him back here the next time the family stays over (he's already anticipating a visit to the lake cottage next year) and he would sleep with us bac in town.  (There isn't enough room there for everyone at the cottage, so we did not sleep over.) Turns out he jumped on this invite as a kind of "dry run" to make sure he would be happy doing this.

Who says people with autism don't try to problem solve in their own way.