Bronies

Friendship is Magic.

Objective:

Have TsukiMoon get and keep friends.

Theory:

The idea is there are universal rules of interaction between people that everyone can learn and then practice.

On the ground:

Netflix has amazing selection of choices.  Much to my shame I watch too much of it.  I couch this addiction as not the best adaptation to the stress.  Recently I watched a documentary called Bronies, an introduction to the world of My Little Pony and the boys and men who are fans; Bro mixed with the word ponies-- Bronies.

In the movie the documentarist follows many individuals as they talk about their love of My Little Pony and why the story speaks to them.  One of the stories was about a person with ASD making his way to a Brony convention.  He planned his whole trip, went by himself on a train and met lots of new people at the convention.  All of this was a challenge for the young man but ended up being a super positive, confidence-building experience.  From this I decided Boo needed to watch My Little Pony.

It was great, TsukiMoon actually liked it.  So much better then Star Wars: Clones which we no longer let TsukiMoon watch.  Too much violence for a kid for a kid who uses too hard of a touch in tag and the like.  I sold the show as really a lesson about friendship and that was something that everyone needed to learn about, including me.  We watched the shows together.  Luckily it is entertaining, I can sit through it and enjoy it.  

Each episode of My Little Pony created by Lauren Faust is funny with a moral ending on how to communicate and treat ponies to keep them as friends.  In the first episode of the first season the main character, Twilight Sparkle, has little interest in other ponies or the desire to be friends with them.  She is given the assignment by the princess of Ponyland to stay and live in Ponyville to learn what makes friendship magic.  Twilight does a poor job initially and wonders the value of friends, finding all communication with others takes her away from her books.  Interested in learning though, she decides that friendship is just one more thing to learn about, much like learning from her books and decides that she will stay and learn more about friendship.  Does this sound like a autistic pony?

TsukiMoon loves the stories and reads the books and graphic novels that accompany the licensed characters.  He reads the books repeatedly.  When he wants to watch the show he will say, "come on Mommy, we need to learn about friendship."  

Has this helped TsukiMoon become a better friend.  There is some belief that children absorb the morals of the books and media they see.  One of the reasons why we keep tight controls on Star Wars: Clones.  Hard to know if it My Little Pony helps, but it does no harm.

Note:  If your child likes Star Wars we like the show Star Wars: Rebels which is about the beginning of the resistance movement and the the characters; made up of two 14 year-olds, mother and father figures, a cantankerous droid, and a older brother type figure.  The violence is more silly.  Each episode is about the crew of the Ghost giving aid to people who are negatively effected by the newly created Empire.