Old MacDonald
Old MacDonald is one of Mikey’s favorite songs to sing. A little while ago, he was going through a phase of obsession with singing it. It got very grating, very fast. He would sing the first part, “Old MacDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-o, and on his farm he had a…” and he would wait for us to name an animal.
Most of the time, he would say no to whatever animal we had randomly named and then sing the first part again. And again! And again!
Finally, I made notecards with the animals and their sounds. Each time he would start to sing, I would shuffle up the cards and hand them to Mikey so he could sing it on his own.
This seemed to break the pattern enough that he lost his enchantment with the song. Still, every once and a while he will sing it and I cringe a little, remembering the months filled with Old MacDonald on repeat.
Share This Post
About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
Let's Connect
Subscribe to our newsletter for more updates