Last weekend I was rewatching episodes of West Wing. I won't admit how many. On the whole the series has almost no violence or explicit sex, which I appreciate, but the climax of one season involved shooting,  Benjamin started to get riled up, and paced around the house yelling. I clicked it off. Ok, it was not because I am so considerate. John urged me to. Gradually Benjamin calmed down and we found other things to do. 

This week he was enjoying a Lego movie. I try to sit near him when he watches, and he frequently makes comments to me about what the scenes remind him of. I was reading, but the interruptions were pleasant. It is fun to hear how his mind works.

"Know who he is like? Yoda!" His melon shaped smile holds nothing back.

I looked up at the screen to see a character changing. First his teeth grew into fangs, and then his tongue began to flicker. 

"What is happening, Ben?"

"He is turning into a snake."

Ben has seen these many times, so he knows how it ends.

"That is scary," I admitted. 

He looked at me. The remote was already in his hand, and he pushed the button to end it. He removed the show from his queue, and turned on Tarzan. 

Just like that, he chose to protect me. 

Autism makes it trickier to understand how someone else feels. Which makes his altruism all the more precious.