Awesome Autism Parents
If you’re an autism parent like me then you’re pretty special, in fact, you are awesome.
I feel that we were blessed with our autistic children for a reason, and although we may not always feel blessed, we really are the lucky ones.
Before I had my son, I didn’t really know anything about autism. Although, once I started to learn about it I realised that I went to school with a boy who was autistic. At the time I didn’t know it, I just thought he was intelligent, quirky and a bit different to the rest of us, but not once did I ever think he had autism. It wasn’t until I became the parent of an autistic child that I started to reflect on certain mannerisms and was able to understand more about the colourful spectrum that represents so many people.
As an autism parent we are faced with many daily challenges. As babies’ autistic children can often be harder to settle than most children. I was a young Mum, in my early 20’s, with a child who had colic and didn’t sleep well. I remember I would try to put him down in his cot and slowly walk away, but it was like he had a sixth sense and he would wake up and cry to the point where I ended up in his cot with him to give him comfort help him get the sleep he needed.When he went off to kinder and school other challenges awaited us. He found it difficult to fit in with other children and communicate and interact with his peers on the appropriate level. As his dedicated Mum I was always trying to find a solution to things and help in any way I could. We visited many specialists including psychologists, paediatricians, speech pathologists, audiologists, optometrists and occupational therapists.I was trying to get my son the help he needed to fit in, to interact with others to give him every opportunity to be the best person he could be. Did I achieve that? While I can’t say I succeeded, I can’t say I failed either. In the end your child will become who they are destined to become and whilst some of the interventions may have helped him to better integrate into this world, he was born to stand out. We are all different, we are all special and we are all here for a reason.As the super parent you are, you will always do what you think is best for your child. You will constantly be faced with challenges and asked weird and wonderful questions from your child which you would never in a million years think of being asked.
You will have daily struggles getting your child ready for school, getting them to eat the food you provide, getting them away from their device for a few minutes to have a shower, getting them to sleep, the list goes on. You will always have your work cut out for you. And, even when they grow into adults your journey will continue. You will always be an autism parent and you will always be awesome.
SASI Guest Parent Blogger
