We Are Still an Autism Family

Hi friends. I'm sitting here this morning, on World Autism Awareness Day, thinking about where we've been, where we are, and where we have yet to go on our Autism journey. I wanted to have a beautifully inspiring post prepared in the queue, but the reality is I'm tired {I NOW HAVE THREE KIDS}. This blog has taken a backseat to my life, and that's okay for now. But I still wanted to share with you...

We are still an Autism family. 

When I began blogging about Caleb, in the beginning of his diagnosis, life was rough. It was rough, man. And any special needs parent will tell you - the beginning is hard. Accepting it is hard, behaviors are hard, communication is hard, going out in public is hard, maintaining friendships is hard, figuring it out is hard. 

And then you see glimpses of improvement. You start therapy, you start school, you read blogs, you research your face off. You keep routines the same so you don't rock the boat, but you try to switch it up because "hey he needs to be able to be flexible one day, right?" But you realize that "one day" might never come, because Autism by nature is inherently driven by routines and schedules and sameness. 

So you keep going. We praise and praise the successes. We post about the amazing strides, the good days, the prep work we did that paid off, communication burst they had...and then we're brought right back down with new behaviors like head banging, arm biting, and toe biting until it bleeds; and then bullying at school.

As much as I post about the blessings, the hard is still there, it always will be. No one wants to hear about the hard, because it makes us uncomfortable. But I feel like it's a disservice to not include it. It lessens the struggle our kids go through, our families go through, our teachers go through. The hard parts are essentially what will bring true awareness and acceptance into this world. 

Autism affects 1 in 45 children. And 1 in 28 boys. 

It's time to figure out what you can do to help. How can you change your frame of mind? How can you talk to your kids about other kids who are different? How can you let your friend know that you love them, they're doing a great job, and that parenting is crazytown as it is, and with Autism in the mix...WOW they're a rockstar. Be intentional, friends.

And to my fellow Autism parents - KEEP ON.