New Entry from Jody’s Spectrum Scene Blog:

There’s an article making the rounds entitled, “My Child Has The Kind of Autism Nobody Talks About.” It’s not an easy read. In fact, it really pushes the emotions of this spectrum mom, not because it’s wrong, but because there are some aspects of it with which I can definitely relate.

Autism isn’t an easy road. There are many challenges, many struggles, many difficulties. But it is these trying times which make the milestones, the victories all the sweeter.

I tend to not write so much about the difficult times, but rather focus on the successes, the overcoming, the persevering. I do this because it is my intention that our spectrum boy will someday be able to read through all these entries and get a glimpse of his childhood through our eyes. I don’t want him to ever feel like he was a burden; like he was a challenge; like he was someone or something to be persevered through and overcome. Autism is a part of him. It cannot be separated out from him. It does not define him, but it is very much a part of him.

I could write volumes on the frustrations, the hours upon hours of therapy and work devoted to helping him, not to mention the gallons of tears cried in frustration; but these aren’t the stories on which I want dwell. Yes, these are an important part of our journey and help us to work through the times we get a message saying something along the lines of “just wanted to alert you to some issues this morning…”

Yes, there are issues and for some they are many, frequent, daily, perhaps even hourly, but I also don’t think it’s fair to stereotype all autistic kids into a group which is identified as being nonverbal kids with behavioral issues, Yes, that is the reality for some, but not all. Not Ben. While communication is something we will continue to work on for years to come, he is very verbal, so much in fact that we spend a fair amount of time asking him to quiet down a bit. It’s a wonderful problem to have indeed!

Bottom line, these kids are kids and every single one of them is loved for exactly who they are. And this, I have to believe, is exactly how it was intended to be.

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