The other day Jonathon and I stopped by my brother's house to see how he was doing since he had to work on Thanksgiving and didn't come home to our parent's house the day after. This would be my brother Richard whose daughter, Kimberley died this summer.
As Richard, Alison (Kimberley's sister) and I were visiting, Jonathon came up to his Uncle Richard and started rubbing/scratching his back. I was quite surprised as Jonathon doesn't just touch people. In fact, if people touch him he's worried that they have contaminated him with their germs!
Jonathon doesn't have the verbal skills to say "I'm sorry for the pain you have in your heart" but somehow he fought through his autism that day to reach out to my brother. It was one of those moments when I realized that somewhere in that beautiful autistic mind he can have more understanding than what is apparent.
I love those moments... when he reaches out from his autism and touches our lives with such great impact.
Showing posts with label autistic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label autistic. Show all posts
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Parents
I would never want to fill a parent full with false hope, so I guard my words carefully.
I'd heard a professional once say to a group of parents "tomorrow will be better than today." I couldn't believe a professional would tell parents that! There are no guarantees that tomorrow will be better... for anyone's life, autistic or not!
What I would like to tell parents of young children with autism... where you are at today, will not be where you are at tomorrow or many tomorrows from now. I would never guarantee it will be better, but it will be different.
Our kids do change and mature in their own unique ways. Look for even the smallest bit of progress. We are with our kids everyday and are used to their behaviors, so I do recommend a diary or some sort of documentation that can be looked back on so the progress can be seen.
We should also count our progress as parents. What are we, as parents, doing to educate ourselves so we can make changes within to help and understand our kids with autism? Too many times the child with autism is the one expected to do the changing and adapting. WHY? They're the one with the disability and in some cases mental retardation on top of the autism! Yes, we need to encourage progress and change in our kids, but also in ourselves.
I'd like to share a quote I found years ago by Helen Keller "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
I'd heard a professional once say to a group of parents "tomorrow will be better than today." I couldn't believe a professional would tell parents that! There are no guarantees that tomorrow will be better... for anyone's life, autistic or not!
What I would like to tell parents of young children with autism... where you are at today, will not be where you are at tomorrow or many tomorrows from now. I would never guarantee it will be better, but it will be different.
Our kids do change and mature in their own unique ways. Look for even the smallest bit of progress. We are with our kids everyday and are used to their behaviors, so I do recommend a diary or some sort of documentation that can be looked back on so the progress can be seen.
We should also count our progress as parents. What are we, as parents, doing to educate ourselves so we can make changes within to help and understand our kids with autism? Too many times the child with autism is the one expected to do the changing and adapting. WHY? They're the one with the disability and in some cases mental retardation on top of the autism! Yes, we need to encourage progress and change in our kids, but also in ourselves.
I'd like to share a quote I found years ago by Helen Keller "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
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