Friday, June 27, 2008

My First Post (Yay!)

I am a mother of two autistic children: my daughter is 13 and my son is 14. My daughter is profoundly autistic and requires much of my attention and help, and has been my biggest struggle through the years...I will fill you in on how I survived later and ongoing... My son is more on the mild end of the spectrum, and is much more independent. I have certainly had my struggles through the years and wanted to "entertain" you with some of them through ongoing blogs and, perhaps, help and encourage others who may also have an autistic child(ren) to identify and share in their own daily struggles (and I know you have loads of them, as I do).

I have also learned that parents who do not have autistic children but may have children with other behavioral issues have an appreciation of the struggles and issues that I have had to deal with through the years.

Let face it, parenting is not easy, no matter the developmental or behavoral issues that may exist or that we (as the parent(s)) face on a daily basis. I've learned through the years that good friends and encouraging adult communication (okay, venting) can make a world of difference to how we approach our next full day of struggles (okay, torment).

These kids are out to get us, people!! Let fight back!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

HI there - Nice blog. I also have two kids that are both on the spectrum. Boys 13 and 12. The older son is HFA and homeschooling for middle school years. We are in Los Angeles. I am doing this alone as my family is in NJ and the father is paranoid schizophrenic.

My 12 year old is nonverbal and not toilet trained. I learned about girls being more severe several years ago at the summer autism day camp they go to. A girl in one class threw a knife at another boy. One girl was a biter to herself with marks all over and one screamed the whole ride for a field trip.

The camp helps my older son learn that there are kids worse than his brother and he grasps the concept of it being a spectrum disorder.

Years ago at a support group I sat next to a Mom whose daughter was at a residential school. I met someone online years ago who put her daughter in a group home about the same age.

I have been writing at my site for three years now.


http://autismspectrumdisorders.bellaonline.com