Now, Here I Am

When you know better, you do better. I never thought that I would have a special needs child. I mean, you hope and pray that your baby is healthy, but you just don’t expect Autism. Pre-Asher seems like a lifetime ago. My heart always went out to those parents in the tough situation of helping their special needs child. I knew it couldn’t be easy, but I hadn’t really considered everything they went through. Now, here I am.

What people don’t see is the constant struggle. Parents want their kids to be happy. They don’t want them excluded or not invited. I say parents; I should say I, we, this community of  special needs mommas and daddies. Not just mommas and daddies want these kids to thrive. It affects the entire family. It should also affect the entire community. I know I never paid much attention to what might be needed to be available for these kids to be involved. Now, here I am.

Kennett has a club you may have never heard of before- the Civitan Club. What is this? It is a group of people that want better for our town. They want everyone to have opportunities. They want to fund activities and even playground equipment for special needs kids. They have a Buddy Baseball program and there are plenty of ideas they would like to implement in our town. They don’t focus on only kids with Autism. There are all kinds of kids that want to participate. I never realized there was a need for anything like this. Now, here I am.

April has been a busy, busy month so far. Autism Awareness month is halfway over. Businesses around Kennett have been painting their windows to show support of Autism. They are showing that they thought about our kids. They are showing that they thought about us, the parents. I drove through town today and it made me cry. There are so many businesses participating. I have been relaying pictures to Sarah Hansen, the Civitan Club treasurer. She is making sure to post the pictures on the club’s Facebook page. We want the word out. We want volunteers and we want to do better. I know better now and so do you. You can’t NOT think about it now. You shouldn’t ignore the need. Now, here I am asking for acceptance, love, understanding, and ACTION. Do something.

I have blogged before about the lack of therapy services in our area. Like most children, these children learn from play and experiences. The fun the kids would have attending events or swinging on a swing, designed especially for them, is therapy too. It helps with their social skills, it can be physical therapy, and it is good for their little souls.

 If you would like to join, volunteer, or donate to Kennett’s Civitan Club here is the info:
kennettcivitanclub@gmail.com

If you live in another town, get nosy. See what is available for special needs kids. See what is lacking or how you can get involved. Show support. Your heart will be happy. 💙

“There is no darkness- but ignorance.”

                                                               My personal spokesbaby

AWE-tistic💙

April is Autism Awareness month. I’m all in. I’ve worn blue, had shirts made, painted on windows, spoken to classes, handed out puzzle piece pins, promoted bracelets and charities and Asher’s school. The month just started and I’m already exhausted. Advocating is hard, y’all. This is the first year that I accepted Autism enough to embrace it.

A former high school student of mine is majoring in Communication Disorders. Did this exist when I was in college? Anyway, I’m glad it does now. It was probably created because some momma wanted help for her kid. She probably, finally, got to the right people and those people decided that this was needed. I don’t know. I just created that entire scenario. It could be true though. I was interviewed by this student through email. Anyway, Lindsay Crafton is THE perfect example of what we need more of in this world.

What am I doing to help the cause, exactly?  In a world where I don’t have so many answers, I am educating others. I have to admit that when I talk to others about Autism, I’m kind of numb. I say the words like I’ve rehearsed it all. If I go off script, I show how fragile I am. I’m trying to encourage people to accept that some people are different when, sometimes, I can’t accept it myself. Fake it til you make it, I guess. Every time I hear, “You’re so strong,” I probably roll my eyes.

Thank God for the people that were there for the beginning of  society and science sorting out what to do with Autism. There were people that came before me that fought against the theory of institutionalizing those diagnosed with Autism. Those days had to be rough. Misconceptions and stigmas are still prevalent, but nothing near to what they used to be. Blame was put on mothers. You know, we need more mom guilt.

Randy and I finally got around to watching the movie on Temple Grandin. Um, this would have been helpful about a year ago. It would have helped me understand why Asher loves to be squeezed. Temple had a “squeeze machine.” It would have helped me understand why Asher spins and what he is feeling while he does it. That stimming is good for him. It shows that he’s too happy- can’t be a bad thing. On the other hand, tonight I watched it with a different perspective. I wasn’t worried so much about Temple’s difficulties. I knew she’d be good. I kind of know where she is in life. I was watching her mother. I went from thinking she was being too harsh to completely understanding her. A simple hug from the adult Temple brought her to tears. I get it. She fought every step of the way for her girl.
**Spoiler: She won.

The start of this month has made me think I’m winning too. Not every day, but I’m definitely batting above .500.

Fresh out of the shower and in his jailbird pjs💙