Autism Awareness- The Ugliness

A few posts back I wrote about a few things that were different about my Child with Autism. I focused on the positive side of things. While there are a lot of things that make my heart leap for joy, and moment that bring tears of joy, there are also a lot of things that break my heart. I call these thing the ugliness of Autism. Here goes,

It breaks my heart when…

• I think about how you tested on a 12 month old level when you were 23 months old.
• I hear people (I am guilty too) tell you over, and over, and over again to calm down, when I know full well that you would if you could, but it’s TOO LOUD!, TOO BRIGHT, TOO FAST!, in the room you are in.
• You wake up with awful night terrors
• You struggle to make and keep friends
• Teachers try to help, but end up telling me everything wrong about you all of the time.
• Allergies keep you from participating in activities, or when you do participate, you feel left out because everyone got a ring pop, but you got a bag of wheat Cheese It’s.
• You have a sensory meltdown, and there is nothing I can do about it.
• People think you are just being a brat because you won’t sit still in your seat.
• You scream and cry because you want to wear a fuzzy glove, but I know that if you do people will think you are strange.
• People don’t even try to understand you, they just make their judgment and inflict unreasonable expectations on you.
• I know you need therapies like OT, but we are put on yet another waiting list.
• You have to be restrained for something as simple as an ultra sound.

My list could go on for a while. I will not continue though because It’s really a hard list to make. however I hope that those who read this list will think about how the families of these children feel. Autism effects everyone in the family, and so many times people are not only insensitive to the child, but they pass judgment and fail to even consider the feelings of the mother or family members. I hope that this will make you think about things, and help you to be more compassionate.