As I was stepping out of the grocery store this weekI had the opportunity to speak with another parent whom has a child quite similar to mine. In the autism community, this is unique because all of our kiddos are different. Listening to her story was bitter sweet because I found that she was where I was 10 years ago with my son.
Ten years ago, my son was just starting puberty and his aggressive behaviors were targeted toward people he felt he could intimidate. It appeared that when they would flinch he felt they were an easy target and would come after that person (no matter if a large man or woman). He did respond to authority but would still challenge it. Eventually, we admitted our autistic son into Crisis at the hospital due to his uncontrolled aggression.
Autistic meltdown led to destroying room early in morning before breakfast.
I shared these and other experiences with her and informed her she is not in this alone because many of us (autistic parents) have been there at one time and we are able to guide each other through the down times to get to the resources we needed to get to the good times.
For example in 2008, several parents in the local autistic community wanted to make a difference so we formed a non-profit that brought families together to bond during specific events in the public. We operated this non-profit for almost 10 years and were able to meet a lot of parents that helped each other and learned a lot along the way.
Some of our events involved families helping build a Halloween float for the areas local parade. We all road the float and handed out candy to the public, which all the families and kids seemed to enjoy.
The power of autistic parents is all about sharing our experiences and learning from each other. We cannot take away the trials and challenges our autistic children give us, but we can listen and guide each other to gain a greater quality of life by sharing our success stories. We are Victors and not victims!!!
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