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Take Care of Yourself Every year during Autism Awareness Month I try to write about different themes, ranging from early diagnosis to adult life issues. It’s never a struggle to come up with topics (there’s always so much to write about), but one topic always finds its way into my writing, and it’s one dear to my heart

’s needs as well as parents of autistic children’s needs and wants. Ultimately, each parent of an autistic child is the best arbiter of what’s necessary for their child, and their child only, if they can’t advocate for themselves. And if you cannot find any commonality, if people’s positions are so thoroughly entrenched there’s no chance of comprehending a person’s unique and intensely personal experience with autism, what next? But over the years I’ve tried to take that passion to prove my point and turn it into action, not an attempt to win over someone who doesn’t want to even entertain my point of view, someone who wants to influence my decisions for a child they’ve never met.

I have two boys on the autism spectrum, an almost sixteen-year-old with severe autism, and a twelve-year-old on the milder end of the spectrum. And then one day at an early intervention meeting at my home about a month after his therapies started one of our fabulous therapists pointed out how little progress he’d made in a year, how he often used the same sign for everything, and how his gross and fine motor issues were more than likely the biggest culprits in his slow learning curve. Keeping an open mind to different approaches to deal with our boys’ issues has served us well this last decade-and-a-half, and it’s an approach we cling to, as every year brings new challenges to one or both our boys. there’s no autism manual, each child is different, and it’s important to choose whatever approach not only works for your child, but for your entire family.

Given how loud these movies are I usually only have to worry about the people just to the right or left of us as the people in front are too far away to be affected. This past Sunday I had the good fortune to sit next to a mom to whom I introduced myself, told her about Justin, explained about the possibility of bouncing and vocal utterances, and waited to see her response. I will be honest and tell you that ten years ago I would have cared a great deal more about what someone thought of my son’s deep-voiced vocals. I will tell you however that having someone sit next to me who got it and truly didn’t care if my teen got excited watching a kid’s movie just put me at ease.