Autism Awareness Month--What We Know

When you have a special needs child, all of the normal temptations and fears of parenting aren't any different, they are simply exaggerated. I think that may be why those of you without a special needs child find a resonance when you read about parenting a child with them. You can put yourself in my shoes because you are in them. The feelings you experience may be more fleeting than mine, but the same tasks face us both--we're both in the business of helping people become people. My child is not so different than yours, he's just...well...different.

In short, my son may not make me a better parent, but he does make me a better observer of my parenting. So let me share with you an on-going insight:

Celebrate your victories!
Don't complicate them.

Just be happy.

What matters is that a developmental goal has been met, not that it is late, not that it has fallen short of the stellar level you expected. It matters that the skill is now your child's to own, not that it is complicated by your longing for more. In fact, the struggle to attain this victory or even to recognize it has made a stronger person of you both.


So, try to remember the wonder of it all as you wander along. Each child has a path to travel, marked by milestones along the way. Some are reached after a long and determined slogging.  Some are swept past effortlessly. At any rate you travel, it's the traveling itself that makes the change.

Feel free to dance on the journey.