Joy In Autism

January 1.  A whole new year is stretched out before us.  I started the day at 5:00 am by taking my momma to the airport after a great two-week visit.  I returned from the snowy drive home to be greeted at the door by my Cooper.  He was smiling big and wanted me to set him up with a pillow, blanket, milk and a movie.  So here we sit while the rest of the house sleeps.  And as I was logging onto my laptop Cooper glanced over and winked at me.  He got up and came over and said, “Give me a hug, Mom.”  You know, no matter how the night before ended, the kids always seem to wake up with a fresh new happiness.  Glad to see me, glad to be awake and excited about the day.

As I sit here thinking about all of the New Year’s Resolutiony type things I want to do in 2009…you know, “eat better, exercise more, be less grumpy, read my bible more, paint the house, save the dolphins”… as I sit here thinking about them knowing that some of them I will do better at than others, one thing I know is that I will take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to let my kids know I love them and enjoy being in their presence.   That I too am glad to see them and glad we have another day together.

Last night Cooper wanted to make a snowman.  It was dark outside and the last thing I felt like doing was going out in the cold and dark.  But he was so very excited and had it all planned out, a carrot, a happy face, two eyes, arms and 20 buttons.  At first I said, “No. I don’t feel like going outside.”  Then I saw the look in his eyes.  The disappointment.  His shoulders drooped a bit and he said, “Okay, Mom.”  There was no good reason for me not to suit up and go out, so I went to get my snowpants.  He didn’t care that it looked more like Jabba-the-Hut than a snowman, he was thrilled we did it.  That’s the kind of stuff I need to be more aware of.  The opportunities I need to take. Often I don’t do something because my agenda doesn’t include painting or play dough.  I probably miss out on a lot of smiles because of that.  My agenda in 2009 and beyond will not be so packed that a romp in the snow would throw off the schedule.

It’s easy to be feeling all warm and fuzzy as I sit on the couch and Coop is happily watching Curious George and the others are peacefully sleeping.  I know things will get hairy and tempers go out of control and frustration sometimes will set in.  But for now, I am counting my blessings and thanking God for the gift of every person He’s given me to share my days with.  And I will make sure they know it.

Peace.

As I cleaned the kitchen yesterday, doing mundane tasks I do every day, I suddenly heard my kids calling me from the back yard.  I went out to join them and Kacey points to the sky and says, “Look Mom, a rainbow!”
Sure enough, there was a rainbow directly above our house.  Funny thing is, it wasn’t shaped like a typical rainbow – it was upside down and looked like a smile in the sky.
A sweet reminder that God is watching what I am doing and smiling down on me, even in the mundane, day-to-day stuff I do!
~kp

All of my childhood years were spent doing gymnastics. As with any sport, serious training brings serious havoc to your body. The different gymnastics events took their toll on different body parts. The uneven bars brought some serious damage to the palms of my hands. I had about a two-year period where I slept with my hands covered in medicated salve with tube socks over them every night. I haven’t trained in 17 years, and my hands still bear the marks. But I wouldn’t trade them in because during that time, it was part of who I was. The ripped and bleeding hands were part of doing what I was gifted to do.

Last month my son made it across the monkey bars for the first time; all the way across by himself. He was so proud and takes every opportunity to do it again and again. Yesterday after school he ran to the monkey bars and climbed up. He did about 4 bars when he let go and looked at his hands. He ran to show me a ripped and bleeding blister. I was swept back to my gymnastics days of looking at my own ripped hands and wondering – “is this a show stopper or can I try again?”

Well, my boy didn’t let it be a show stopper. He tried again. And I know it hurt him (his saying “Ow! Ow! Ow!” the whole way across gave it away ) But he tried again. Why? Because he loves it. And he figured a way to adjust his grip to make it better for him to do what he loves to do.

When what we love to do seems hard, or we hit a rough patch that brings a bit of pain, or we end up downright torn and bleeding; we have two choices. Do we let it be a show stopper? Or do we find a way to continue, because we have a passion in our heart?
Peace.

Today was my end of school year meeting with Cooper’s educational support team. How cool that there are 6 adults that would gather together 4 times during the school year to discuss my little one’s progress and techniques to help him along. What a blessing!

I can not stress enough as a parent the importance of sharing as much information about techniques that work for my child with the people who are working with him all day at school. Different people have different learning styles – and even more so for kids with developmental challenges. Those information-sharing times are crucial to Cooper’s development and learning. My letting them know the techniques that I find effective and hearing back from them what works and what doesn’t is the ONLY way we are going to arrive at the best-strategy for tackling education for him. I am ever-so-thankful at the openness of relationship that I have with the school. I encourage you – whether your child has challenges or not, share information as much as possible with your school’s educational staff about what your child responds well to and what he/she doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to be open, insist upon it!