Does the thought of bringing your child with autism to visit friends, go to the grocery store, library or a restaurant make you cringe? Do you find it easier for everyone invloved if the child just stays home?
If so, you aren’t alone.
Parents too often forego visiting friends and family because the stress of breaking the routine of a child with autism and bringing that child into unfamiliar territory is just too much to bear. The thought of enduring the stares or snarky comments of others when your child is in the throes of a very public meltdown would make anyone choose to protect the child at home.
Life at home with a child or teen with autism is never easy. The demands of everyday daily life can are complicated by the needs and unpredictability of autism. Changes in routine, unexpected ‘surprises’, difficulties with food, toileting and dressing and meltdowns disrupt the whole family. . It's not surprising that given a choice, parents would...
Death.
I know. It’s not exactly a subject line that makes you keep reading. Very few people want to discuss it. It is one of those topics that is unsettling and hard to entertain.
We can avoid talking about it. But let’s face it; it is inevitable for every single living creature. Even humans.
But, as my own niece with autism taught me, the price of dodging the discussion is very high - especially for those who live with autism.
My last blog (https://www.autismaspirations.com/2021/02/11/autism-and-grief-talking-about-what-we-dont-really-want-to-talk-about/) was to be the first of several blogs dedicated to the subject and my intention was to share more of what the research taught me.
And then, very unexpectedly – my mother died.
Five hundred miles away, I didn’t even know she had been admitted to the hospital until it was too late. She had told my sister she would call me to fill me in on her short stay.
She never did.
I was knee deep in the research on grief...
We are living in a prime time to teach and learn in real time HOW to COPE and GROW through adversity. Learn what skills you can be intentionally modelling and practicing so that all children, including those with autism, develop healthy coping and resilience skills that will serve them for their lifetime.
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