My Family's Experience with Autism: A Realization Has Occurred

Friday, August 17, 2012

A Realization Has Occurred

Yesterday, I discovered something......since the start of the summer, I have found some independence from my children. Yes, I am the one who has become more independent. They were already there.

A friend of mine runs a blog called the Oxygen Mask Project. She recently wrote a post about coming home from some time away and, upon returning home, realizing how she had totally given herself to her children. She talked about how she had the time to do the things she WANTED while she was away rather than the things she needed to do for her children, and all of the sacrifices that entails. She willingly makes those sacrifices, as do all parents, because we love our children more than anything. But she described quite a wakeup call when she returned home. After reading it, I walked away thinking about how I always do the same thing.

Then, yesterday morning, I realized something else (and immediately sat down to write a post for Oxygen Mask Project myself). No, I don't. I DID! That is until this summer. This summer, I am taking that time to do what I need to do. I am taking that time in the mornings. After these kids are up, fed, and breakfasted, THEY go downstairs to play. I stay in the kitchen / family room. I make my own breakfast and sit to eat it. I use my Keurig and make whatever coffee I feel like for that morning, and drink it while it's still hot. I take a few minutes and go online. I listen for my children and make sure that there are no problems and I can easily get to them should the need arise, but the time is MINE.

Maybe that's why, sitting here with school starting in 10 days, that I can claim I'm just as sane as I was the day school let out (all right, you can question how sane I was then, but at least it hasn't gotten any worse). And it's made me a happier person at this point of the summer than I have been for a long time!

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A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)