My Family's Experience with Autism: What's so Special About Being "Normal" Anyway?

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

What's so Special About Being "Normal" Anyway?

I mean, isn't "normal" another word for "boring"? We all have our ideocyncracies, right? Our little quirks that make each of us unique?

Yeah, when we are teenagers, we all strive to "accepted", and sometimes the easiest way to do that is to simply fit in and be "normal". But then we wise up. We remember how we were when we were younger. We were happier. We didn't care what anyone else thought. We were the way we were and we were loved for being special because we embraced our true nature.

I am an Autism Mom. It's a label that I wear proudly. I am EXTREMLY proud of my children. All 3 of them. They all have "quirks". They all have things that make them "stand out". They are each "unique". Even my twins.....they are (to quote Dad) "total opposites except for when they are exactly the same." They embrace what makes them so special.....so unique. And so do I.

After all, what is normal anyway?

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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)