Super Parents

Hello Super Parents,

I am writing this blog to encourage and inspire other parents of autistic children as they cope with the day-to-day realities parenting a child with autism can bring.  The first word of advice that I have to offer to you, parents, is to leave your ego, and your inhibitions, at the door.  An autistic child will test your patience at the most inopportune time and place, simply to see your reaction -- much like a toddler.  Your autistic child may not speak to relatives although he or she may have sung their names on the way to their homes; he or she may not want to eat at a restaurant even though he or she seemed starved on the way there; or he or she may scream at you or scratch you if you react to him or her in any other way but nicely.  Yes, your patience will be tried, yet your rewards for being patient will be plentiful.

You see, the same child who refuses to eat or cooperate when YOU want him or her to do so, will also play a lovely tune on the piano that you had no idea he or she knew how to do; or recite the alphabet backwards, or even score a touchdown at the family barbecue.  He or she may sing a tune perfectly in key, or show so much affection that you'd like to smother him or her with hugs and kisses in return.  They are a bag full of nice, and sometimes nerve-racking, surprises, but they are our children and we should love and cherish them just the same as the others.  Autism is what it is, and we are who we are in response to that reality, and somehow it all works out.  So for those parents pulling out their hair or wondering how life will be in the future, fret not.  A normal child can break your heart just the same as one with autism:  he or she can (God forbid) get run over by a truck or be kidnapped; yet on the flip side earn a scholarship, win an Olympic medal, or simply thrive as a normal, law-abiding, God-fearing human being.  They are who and what you make them to be, and aren't the possibilities endless for all children?  The worries and risks are equal for both autistic and "normal" children alike.  Also remember that they too must grow up, grow old, and face the harsh realities life brings the same as does any other child.  So with that in mind, please go out and have a good day with your autistic child while he or she is still a child, because he or she deserves it, and so do you super parent, so do you!