Autism

I’ve started writing more about how autism has affected our family, but I’m not very technologically-inclined (yeah, I just made those words up), so for right now, if you want to find my latest posts, please search for the ‘autism’ category on my side-bar. As for what you see below, this is the series I wrote for the 31-day challenge. It’s only the first post, but the links for each day are also listed. I am hoping to get them compiled in an ebook, but until then…it’s all I (technically-speaking) knew how to do!
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(Here’s a brief explanation for what you will see on my blog for the month of October: I’m taking part in the 31 Days of Writing Challenge over on the Nesting Place blog. The topic I chose to write about is: 31 Days Toward Understanding Autism)

If this is your first time here, please scroll down to read the first post for this series. Otherwise, here are the links to each day’s post:

Link for Day 2       Link for Day 12     Link for Day 22
Link for Day 3       Link for Day 13     Link for Day 23
Link for Day 4       Link for Day 14     Link for Day 24
Link for Day 5       Link for Day 15     Link for Day 25
Link for Day 6       Link for Day 16     Link for Day 26
Link for Day 7       Link for Day 17      Link for Day 27
Link for Day 8       Link for Day 18     Link for Day 28
Link for Day 9       Link for Day 19     Link for Day 29
Link for Day 10     Link for Day 20    Link for Day 30
Link for Day 11      Link for Day 21     Link for Day 31

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When I saw on another blog the link for 31 Days of Writing, at first I thought, ‘Oh, I so couldn’t do that!’ I don’t cook well or decorate incredibly and, outside of those things, what on earth could I write about for 31 days?’

And then I remembered something our family deals with…every.single.day.

Autism.

Our oldest, M, has high-functioning autism.
Our middle-dude, G, has Asperger’s.
Our daughter, S, has extreme sensory disorder.

(Needless to say, our home is never boring. )

And when someone outside of our ‘world’ comes in contact with it through us, I am always asked, ‘What exactly is autism? I’ve heard of it but I don’t think I know what that means.’

What they’re really trying to say is, ‘In regards to how I interact with your family in the future, what exactly do I need to know and what do I need to do with that knowledge?’

So for the next 31 days I will let you in on how life, with autism/asperger’s, happens at our house.

Now I’m no expert on the subject (except in relation to our kids) and I can’t speak for those who are on different levels of this spectrum, but for us, for our kids, and in our lives…this is what it looks like.

It affects every piece of our day.

Our schedule.
Their clothes.
Their speech.
Our vacations.
Eating out.
Large crowds.
Interaction.
Sleeping.
Learning.
Church.
Making friends.

Like I said…everything.

Luckily, we are on the ‘high’ end of it. Meaning that there are families who struggle with even more autistic issues (low-functioning) than we do. And if the movie ‘Rain Man’ just popped into your head…that’s a start. Maybe. Sometimes it’s even much worse.

So, we’re thankful that we are right where we are on the…autism spectrum.

And if you’re wondering exactly what ‘spectrum’ means, come back tomorrow and I’ll explain.

(By the way, if in the course of these 31 days you think of someone, whether in your own family or outside of it that reminds you of what I’m describing, don’t automatically diagnose. Get information for them (or you) and find someone professional who can truly help.)