We all know that #Autism can be very challenging. However, raising a child with #Autism can be rewarding as well. I’m trying to not lose sight of the positives, despite those positives being outnumbered.
With that in mind, I want to ask this question.
Despite all the challenges of raising a child with #Autism, what is your fondest memory?
First me, my fondest memory was hearing my son Emmett, speak for the first time. His first word was doggy and I accidentally caught this moment on video. 🙂
**Thanks for reading**
-Lost and Tired
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I sit next to Ben at dinner and he will grab my shirt and pull on it. I'll let him guide me and he pulls until our faces are touching. Feels like he's letting me know he's missed me.
James, I have to say that what you said is so incredibly touching 🙂
My fondest memory happened just this past Christmas. We went to a small local light show for Christmas and was riding the 'train' through all the lights. Suddenly, Serenity (my non-verbal and very low functioning bottom 1% 9 year old) said as loud as she could, squealing "I LIKE" she perhaps says a word once or twice a year, but she was able to get out a 2 word phrase without prompting that was very appropriate for what was going on.
The first time my daughter Kierra hugged me. I mean really hugged me, not the forced way it was when she was little and did not want to be soothed. Oh, and when she said I love you for the first time with out me saying it first. It is so hard when they don't want to be touched when they hurt themselves. My heart aches just thinking about it. 🙁
I have to say it was the first time my son hugged me. It was not instructed or requested, he just leaned in and hugged me. It was probably only two seconds long, but I will never forget it. It was March 9, 2011. I posted about it on my blog. He was 12.<3
My recent post Special Olympics 2012, Day One
So unrelated, but my first word was “doggy” too! 🙂
My son has Aspergers and is very literal. He didn't lie at all until he was 10 (that was actually nice for me) and didn't really understand humor or sarcasm at all. He took a lot of books and T.V. shows at face value as well. I remember walking with him past The Cheesecake Factory that is at our local mall. He wanted to go in and see Penny from the T.V. show The Big Bang Theory. He thought she worked there. He wasn't really upset when I explained that she didn't, she was just an actress.
But I think part of what I love so much about my son is his spirit, three years ago we had to move into a neighborhood that we were told was wonderful but turned out to be rubbish. The kids were awful and mean. They were racist and cruel, they bullied him, they beat him up, they stole from him and humiliated him over and over. My heart has never been so broken. He however, shrugs off most of it and with a fierce determination and says over and over that they can be mean to him, but they can't make him be mean like them and that is what they want from him. He has never lost his determination. I don't know that I could have withstood being harassed, beaten up, stolen from and rejected by my peers for three solid years and keep on going but my little man, he is made of very strong stuff. He refuses to hide inside the house, and every time he comes into contact with those kids he tries to teach them about being a good friend and good person no matter how many bruises they send him home with or how many names they call him.
I learnt to speak rather late in my 3rd year in life. When I started to speak, it was in a mix of Dutch and French, because at home we spoke Dutch and at kindergarden we spoke French.The first real serious thing I posed to my parents was why they got me, because I had not asked nor wished for that…