Being a parent period, is a difficult but rewarding task. When you're an Autism or Special Needs parent, that difficulty level is increased to the nth degree as is the reward factor.
Raising a child with a developmental disorder like Autism, is extremely difficult because of the very nature of the disorder.
Autism is a very dynamic condition and often presents in a very fluid manner. This means that everything involving the parenting of a child with Autism can more often than not be a moving target.
[clickToTweet tweet="You might an overprotective #Autism Parent. Join the discussion and let's talk about it. " quote="Autism is a very dynamic condition and often presents in a very fluid manner. This means that everything involving the parenting of a child with Autism can more often than not be a moving target. - Rob Gorski"]
In my personal experience with my three boys on the Autism Spectrum, something that works today, may never work again. Likewise, something that's never worked before, could actually work today. Every single day that I wake up, I honestly have no idea what I'm in for or what challenges I'll be facing.
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Having said this, there's a personal struggle that I face quite frequently, and that's trying to balance letting go and being overprotective.
There are clearly times that I know I'm being overprotective. I've worked on allowing more independence as I feel it can safely be done and that's been moderately successful at times. It's also produced situations where one of my kids wandered off and was lost for about twenty minutes. Very scary.
When your child has a disability or disorder that impacts them physically or cognitively, it's very difficult and scary to let go, even a little bit.
At the same, how are you ever going to know what your child can handle if you don't give them a chance, even if it means they might fall or fail.
I would never want to provide specific, blanket advice on what *to do* or *not do* in regards to your child, especially when it comes down to something like this. Every single child and adult on the Autism Spectrum is brilliantly unique and what works or is safe for one often won't transfer to anyone else.
All I want to do is create a dialog about finding balance between letting go and being overprotective. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination but having a discussion with others who *get it *might be helpful.
We can all learn from each other.
