It takes courage for anyone to share parts of their life that you wouldn’t see otherwise. It takes courage for Autism parents to share their story because they are often met with judgment, ridicule and a lack of understanding.

It’s hard to understand someone else’s life, especially when you haven’t experienced anything similar in your own.

It doesn’t mean you can’t learn something from it anyway.

It doesn’t mean that you can’t walk away after reading or listening to someone’s story and be a better person for having listened.

It also doesn’t mean that you will never face similar challenges at some point in your life either.

When it comes to Autism specifically, the insight you gain by listening to even one family’s story can help you better understand and relate, should Autism ever touch your life.

I know it can be depressing to read what parents like myself go through as we care for our children with Autism. Sometimes the negative can drown out everything else. That’s simply the unpleasant truth of the matter.

Always try to keep in mind that you can walk away from reading at any point and go back to your life. The person whose story you find too depressing to read, can’t just walk away. It’s their life and they have to find a way to live that life, every single day.

I have always told people who say I’m negative, that I know it can be depressing to read our story but at least you can walk away from it when you’re done reading, I still have to live it.