Brant Hansen and Autism

As a parent of a child on the spectrum I always have an eye out for hope that my child will be able to grow more even with autism. I've spoken with parents who have assured me that my child will be fine and she will "grow out of it" in a way, if that makes sense.

When I saw the movie Temple Grandin, that is when I realized I'm going about trying to connect with her the wrong way. Because she sees the world differently then we do. She can't help it, that's the way that she is. Some people have photographic memories. Able to remember every single thing they have ever seen in their entire lives. That's like Doodle and her autism. That's the way that Temple Grandin sees the world. Well, my camera has explosive film. I can remember normal stuff just not a lot of things and details like Doodle.

There is this radio show on Way-FM called the Brant Hansen show. It's one of the things that I love listening to every week day. You see Brant Hansen has autism. He's an aspie, but the fact of the matter is, he has autism. That gives me hope. And being able to hear how he views the world helps me to understand even more of Doodle and how she works.

Look at it this way when it comes to Doodle and I. She's like a new program or cell phone. You have to learn how to use it or how to know it in order to be able to know what to do. To me, my relationship with Doodle is really important. I can't help her if I don't know what she needs or how she's feeling. Her speech isn't like a child of her typical age. Sometimes, it's really hard to know what she's going through, what she's feeling or why she's feeling it. Why she would get frustrated over something.

I've often felt that Doodle has been in the terrible two's since the age of two and she's now 9 years old. It can be very overwhelming sometimes. And it does get easier as the time goes by because some things you just get used to and the others you learn to concur. The more I learn from others on the spectrum, the more I am able to help Doodle.

Another thing that Brant gave me was his gift of how much he loves The Lord. You never really hear about people on the spectrum and their love of Jesus. One of the things that I want is for Doodle to have her heart so wrapped in The Lord, people will change because of her. That's one of the reason's why I teach her to be a proud freak, a Jesus Freak!

And this is one of the reason's why I do this blog. I want to be able to give help and hope to other parents just like I was given. I am passing it on. I've helped a handful so far and want to continue helping more.

So Brant if you ever happen to run across this blog and see this, Thank you! We would not be so far along in our journey without you. Thank you for helping me as a parent, without even knowing it.

Brant Hansen, Christian Radio D.J.

You can listen to Brant on Way-FM here: http://www.wayfm.com/brant/