The dreaded word Autism

Let's talk about the dreaded word known as Autism. Parents run from it screaming like it's giant booger about to drop on someone's head. So most parents fear it. Backing away from vaccines because it will change their child into something they don't want to deal with. What are they fearing? The hard work involved to unlock their child? The fact that their child is a super genius? If they do their job correctly their child can change the world. You love those smart phones, ipads, play stations, computers, x-boxes and all the techie things that makes life "easier and fun". Yeah, that was created by people on the spectrum. So whats so bad about it? What makes it worse then cancer or aids. It's the unknown.

When my daughter was diagnosed on the spectrum I was so relieved. OMG! I know you're thinking I'm a freak. The only freak I am is a Jesus Freak. I was relieved because with an official diagnoses I could get my child the help that she needed. I now had a path to go on. And from there I could do research to understand and help my little "doodle-oop" (my nickname for my daughter). And all that work and research still didn't help me to figure out my child who had NO speech. I was still in that world of why can't she do what she is suppose to be doing? We are doing all these therapies and nothing is getting any better. Why is there still no speech? Why, when, where & what?

The eye opening moment was when the movie Temple Grandin came on HBO. My whole world changed. Yeah my world didn't change before or directly after the diagnoses. It changed after the movie. I had no clue that she saw and experienced the world differently then we did. She sees the world in pictures. How cool is that? She's like a little super hero. That's how she's able to operate in the world. And once you understand how your child understands and the sees the world the better it is for you to be able to help them.

I wanted to start off with our background history so you can better understand us. My life as a parent with a child on the spectrum is a lot like yours. My child at first had no speech. She didn't start speaking until she was 6. That's when the words came in, so if your child is under six and has limited speech please don't be alarmed or worried. I will tell you in a future blog post how to communicate with your child that has worked for me. And one thing that I have found in my research is that for a child on the spectrum, most kids start speaking when they turn six.

But on to the seriousness. The reason this blog is called Mom Trep's Autism is because it's hard having a child that requires so much attention and work full time. I like many mom's work for myself. I'm an entrepreneur. It affords me the time and attention to drop anything at a moments notice for my daughter. We have a strong bond. She's respectful and well behaved. A child that is respectful. Yep, it's not hard. It's a complement that I receive almost daily. We don't have the tantrums out in public that we used to have. She's 8 and yes she knows that sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don't. For my life with her it is grand. And I wouldn't have it any other way.