Sharing Ideas

I think I've proven my technological idiocy by suggesting in my inaugural email that you all could post things on this blog. I think you can only comment. So please do, and suggest things you'd like others to know about/ask about, and I will then turn them into postings for others to read. No confidences will be violated. But if someone wants advice/guidance about something, for example, I can put it out there in a posting. In the meantime, I'll try to figure out if I'm wrong about anyone but me posting stuff.

Expect the Unexpected

Sometimes it's downright funny. You think the challenges will come from the "special" child, but instead they come from another child, the one without a diagnosis. In our family, our easiest child is our autistic son. Maybe that's because we've worked so hard on him. We've focused so intensely on managing his behavior, on making him less of an outsider, on his social skills, etc. I often say that he's the only one of my kids who cleans up after himself, always says "please" and "thank you" and even empties the dishwasher and helps prepare meals.

A Little Forgiveness Goes a Long Way...

I heard something wonderful at a recent parent support group. That was one mother telling another, who seemed to be beating up on herself a bit for not having had certain successes with her child, that we need to learn to be more forgiving of ourselves. So obvious, but so important. We want to get it right, dot all the i's, cross all the t's, but kids aren't like that, and kids with special needs most especially aren't like that. We'll never stop working to help them, but sometimes we have just to accept that we do the best we can. And that is perhaps all we really can ask of ourselves.

Getting Started

From one parent of a special needs child (and other typical children) to others. We can chat by phone, or meet in person, but here's a way to stay connected during those intervening days/weeks/months. Comment as you wish. Share thoughts, struggles, successes, etc. But please be respectful. Be helpful. Be generous in not judging. This parent jungle is a hard place to be. It's filled with mystery, with unexplained phenomena, with danger, and with wonder. All of this is what we likely encounter in trying to raise our kids. Let's learn from and with one another.

Invite your friends to this blog. Invite them to be part of this community. My child has autism. Yours might not. It doesn't matter. We're all trying to do the best we can. Let's help one another succeed. Let's prop each other up on the days when keeping going can seem just too hard to do. And pat each other on the back for the many, many instances of a job well done. And a day gotten through with a smile, from start to finish...