Autism Family: A Day in the Life
August 22, 2017
During our vacation, Dante rarely does his random scream out of nowhere thing that scares the out of you. But this morning at breakfast at the Bayline Diner he did just that. He was upset that his chocolate chip pancakes weren’t the same as when I make them. (And I tried them, they pretty much sucked) We did breathing exercises with him and I gave him that look that my old man gave me. (He’s autistic but he’s still a kid who needs to know at times, enough is enough) He settles down and all is well.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see another family sitting and looking over. We get this from time to time, mostly from other kids which I understand (they get a pass) but when adults stare, it pretty much pisses me off. I don’t want to make a scene, we are on vacation but I look up again and the father (Who looks a lot like Kingpin from the Dare Devil comics) keeps staring. I immediately look away bc if I don’t I am going to get all Jersey on him. I focus on my waffle and as always Dante.
Before I know it I feel a tap on my shoulder. It’s Kingpin, he says “hey just to let you know we are an autism family too and we totally get it.” I shook his hand and I started to tear up. His wife later came over and we started to get to know each other. We related with each other as only two sets of Autistic parents could.
They are from Pennsylvania and their daughter is nonverbal. They too had to fight with their school district to get her the proper services necessary for her education. They adopted her when she was three days old. I could only imagine how hard their journey was so far. Similar in some regard but totally different and unique, just like every child with autism. I was so happy he came up to talk to me, it was good to meet another Autism Family and bond with fellow kindred spirits.
Inner Balance is proud to announce Autism Family Group Therapy coming this March.
Anthony D.
Autism Advocate
July 16, 2015
Went to the podiatrist with Angelina yesterday. The assistant was an older lady who was talking with Ang about what grade she’s going into and her summer, she was very nice. As she walked us to the exam room she noticed Angelina’s t-shirt. “2015 Walk For Autism, did you do that? she asked. Angelina answered ‘yes’ with a proud smile. The lady replied, “that’s so nice that you did that for those people”. (I don’t think she meant anything by it, but my knee-jerk reaction was, “what do you mean those people?” Angelina replied, “oh yeah well my brother is one of those people.” I was cracking up and couldn’t have been more proud of my little girl.
Autism can affect a family in various ways. All too often it’s a challenging ordeal for everyone involved. It takes patience, understanding, strength and more patience for an Autism Family to accept, transition and thrive.
Inner Balance is proud to announce Autism Family Group Therapy coming this March.
