Speaking from Experience

I have spent eight long years trying to understand autism; my diagnosed son Crew is 11. I don't know if I will ever figure it out, but this is what I know is true. For all the people saying that they cured their child of autism... STOP! It is unfair to hear such nonsense. It is like an alcoholic saying he is cured. Addicted people like those with autism will always have it in them. It is about self-regulating.

As parents of disabled children, we need to start throwing caution to the wind. After all the years of making sure every situation is right so the meltdown won't happen. After never trying new things because we are scared of what was going to happen. After not trusting my son enough to be responsible for himself. I am done!

We do not give these kids enough credit. Trust that I have done what I am saying. Last year my family went to Vermont in the summer for a long weekend. The hotel had elevators, chairlifts and everything else autistic kids are afraid of. We spent the whole weekend reassuring Crew everything was going to be fine until I could not take it anymore. I took matters into my own hands and pushed Crew onto the elevator. He whined and cried. But after three attempts, guess what, he was going on the elevator by himself. Now it was time for the chairlift. As we approached, Crew screamed bloody murder. We stayed calm. My husband told the chairlift operator that our son was autistic and not to worry how he acts while we were making Crew get on the chairlift. As the chair came around, my husband and I both grabbed an arm of Crew's and on we went. Crew held his ears the whole time as we said, “Everything is fine, you are okay.”

The reason I mention last year's vacation is because we went to the same hotel last weekend in Vermont. Crew was so excited. He said, “Elevator to room 331.” None of us remembered like Crew did, and he was right about our former room. He couldn't wait to go back on the chairlift and take a hike to the next chairlift and ride one again. Crew was able to go from the pool to the room on the elevator by himself. My point being, we need to push these kids to do what they are capable of. We are all scared. However, being scared doesn't help. I can only speak from experience: Mainstreaming these children into everyday life works; they can do it.