the newest fashion ‘accessory?’
i’ve seen a couple of people post on autism related boards i’m on about people saying to them (snidely) upon learning that their child is autistic things like “since jenny mccarthy announced that her kid is autistic everyone has an autistic kid now.” like it’s a new fashion trend.
oh yes, that’s exactly right. instead of a tiny dog in a purse, i’d rather have a child on a leash (because he doesn’t always want to hold your hand, and ikes to run in front of cars).
i requested the 5-yr-old who still wears pullups, not because he occasionally has accidents, but because he has no interest in the potty.
it’s always been my dream to be kicked in the face when i put my childs shoes on him, and to have to spend 10 minutes chasing him around the house just to get pants on him.
spending an hour trying to figure out why he’s crying, because he can’t talk and tell me what’s wrong is my idea of a great time.
and speaking of good times, i love not being able to have an evening out very often (it’s been almost a year) because he doesn’t handle mommy leaving very well.
i love having to pick up the dozen things that he threw across the room in a fit of frustration, only to have him throw them again as soon as they’re picked up. did i mention that if i don’t pick them up, he tries to force me to?
it’s absolutely fashionable to have your hair pulled, your face scratched and the rest of you kicked, slapped and punched because something is wrong… and you have no idea what it is, so you can’t fix it.
having an autistic child isn’t easy. and it’s definitely not what i’d call the “in thing.” i don’t know that any parent would ask for an autistic child. but we love our children just as much as you love your “normal” children. we want what’s best for our children, just like you want what’s best for your children. and while some of the tricks we’ve learned to keep our children behaved and help them learn might seem odd to you, it’s what works. and we have to go with what works.
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