Autism and my adult son

My son is a 20 year old  handsome, wonderful, loving and charming young man with autism. He likes things that normally would attract an 8 year old, such as play fire engine trucks and make believe plastic toy police badges. At times he can be very repetitive asking the same questions and talking about the same subject over and over. There are also times where if I touch or say something it may cause him to become irritable.

My son loves music; he can listen to the same song several times a day while roaming around the room in circles for a long period of time. He can read and write his name and in the last couple of years has shown great improvement in his reading and writing skills. Although, he may never acquire the ability to read the newspaper from front to back, I still do not rule out the possibility since he is full of surprises. For more information on autism please visit. http://www.autismspeaks.org/

There are often times when my son and I go on walks in the neighborhood; sometimes we may make a few visits at the local market or take a trip to the department store where he likes to shop for DVD’s and music CD’s. While on these walks I see the looks of other people, I can tell by there demeanor and facial expressions that they are making assumptions upon my son. It’s not difficult to see that some of those assumptions aren’t very nice ones; many times I can even hear them giggle and make offensive remarks.

During my excursions with my son there are times where I just want to tell people in the street to stop being so cruel, become educated and get informed. I want to tell them that if they got to know my son they would like him immediately. I want to tell them that they, there brothers, sisters and children could’ve had or have this developmental disorder. But I don’t tell them, I walk away with my son feeling sad but blessed and so proud of had been given the privilege to be the one who is his mother.

This experience of having a child with a developmental disability, has given me an opportunity to naturally inherit gratitude and empathy for all the different sorts of people and situations in this world. I have also been given the privilege to witness two different worlds with my children. In one world I am cheering my daughter on for passing her college exams; five minutes later in my other world I’m telling my son how proud I am that he has improved his money counting skills. By the way did I mention they are twins?

Having a son with autism has given me the ability to see amazing things take place right before my eyes. Every little thing he does amazes me anywhere from his smile to him learning how to spell a new word or making a new gesture. His improvement with his behaviors and impulses are little miracles in itself, I credit a lot of it to his teachers and staff members in his school.

It’s easy to tell some one not to let things bother them and for the most part I really try not to. But honestly, I think what bothers me the most when I’m out in public with my son is other people’s ignorance. We know about it, we hear about it and we deal with it, some of us say that it’s just the way it is.

However, we mustn’t give up on contributing awareness on particular disabilities, conditions, diseases, circumstances, etc. Its insurance against having less and less people being laugh at or looked at funny for something far from humorous.

Read more....