Seasons of Autism: What Autism Means To Our Family
Autism has been an ever changing experience in our life. It has had different meanings to us as it’s evolved through the different seasons of our lives.
My daughter was diagnosed with Autism in January of 2012. She was just shy of three years old at the time. My oldest daughter had just turned thirteen years old, and my son had just turned seven years old.
During those days Autism was overwhelming and hard. Not much information was out there about it during that time, especially in relation to having a girl with autism.
The internet was a very scary place as no hope or positives were given to families trying to find out information.
One very popular organization actually likened autism to a stranger coming out of the dark to steal your child away… it was horrifying!
So during this first season autism meant:
Fearfulness
Dark
Lonely
Hard
Unfair
Unconditional love
As time went on we started to learn all we could about autism. We researched, sought out therapies, sent her to school, started talking about it openly both as a family and to others. We planted our feet and started to do the work.
In that season autism meant:
Work
Patience
Understanding
Hard
Education
Lonely
Unconditional love
We are now 11 years into this journey. This girl of ours has been working nonstop since she was three years old.
We, as her family, take nothing for granted when it comes to her. We will stop at nothing to get her what she needs to have comfort, growth, and acceptance in a world that wasn’t made for her.
There are no small victories in our world. She has more words than ever before, she shows and craves love from those she holds closest to her heart, she loves outings, she looks forward to going to school. She amazes us every single day because she lives her life to the fullest by finding joy in the smallest details.
So, in this season and hopefully for all future seasons we will see autism as:
Advocation- You have to always speak up to get what you need to succeed.
Education- Never stop teaching and never stop learning.
Patience- It’s not an easy road but patience can make the road a much smoother ride.
Understanding- We have to always consider what others are going through.
Work- No matter if it’s physical help or research based, this life will always include hard work.
Acceptance- We know this is our life; her life and we move forward knowing it will be okay.
Hard- There will be days that will bring you to your knees, it’s just part of it. It will never stop us.
Hope- We have to always have hope even in our hardest moments. Hope is what will drive you to keep going when hard gets in the way.
Unconditional love; that has never changed in any season we’ve walked through. We love her through the hard and into the moments of joy.
Ever changing- Autism never stays in one place for too long. It’s regression, progression, complexities, and victories.
We take each season as it comes. We brace ourselves for the storms by giving her a strong foundation to lean into until it passes. We also bask in the sun during times of growth and achievements letting her shine as brightly as we always knew she could.
Written by Laura Simzyk of Olivia’s Extraordinary Journey.
