Posts Tagged ‘school dance’

As we age, our interests change. They evolve. They grow with us. But what if they don’t? What if they stay the same year after year? In the real world, they call it age appropriate. It means teenagers shouldn’t be watching Barney or adults shouldn’t be believing in Santa. Someone once told me to turn off the cartoons and put on the National Geographic channel. I still laugh about that. They thought parents like me should be forcing interests. My son is 12. He’s amazing. And he loves Peppa, Barney,…

‘There was none of this autism stuff back when I was in school.’ I hear some version of that statement often. It typically comes from someone older than me, and most often, not from a cruel place. More of a place of curiosity. I do my best to educate. I explained to them that not that long ago, kids like my son were kept in different parts of the school. And before that, placed in institutions. It’s true. Most people don’t want to believe it though. I’ve educated myself on…

The other day I found myself with a group of mothers. We all had kids roughly the same ages. We chatted about the craziness of raising kids right now. We laughed. We vented. We did what mothers do. Then we bragged about our amazing kids. One mentioned her son getting straight A’s this year. And practicing for his driver’s test. Another spoke of her child going on a missionary trip and how great that will look on her college application. We chatted about sports and the things four year olds…

My boy attended his first middle school dance last night. The statement alone evokes a slew of emotions, undoubtedly steeped in years of questions surrounding whether or not participating in milestone events such as these would be possible for Leo who is on the autism spectrum. Yesterday evening, I laid out a pair of khaki pants, and a polo, hoping they’d be sufficient for the occasion. I’d asked Leo’s teacher what the kids usually wear to these functions, my own middle school days seemingly a lifetime ago… Leo giggled excitedly…