Thursday, October 25, 2012

Puzzling out a path


 Having a child diagnosed with Autism
starts by
puzzling out a path
on an otherwise rocky road'
stopping every now and then to help
a fellow lost traveler.
-Tracy Quigley

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Mommy Buddy turns ONE!

Emerson age 2
    
  I've been writing for years but I've only been writing as "Mommy Buddy" from the planet Autism for exactly one year today. This has been one of the most fulfilling things I have ever done. Looking back I haven't really written about our diagnosis process (I will get around to it now that I've noticed) but I remember how scared and lost I felt. The period before the diagnosis was so much harder than after. That "not knowing" feeling can be so much more debilitating than the first time you hear someone say "I'm sorry but I think your child may be Autistic." Autistic? I didn't have anyone to ask advice from. I had the scary internet keeping me up all night because let's face it, researching can be both good and insanely bad for your piece of mind. All I was certain of was that my sweet beautiful boy wasn't on course....something was wrong.

I had been itching to write down our journey pretty much from the beginning. It always ended up on scraps of paper with scribbles all over it or in a forgotten notebooks that I unearth every now and then from the bottomless pit that is my house, like precious gems. I have never felt shy about talking about my son and his Autism, even when I notice I'm getting boring to others who are not as interested. That is where Mommy Buddy has been a life raft I have clutched on to. I know you wonderful people are just as hungry for the "A" word as I! I have never been more passionate about anything in my life. Sometimes that intensity can be overwhelming to the random layperson.

My very first facebook post on Mommy Buddy:

Introducing me: I am a stay at home mom to a 6 year old, very opinionated girl, a four year old boy who can melt any heart I don't care how curmudgeonly you are (and also happens to have High Functioning Autism) and a baby boy to be who has ignored his due date that was almost two weeks ago proving without a doubt that he belongs to this motley crew. Plus a husband that actually thanks me when I tell him he is being an ass..... I realised that I call my son 'buddy" so much that he started calling me "Mommy buddy" hence "Mommy Buddy" from the planet Autism was born....( I just started so give me a chance ;)

  Since then I have found myself being that voice that I so desperately sought but for other parent that are in the same dark place I was. It's been sort of surreal...but also therapeutic. Something I read always pops into my head:

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

Emerson age 4 and a half
 
 
Mommy Buddy belongs to all of you just as much as I. Thanks for trusting me at the helm! I have made so many connections and more great friends than I've ever had. (high school, take THAT! lol) The unsung benefit of having a child with Autism! The community! I think that it is sort of Awesome that I hit 2100 fans 12 months after we started....from the bottom of my heart, thank you
for being my lifeline. <3

Emerson age 5 and a half
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

Sensational!

October is Sensory Processing Disorder month so here is the Autism Parent Prayer modifyed just for SPD <3