My Wonder is Autism

In Celebrating Wonder Wednesday, my Wonder is Autism. Autism you say! How can this be? Why did you choose that? Well the reason I chose it is because my son has autism. I agree with you Autism is a bad thing but it can also be a Wonder.



Now don't sign me up for sainthood. When my son was first diagnosed, me and my husband were devastated. We did have our pity party, "why us" kind of thing. I used to get really depressed and want to give up and think why did God punish me in this fashion. Then I realized something! God did not punish us. It was like God held this special soul in his hands and said to himself, this one, this one is special. This precious little one is going to need extra care who can I give this one too that can do this special job. So you see he didn't punish me he just trusted me a little bit more. Although at times I wish he didn't trust me quite so much. Ha ha!




Anyway back to the Wonder part. Autism is a great teacher. It has taught me patience, lots and lots of patience. One of my friends remarked on my patience to which I replied it was trial by fire. I sort of developed it through a series of trial and errors. Autism teaches you how to be an advocate, educator and a negotiator. I have had to negotiate my way through many a school meeting. I also had to educate many a medical professional about autism and what it is. And finally it has taught me how to advocate for my son in other words be his voice because he is non-verbal. I'm grateful for all these lessons.

Most of all Autism has challenged my pre-conceived notions of how to view people that are not typical. In other words we are all not typical and are all different from each other and that is what makes our world different and new every day. Just because someone can't talk doesn't mean they can't think or feel the same way we do. Autism has shown me the wonder in my child. The wonder of ordinary objects likes rocks and sticks and even water running over your hands can be wondrous. I have learned to look through my son's eyes and see everyday wonders in the world around us. I must tell you spinning around, and around, around, around in circles is great fun! This is his style of dancing. Thinking outside the box and using everyday situations and things as teaching tools is a wonderful feeling. Almost as great but not quite as close as all the hugs and kisses my son gives me.