Autism Lives Here: Mom, Mom, Mom

Autism Lives Here: A Sunday ritual.

Pictures that give a glimpse into our life with autism.  Pictures that may show how distinctly different our lives are from yours because of autism.  Or pictures that may show how similar our lives are regardless of autism.

Today’s picture:

mom

Last Monday Brian had a hard time at school, during his art class. He was teary and whimpering and repeating, “Mom.  Mom.  Mom.”

As his teacher told me this at the end of the day my heart saddened and lightened at the same time, if that is even possible.  I have a hard time picturing my son as sad and I always want to be there to sweep in and fix it.  However, the fact that he was verbally asking for me when he was upset is still a new concept and it makes me happy in its own right every time.

His teacher pulled up a picture of me on her cell phone , (reason 137 that I love his program), and he smiled.  She asked if he wanted to draw a picture of me and he did.  Complete with my sunglasses on my head (the blue/green scribbles in my blonde hair).  And then he independently wrote the word “Mom” on top.   Again a huge deal- he doesn’t write too many words outside of African animals and movie titles without prompts.

And then he was happy and calm for the rest of his school day.

This picture, this Autism Lives Here moment, is displayed proudly in a place of prominence in our dining room.

 

Heather Nelson

About Heather Nelson

Heather resides in Rockland where she is busy juggling life as a newlywed, a mom to two boys (one of which who has autism), a part time job in direct sales, and a full-time job as a pediatric occupational therapy assistant. She has a love for live music, karaoke, and cheering on the underdogs.