Why I no longer grieve for my autistic son

Four and a half years ago I wrote a blog titled ‘grieving for a child I haven’t lost’. It has been read over 100 thousand times since I wrote it and appeared in a number of books and on some popular websites. It’s been one of the most commented pieces I have written and evoked very strong feelings from people, both good and bad.

Time has passed and feelings change. Some advised me to delete that blog. But why would I be ashamed of how I truly felt at the time? You can’t eradicate history and it’s not healthy to pretend something wasn’t real when it was. I stand by every word I wrote back then and I know by being so brutally honest it has helped thousands of others feel less alone and more understood. Four and a half years ago my son was non verbal, smearing, screaming for hours, unable to read or write and needed 24 hour care. He was still in nappies at 6 and a half, having seizures, his behaviour was ‘challenging’ and every single day felt never ending.

He’s now 11. He’s still not toilet trained, still smears, now officially diagnosed epileptic, still has challenging behaviour and still non verbal. He still screams, he still can’t read or write or dress himself but something fundamental HAS changed: I no longer grieve for him.

I refuse to debate wether ‘grief’ is the right word to use for what I went through. I am the one that went through it and I know the intensity and depth of my feelings and the struggles both my son experienced, and in turn I felt as his mum and full time carer. The day I sat on that park bench and poured my heart onto paper was a day of truly understanding the reality of the pain, heartbreak and despair I felt. No-one has any right to undermine that unless they were living my life. My feelings and thoughts are not up for debate and never will be.

But things have changed now. A few days ago I took my son a trip to his favourite place. He now has a means of communication and I have learnt to listen. While he still can’t communicate verbally, after a lot of frustration and heartbreak, he found his own way of sharing his world through unconventional means. For him this is a unique combination of you tube, google street map, photos and using items of reference. He shows ingenuity and creativity daily as he tries to convey what he wants to wear, eat, and do. I have had, in turn, to be wiling to put my prejudices aside, be patient, and be willing to listen with more than just my ears.

Many misunderstood my grief as not loving my son. The opposite was in fact true. It was my intense love for him that made me grieve what I was missing as a parent and also the reality of what he will miss throughout his life.

But back to our trip and why I no longer grieve for my autistic son.:

He woke up on Saturday and made his way downstairs to ‘his’ chair. He pressed his iPads on (yes he has two!) and scrolled through his history of videos in YouTube until he found the one he wanted. He then used the other to go on google street map which is set to begin at his own home. Within minutes he had taken himself to the local train station on one iPad whilst watching local trains on the other.

I know my son and I know where he likes to go. Together we have a deep understanding now that has helped us both feel happier. He learnt that communication was worthwhile and I learnt the importance of allowing him to decide and control more about his life.

So I took him on a train to his favourite shopping centre to see lifts. On the train I watched as he flapped happily and looked out the window, holding his favourite teddy up so he could see too. He held my hand to get off the train and he took me to all his favourite lifts. We had lunch together in the food court and he dragged me by the hand and pointed to what he wanted. Then when he’d had enough we came home.

I’ve accepted that this is what makes him happy. He’s accepted that I actually have a use and by communicating other ways instead of screaming (which was his communication) he can achieve more.

I struggled but he struggled more.

Love helped us through. We both needed time.

In the four and a half years of us both needing time and changing I noticed something very important: attitudes to autistics are changing. We are much more accepting of difference now and the need to accommodate. Unfortunately though that acceptance still doesn’t seem to apply to parents as they journey through all the emotions involved in caring for, and living with their autistic children.

I am no longer grieving for my autistic son because I have come to accept and acknowledge that his life will always be different, as will mine, and that is OK. But it’s important that that is seen not as a ‘changing sides’ or ‘finally being positive’ but more about a natural journey of learning, patience and love. I haven’t suddenly become ‘accepting’ it was a process of coming to terms with the fact that my entire life will mean caring for my child and his entire life will involve others caring for him.

My son didn’t scream once on Saturday nor did he self harm or even show challenging behaviour. He was happy and so was I.

It’s still difficult at times, for both of us. But instead of sitting on that bench crying we now walk hand in hand past it as he flaps and laughs and drags me back to the car. He’d rather have fun at a lift or be eating lunch than walk around a park with his mum. That’s not something I grieve about now. It’s something I smile about instead.

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Do you ever wish you could ‘switch off’ your child’s autism?

Sometimes I do.

When I just need to get bread and milk from the local supermarket and I’m tired, in a hurry and just want ‘in and out,’ I wish I could ‘switch off’ my child’s difficulties with the music, crowds, smells, his absolute NEED to see the lift and his inability to stay beside me safely. Just ten minutes without autism would make that task easier…for us both.

When he’s crying in pain and unable to communicate why or where it hurts. How frustrating and distressing that is for us both. I wish I could ‘switch off’ his communication difficulties just long enough for me to be able to understand and help him.

When I am attempting to make a packed lunch for a school trip and I’m in tears because ‘lunch’ to him means a hot meal and I know everything I make will be refused. Just a half hour meal with autism ‘switched off’ would be a blessing for me, but more so for him. I know he doesn’t want to be so rigid but he just can’t prevent it.

When there’s roadworks and I need to drive a different route. To watch his face screw up in disgust and confusion followed by the onset of tears and challenging behaviour is torture for us both. I wish we could ‘switch off’ autism, just during the journey, not forever.

When I need to get medication into him. Just one minute of autism ‘turned off’ would allow vital epilepsy medication to be swallowed so much easier. While things are improving it is often very challenging and distressing for everyone. Antibiotics leave us both traumatised.

Right now though more than anything I wish I could ‘switch off’ severe autism as we face a period of very challenging medical difficulties. My non verbal son has recently been diagnosed with a growing brain tumour. He needs multiple anaesthetic’s and a brain tumour biopsy followed by possible treatment that will be invasive, challenging and intensive. I want him better; he needs to get better. The alternative isn’t something anyone wants to think about. . The presence of autism complicates even the simplest of procedures and we don’t have the time to ‘mess about’ right now.

Time is not on our side so having three months of acclimatising to new surroundings isn’t an option. Printing visuals of all the doctors we need to see, making timetables of when they will be seen and watching videos of procedures before hand to prepare my son just aren’t options any longer. I can’t just say ‘I couldn’t get him out the car’ to his neurosurgeon when they have theatre all prepared and scheduled for a brain biopsy. When appointments suddenly need changed due to things progressing fast I can’t say to specialists ‘well it’s not on his timetable so he won’t cope.’ ‘Sorry he stayed awake all night again as usual last night so we need to sleep today’ just isn’t an option when there’s an MRI machine booked for yet another scan, or nurses waiting to run more tests. There’s no option to say ‘don’t worry about his meltdown. I’ll just sent out another appointment in six months and we’ll try again then’.

We haven’t got time to put any communication device in place for my non verbal child any more, not that he has taken to any in the last ten years anyway.

Medically we are facing a crisis and severe autism doesn’t ‘do’ crisis. My son doesn’t do ‘sudden change’ or even just ‘change’. He doesn’t cope with new people, new places, being touched, sitting still while people talk, having needles put in, waiting around in clinics, or even having a simple plaster on!

I fully accept and love my son, autism included. I’ve never had an issue with flapping, watching the same thing lots, communicating in his own unique way or even needing routine. In fact I’ve developed strategies, patience, and understanding and I really wouldn’t want him any other way.

But I would be lying if I didn’t say that right now, in the middle of medical difficulties that can not be ignored or delayed, I would not love to ‘turn off’ autism just for short periods of time to make things easier for him, and also for me.

Autism can be a blessing and it isn’t something I hate but it can also make life challenging and right now we have enough challenges to face treating his brain tumour and we could do without the struggle just to get him inside a new hospital or the inability to wait for his name to be called and the terrifying fact his autism means he can’t communicate when or where something even hurts.

I thought in the past I’d like little moments of being able to switch autism off but right now I’ve never wanted that ability more. Autism is making an already challenging situation so much harder, not just for me but for my son. I’m not wanting my son to be non autistic just less rigid, less anxious, less ‘stuck’ during a time when co-operation, flexibility and communication are vital.

99% of the time I have time to do what he needs to help him. Unfortunately right now we are living in that 1% and I can not even adequately express how much simpler things would be right now without the added issue of severe non verbal autism.

Have I ever wanted to switch autism off? Right now for my son’s sake…yes! Most of the medical staff treating him would probably agree with me too.

My Severely Autistic Son DOES Have A Bright Future

Six and a half years ago when I took my toddler to a clinic and left with a diagnosis of severe non verbal autism , pica and global developmental delay my heart broke. It didn’t end there either. Six months later he was diagnosed with a progressive genetic condition. A year later he added vision impairment to his list. At seven he added an optic glioma, a form of brain tumour and at nine, epilepsy.

As I write this he is ten, with the developmental age of a one year old, the speech of a nine month old baby (he is non verbal), he isn’t yet potty trained and requires round the clock care. He has to be medicated twice daily to keep major seizures at bay. He needs six monthly MRI tests to monitor his brain tumours.

On paper his future doesn’t look good.

I have spent so much time breaking my heart for my son and all he will miss in life. He likely won’t fall in love, get married, have a family, have a job, learn to drive, attend college or university or live independently; all the things parents expect from their children as they grow. He can’t yet write his name, he’s never attended mainstream education and his care needs are so high I have been his full time carer since he was born.

So given all that information how can I possibly say my son has a bright future?

Quite simply this: Quality of life isn’t determined by what other people think.

I thought my child should find a partner, perhaps have a family of his own, get a job, drive, contribute to society in some way and make a difference. I thought he should go to school, perhaps onto college or university then find happiness and fulfilment in a career of his choice.

But who says any of this is a bright future? Who determines these things as quality of life?

In actual fact my son has an amazing future ahead of him, one very different to how I imagined, but even more incredible!

He’s never going to carry the burden of responsibility so he won’t stress about interest rates, taxes, mortgages or company shares.

He’s never going to become embroiled in complex relationships so won’t experience the heartache of divorce or family breakups.

He will remain blissfully sheltered from many of the awful things that life carries with it like murder, abuse, political turmoil, homelessness, drugs or wars.

His simple life will be the envy of many.

His needs will be met, either by carers or myself, for as long as I live. He has a sister who adores him and who I know will do all she can to make sure he is looked after too.

He will spend his future not in the drudgery and stress of daily commutes to work or long shifts but in doing what he loves most. He’ll be taken swimming, the cinema, cafes, shops, garden centres and day trips. It will be like he’s retired without ever having to have done the fifty plus years employment first.

Clothes and food will be provided for him. Other people will arrange whatever finances are required, drive him or support him in transport and make sure he is happy and well.

His future is, in fact, what so many of us would dream of. He will watch what he wants on TV, explore the world via google street map and see family often.

He will, as he already does, be surrounded by love, respect and support.

I’ll take him to as many lifts as he wants because his years of education will be complete.

I am not deluded. I am not just looking at life from rose tinted glasses. I am fully aware that my son will always need a huge level of care and that I may not always be around to give him that. I, more than anyone, understand how vulnerable and naive he is and always will be. I know i will fight budget cuts, endless complex forms to have control of his finances and health needs and that I will likely get little to no respite when he passes from children’s care teams to adult care teams.

This won’t be easy for ME but for HIM the future is bright.

We are so quick as a society to assume that anyone with learning disabilities, severe autism or complex needs is a burden. We see their quality of life as somehow less because it doesn’t follow the tradition path of higher education, work and raising the next generation. We see their inability to pay taxes as somehow awful and view them as beneath others.

My son, and thousands of others, walk a different path in life. They face a future quite different to that which we see as ‘normal’. Yet their future, their existence, their needs, are not in any way less or second class.

My severely autistic son’s future is full of life, love and fulfilment. That to me is the epitome of a bright future and quality of life.

I am looking forward to it and if he understood what the future was I know he would be excited too.

Coping With Worry As A Parent To Children With Complex Needs

One Sunday three months ago things changed in my family. Up until then I always worried about my non verbal severely autistic son but it was mostly around his inability to be understood, his challenging behaviour and what his future might be like. That changed on the 4th of March when I found my son face down on his bed semi conscious. He has just had a seizure.

That day he went on to have three more seizures and he slept on and off all day, not eating but at least having small amounts of fluids. He was referred to neurology though he already attended. An emergency appointment took 8 weeks but finally on 23rd April he saw the neurologist and an epilepsy nurse. She wanted an urgent MRI as Isaac has NF1 which causes tumours to grow on his nerves and a previous scan had shown Isaac had a tumour on his optic nerve.

However before we even had a date for his MRI on the 15th May I had a call from Isaac’s school to say he had arrived sleeping and had been sleeping all day and semi conscious. I immediately knew he had had another seizure. He was not home ten minutes when his eyes began rolling, his arms shaking and his mouth foaming. There’s general vague worrying for your child and then there is urgent medical worry. Once again it was confirmed by a doctor he was having some sort of ‘episodes’.

A week ago today he finally had his MRI under general anaesthetic. It’s his fourth one and I am worried. If his tumour has grown then chemotherapy is an option. If the tumour is stable we could be looking at epileptic medication. The future is unknown.

Yesterday Isaac had another episode in the park. He was violently sick this time. His sister was terrified and it was very challenging getting him safely home.

Things have changed. While I try to stay positive and keep my faith it is hard not to worry. How do you cope with worry when your child has complex needs?

I decided to reach out to some friends to ask how they cope with worry.

Charlie (whose son was having surgery the same day Isaac had his MRI) told me: ‘I try to stay busy when he’s in surgery and I remind myself of the reasons we’re doing this and the benefits rather than what might go wrong. It’s always a tense time and even though I keep my mind busy I’m physically exhausted as soon as he’s back safely with me. (www.ouralteredlife.com)

Steph (who writes at http://www.stephstwogirls.co.uk) had this to say: ‘All I can really relate to for this is when Sasha was in hospital for those 10 days three years ago. She had to have a CT scan rather than an MRI but there was other stuff to worry about, like her leaky valves… I guess I just tried not to think about it but in reality what I did was suppress it all in order to be as matter of fact about it all with her as I could be and prepare her/keep her calm.’

Lisa said ‘I don’t always realise I have been worried until after the event and then it feels like a weight has been lifted. I’m a massive over thinker but tend to have a positive outlook for the most part. Sometimes things haunt me afterwards…post trauma?’ (http://www.alifelessordinarywithautism.wordpress.com)

Cara (http://www.lylasangels.co.uk) told me: ‘I don’t worry, it’s like i go numb and just go through the motions. Before Lyla’s hip reconstruction last year a friend asked me how I felt about it and I went through my spiel about knowing it was going to be a tough recovery etc and he said yes but how do YOU feel? And i didn’t have an answer because I had no idea how I felt, I felt nothing really about her actual operation. She’s been under GA a couple of times before that for mri’s and I wasn’t worried or anxious, just numb.’

Maxine (http://www.downinfrintplease.blogspot.com) told me how running helps her cope: ‘Oh absolutely the running is my saving grace. Especially because I am always trying to fend off injury so there is such total granular focus on posture, cadence, breathing and there is no room for anything else in my thoughts for that blissful time. The outdoor space is open overhead so nothing visually pressing down on my shoulders. I am utterly free from it all when I run, and ever so much more able to cope thereafter. I also don’t pressure myself for times or even to run all the time (I take regular walk breaks) so it is only about the freedom and ‘me time’. If I don’t have it I am a wreck from trying to keep track of everything. I can’t imagine coping without it.’

Gemma (http://www.islasvoice.co.uk) uses humour to cope with her worry. ‘I am mostly numb and I hide everything with humour.Most of the time I try not to think because I know when I do my worrying consumes every bit of me.Luckily we don’t have any health stuff to worry about.Instead I wonder why everyone has discharged a severely autistic child and she has no support. I worry I’m a shit mum. I worry I should be fighting more. I worry she’s not getting everything she needs and should be getting. I worry about what will happen when I’m no longer here. Then I start laughing and joking and in my head it’s all good but I know it’s denial. It’s how I get through each day.’

Sally, who blogs at http://www.hunterslife.co.uk told me how her son helps her with her worries: ‘If I start worrying about all the things that I should be worried about – all the unknowns about the future (or lack of it) – I drown. So I try to take my cue from Pudding more and just live in the moment. Not very good at it but it’s a heck of a lot better than thinking about the alternatives.’

Jeanette finds crochet helps: ‘I use distractions here. My brain over-thinks all the time so I either distract it with a bit of crochet or some music (can’t do the latter if not on my own). The “having to concentrate on stitches or you’ll screw it up” really helps, that and being around others who “get” if you might be quiet. (Www.autismmumma.com)

Julia confessed to how anxious and worried she gets: ‘Noah had 3 anaesthetics in under 7 months. Each time I carried him to the room and held him till he was under. I buried the fear deep. Buried the worry. He needed me to be strong. I focused on him as a patient sometimes, rather than my little boy. I put my nurses head on as such as it was the only way I could cope. As he slept I’d talk to my sister in law about him. She’s also a nurse and it helped me get through it all. I still have nightmares about those months. He only has to cough and burning anxiety starts climbing up my body.’ (Www.bloomingautism.com)

Lucy (http://www.revelationsofaslummymummy.blogspot.com) is much more pragmatic about it all: ‘Bizarrely, I worry about not worrying enough. I’m a very pragmatic person, have had mammoth amounts of trauma previously. Anyway, I just cracked on, partly as a survival mechanism and partly because I knew no different. For me, that works, but I always wonder if my pragmatism perhaps leads to complacency with Brecon. He seizes every day, and it’s just life. He bites, pinches and scratches me everyday, and it’s just life. I really really hope my approach doesn’t lead to him being less efficiently cared for or me being less proactive in terms of getting him what he needs.’

Finally Anne from http://www.fainbowsaretoobeautiful.com told me: ‘I worry all the time. I find the best thing I can do is try and ‘park’ worries for a while. Realise I’m worried about something but let it go with the knowledge I’ll return to it in a while – whether that’s a few hours, days or months.’

So we all worry. My coping mechanisms right now include swimming, praying and of course writing.

One thing I do know though is that worry won’t change anything. Everyday is a fresh day and a chance to start again. And right now everyday Isaac doesn’t have a seizure is a bonus. Thankfully we have many more seizure free days than we do seizure filled ones. As for the MRI…well I will share those results as soon as we know!

And Isaac? Well he is flapping, smiling and laughing through it all. He isn’t worried about anything at all!

Five Myths About Having A Non-Verbal Child

I am a parent of a non verbal child. He has always been that way and possibly always will. It’s our ‘normal’, so much so that I often forget when others look at my son or ask him a question that they have no idea he can’t speak. Sometimes I want to tell the world everything about him, because he can’t do so for himself. Other days I want to keep everything about him private and locked into my heart because…well mostly because people, sadly, can be very ignorant.

I know people don’t mean to hurt and they are mostly just curious and well meaning about life with my beautiful son but there really does seem to be so many myths about what it is like living with a non verbal child (or adult). Here are five of the most common ones I have had said to me:

1. “Your house must be so much quieter than mine!”

This one doesn’t offend me but it does make me laugh. Just because a person can not speak does not mean they can’t make noise! My son can scream so loud he frightens the birds away for miles. He makes a lot of noises both with his mouth and with his body. He cries, he laughs and he shouts…it’s just words he can’t make, not noise! He is at least ten times louder than his very verbal sister!

2. ‘You must have no idea what he wants then if he can’t speak?’

This one makes me realise just how much emphasis we seem to put on spoken language when, in fact, it is actually only a small minority of what we as humans use to communicate. I carried my son for nine months, when he was a newborn baby I interpreted his cries when he was hungry, tired or wanted comfort. Nine years later and I still know how to interpret his actions and needs. I can follow his eyes, see his face light up in laughter or he can lead me by the hand to what he wants. He is an incredibly gifted communicator, actually more gifted than many of us who have become complacent in our use of spoken language. He uses google street map to take me to the doctors when ill (you can read more about that here), he uses photographs of places we have been to to request to go again and he uses objects like the TV remote to say he wants to watch TV. He may not have speech but he can still get his message across. It is us who need to learn to listen not him who needs to learn to communicate.

3. ‘Give him time. One day he will come out with full sentences!’

I know people want to be positive and offer hope. I get that. I understand that people don’t understand severe autism, global delay and learning difficulties fully and base their experience mostly on what they have read or heard from the media or friends. People don’t mean to hurt me when they say this, but it does hurt. While my heart would love my son to speak to me suddenly in sentences, with the exception of a miracle, that isn’t going to happen. There are only three recognisable vowel sounds in his ‘vocabulary’ at almost ten. He has ‘o’ (sounded out like awww) and ‘mmmmm’ and ‘ahhhhh’ when eating but these are considered so infantile his expressive language has been assessed at approximately 6 months old. It has remained at this age for three years with no signs of any improvement.

As hard as it is for society to accept; there are people who never develop speech and remain non verbal all their lives. There is offering hope to people and then there is false hope. The latter can destroy and damage so much. My son MAY say some words one day but the reality is he is more likely to remain non verbal. I can accept that and I hope one day others will too.

4 ‘I bet he must be so angry and frustrated all the time.’

I can understand why people would think this. Of course, like any other person, my son has times of frustration and anger. Mostly these, like any other 9 year old, are actually because he can not have his own way rather than directly due to his communication struggles. He IS understood and he IS happy. My son has never known any different. It isn’t like he had speech, became reliant on it like us, then lost it. He has always been non verbal and he has found his own way to communicate on his terms. If people take the time to get to know him they can tune into his needs and wants fairly quickly. Out of everyone in my family he laughs more than any of us so his inability to speak certainly isn’t making him angry or frustrated all the time, anything but!

5 ‘That’s so sad. You must be so heartbroken all the time.’

While it may be annoying having your child whining or nagging for something when you are busy, or asking a million questions all the time, how would you feel if you never heard your child say ‘mum’? Of course I get sad sometimes, I would not be human if I didn’t. There are moments it catches me off guard, like when I see my daughter singing Christmas carols or when someone asks me what my son wants for Christmas and he can’t tell me. On the other hand I have become much more grateful for the times my son climbs on my knee at 9 to show me something on YouTube he likes, or the times he squeezes me hard and still wants me to lift him up even though he is almost my height. When he takes my hand as he climbs out the car or rests his head on mine, he doesn’t need words to say how much he loves me.

Yes a part of my heart feels the pain of never hearing his voice but I am anything but heartbroken all the time. I have a bond with my son which is like nothing else. Silence says everything when we are just sitting together and those moments refresh me whenever I need it.

There are so many more misunderstandings about children like my son. Sometimes I deliberately don’t tell people he can’t talk because they immediately seem to stop talking to him just because he can’t speak to them. That upsets me, but more importantly it upsets my son.

I have had other parents tell their children to avoid my son out of fear that perhaps his non verbal status is somehow contagious. People generally equate non verbal with ‘not with it’ which could not be further from the truth with my son. In fact if he ignores you it says far more about you than him!

Being non verbal is not holding my son back, society is.

It is ok to not know about something you don’t have personal experience of but please be willing to learn.

I am a parent of a non verbal child. I don’t need to be his voice because he is perfectly capable of making his own needs and wants known in his own way: He just doesn’t use speech to do so.

My friend and fellow blogger Chris Bonnello hit the nail on the head with this (to see more of his fantastic memes and blogs see http://www.autisticnotweird.com)

I Could Hate Autism…but

I could hate autism tonight.

I could hate the fact my son has caused so much damage to my house again, both in financial terms and in emotional terms. Things of sentimental value smashed, toys broken, floors flooded, window blinds torn. I could hate the fact he has screamed for hours on end in frustration and anger and attacked anyone who came near him. I could hate the fact his sibling is having to deal with all this and live in a volatile situation she has no control over.

When the child who has caused the damage has a diagnosis of autism I could hate autism so easily, but I don’t.

Many would argue, and I would have done so in the past too, that my son’s autism is to blame for tonight. It was his rigidity of thinking and inflexible thought processing that were the triggers. It was the fact he could not control everything and his sheer need for set routine that started it all. It was the fact his communication needs are so high and he was frustrated at not being able to verbally say what he wanted. It was his lack of social awareness and inability to understand others viewpoints that meant he caused thoughtless damage to other’s property. Everyone of these things are key traits of autism spectrum disorder after all, so surely autism was to blame for it all?

Autism isn’t why my son is violent. Autism is not always the reason my child has meltdowns and screams.

There is more to my child than autism.

There is more to anyone than autism.

Let me be clear: autism does not make people violent. I do not hate autism.

Am I upset about my evening and the damage that was caused? Yes very much so. I am more upset, however, at the fact people will see tonight as something fundamentally down to severe autism. Severe autism does not mean a child will be violent. I can not stress that enough.

Let me say this: my son is 9. Yes he has autism. Yes he has no verbal communication. Yes he has learning difficulties and other complex needs. His challenging behaviour IS linked to his complex needs and these do play a factor in what happened tonight but they are not the full story.

I could hate autism but I don’t.

Instead I hate the fact I misjudged my son’s level of anxiety to the point I let him get to the stage of full meltdown.

I hate the fact my tiredness and frustration meant I never showed my child the patience and understanding he needed.

I hate the anxiety and frustration my son felt because his world felt so out of control and unordered because I never ran his bath at 6pm when he felt I should.

Autism was’t to blame for tonight: I was.

My son is a vulnerable child. Whilst he does need support to learn to wait and be more gentle (as does any child,autism or not, and many adults too!) he also has a right to be understood, be listened to and have his needs met regardless wether he can speak or not. I am the adult in all this and it is ME who needs to change and mature not him.

Do you know something…my son could have had a bad night, been frustrated and had a challenging evening even if he didn’t have autism. He is a 9 year old boy with developing hormones, a growing body and determination like any other child. We all get angry and children need space to be forgiven and grow as much as we all do. Have I ever wanted to throw something in temper at times? You bet I have. I have just learnt as an adult that there are better ways to deal with anger. My son just needs time to learn that too. Autism and learning difficulties may mean that takes a little longer and it’s my job to be more patient during that process.

In all the chaos of tonight, in all the broken toys, wet floors, and smashed items I found my son had done this on his bed. A line of cars to remind me how beautiful, ordered and perfect autism is.

I could hate autism but there is nothing about autism to hate.

Just to add I ran that bath, apologised to my child and we made amends. Yes he has autism and learning difficulties but his laughter, his energy, and his forgiving spirit know no bounds. One of the most amazing things about his autism is he will wake up tomorrow with no agenda, no grudge and a love of life that makes everyday wonderful.

I could hate autism but I love my son far too much for that.

Three Lessons an ‘Autism Mum’ Learnt From Meeting an Adult Autistic Advocate.

There is a huge chasm within the autism community between parent of autistic children (like me) and adults with autism.

I have experienced this first hand with many of my posts receiving hate comments such as ‘I wish you were dead’ and ‘you are a disgusting and vile human being’ and many more that are totally unprintable. Unfortunately some even crossed a line that involved me having to inform the police.

Sadly the divide is that bad.

Then there are autistic adult advocates themselves writing about autism from their point of view also getting hate mail from some parent of children with autism accusing them of having no idea how hard parenting is and not being able to see their point of view.

The divide is on both sides.

People have placed me firmly in the parents camp. That is natural since I am not autistic myself and I write as a parent of a very severe child who at 9 has no speech. I have been very frank in the past about how difficult and challenging I find raising both my children, but my son especially, and how I have ‘grieved for the things in life he will never be able to do’ and have even ‘wished I was no longer an autism parent’. (Previous posts of mine)

I stand by every post I have written.

However something happened recently that has really challenged me: I met a well-know award-winning adult autistic advocate called Chris Bonnello from Autistic Not Weird. I heard him speak for a few hours one afternoon and the next day welcomed him into my home.

On paper we should be arch enemies but in reality we are friends.

Chris had dinner with myself, my autistic husband, and my two autistic children. Boy was I truly outnumbered as the only non autistic person that night! We travelled in the same car together, ate together, he spend time with both children and then we had a short time chatting before taking him back to his hotel.

It was one night out of the 365 nights in the year yet it really affected me in a deep way.

I learnt so much that night but here are the three main things meeting Chris taught me:

1. The future is brighter for my children than I often think it will be.

In many ways I had planned my son’s future for him: there would be no marriage or kids and likely no job either. He would live with me at home and attend day care groups with people with profound learning difficulties. He would never speak and would lead an isolated, restricted life where few would ever genuinely love him. (This is not me being depressing this is sadly the reality for many like my son)

Chris spent one hour with my son and made me realise that other people CAN and WILL love my son and see his awesomeness.

When your child is very vulnerable it is very difficult to trust others with them. Chris showed me that there are people who will understand my son, respect him, and genuinely want to be around him.

It took an autistic adult to show me that someone will one day love my son as much as I do.

2. The most important thing I can do for my children is spend time with them.

It’s rare for someone to bond with my children so quickly. There are family members who have no idea what my children’s favourite colours are or what age they are. As I watched this incredible man bond instantly with my children by simply being with them it made me realise that whilst my children do need me to advocate for them, make food for them, keep them safe and clean and educated they also need me to just be with them. I don’t need a degree in speech therapy to just talk with them, and just stroking a sequin cushion can be far more fun that I think it will be.

I am a hands on mum and I do sit on the floor with my children playing with them often but then some days I am tired, feel pressured to keep up with the laundry and cooking and switch on the TV or give them iPads.

An Autistic adult entered my children’s world and made me realise how fantastic their world really is.

3. As a parent of children with autism I need to watch what I say and write.

I write and speak as a parent because that is what I am. I am not autistic and I therefore can not write from my children’s point of view. Having spoken with Chris I can see why some of my posts as a struggling, heartbroken parent have been hard for him and others to read. I want to stress that I don’t hate autism or anyone who has it and I love my children more than life itself. The spectrum is huge so when I say I am grieving for my child I am speaking as a parent whose expectations and desires have been ripped apart by having a child so disabled I may never hear his voice. That does not mean I do not love him; just that I need to adapt, not him.

When I say I do not want to be an autism parent anymore in a post I am saying I am tired and struggling with the weight and responsibility of the severity of my sons disability NOT that I want to abandon him because he has autism. As a writer and parent whose children will grow to be autistic adults I have a responsibility to make this clearer in my pieces.

I want to end with an apology to those my writing has hurt. I am finding this difficult because I am living life with two children who speak and think and communicate vastly different to me. I see anxiety crippling my daughter and my son unable to look after himself. I see everyday practical difficulties both my children will face in a non autistic world. I see their vulnerability and naivety and I worry. But please also know I see their beauty, their awesomeness and their incredibly personalities and gifts too. I don’t hate their autism I just struggle to face it myself as a non autistic person.

I need autistic adults like Chris from Autistic Not Weird to keep teaching me lessons and I want to hear.

There is a huge chasm in the autism community but sometimes autistic adults and parents of autistic children can actually make for a beautiful friendship indeed.

We can learn so much from each other.

If you would like to know more about Chris Bonnello you can follow him here: https://www.facebook.com/autisticnotweird/

Why I will no longer attend anything at my autistic son’s school

I don’t want to be one of those parents that never turns up for anything at their child’s school, but next year I can assure you that I will be that very parent. I won’t be at any parent engagement events, or school shows and I will be avoiding assemblies like the plague! I won’t even be at parents night and my child won’t even see me at the annual achievement assembly either.

I am not a bad parent though, far from it.

This is NOT what I want but I have come to the conclusion it really is for the best.

In fact making this decision has broken my heart.

Yet my New Years resolution to not attend anything at my son’s school is one New Years resolution I fully intend to keep.

Why? Well because it is what my son wants.

I never thought my child would want to be the only child in the school nativity without his mum or dad sitting proudly watching. I never thought my son would want to collect his annual achievement award with no-one to cheer him on. The thing is though; I am not autistic, he is.

He sees the world very differently to me and this is a great example of that. I see his school as somewhere I want to be highly involved with and engaged with. I want the emotional feeling of seeing my only son being on stage and taking part in things I never thought he would be capable of. I want photographs and memories to treasure of him dressed in costumes and joining in. I am really wanting it all for me. Isaac though sees things very plainly: mum belongs at home not school. End of.

Seeing me at school, for whatever reason, causing him far too much distress. That distress, confusion and even anger, has now built to a point where it is no longer safe for me, or for staff, to have me at school events. Isaac gets so upset at seeing me and so anxious he can harm himself and others. That distress lasts a long time as he just can not process the fact I have appeared somewhere that, in his mind, I should never be. When he comes home from school his anxiety is set off again as he sees me back home and he must wonder how I was at his school 14 miles from home just a few hours before. He doesn’t have the cognitive or processing ability to understand fully that I could drive there and back (after all he never drives so how could I?) and the whole evening becomes challenging for the whole family. Things get thrown, broken, we get screamed at and he is in obvious distress. We can not ‘talk it through’ since at 9 he has no speech at all. It is awful and heart breaking for everyone.

So I have had to lay aside my own desire to see my child at school. I have had to take the very difficult decision to never see another nativity play he is in, or visit him in his classroom. It is even harder when I know he is actually excited to see other parents do these things…just not his own mum.

I could disguise myself and sit at the back of the hall I guess but what if he did somehow see me? Is it worth the upset it causes him?

I will continue to support his school by sending items in, communicating via his home school diary and giving money as required. I want much more, of course, but I hope they understand that this is the best way now. I pray they take photos that I will never be able to take and maybe even record events on video if possible. It won’t be the same as being there for me but what can I do?

I miss out on seeing my son do so much already. I miss out on hearing his voice, or teaching him to ride a bike, or even playing a simple game with him. I just never thought I would miss out on seeing him at school too.

New year, new term, and a new way of putting my son’s needs before my own.

This is the right thing for my son, for his sister and for the whole family. I have tried for five years but that’s it over now. From now on I will no longer attend anything at my son’s school and for us this is hopefully going to help make the next year more manageable and pleasant for us all.

Sometimes though I just wish autism was a little less hard on my heart.

Could you Spare a Few Minutes to Make Christmas Special for one Autistic Boy?

Hundreds and hundreds of people all around the world have already joined in. It is a simple ask but something that will be life changing for young Isaac.

Here is why:

Isaac is 9 years old and lives in South Lanarkshire. He is the oldest of twins and he has complex needs. He has a diagnosis of severe autism, significant learning difficulties, he is unable to speak and has neurofibromatosis type 1 which has caused a tumour on his optic nerve and on his brain. He does not play with toys but he absolutely loves lifts (elevators to those in the States).

Isaac does not cope with change. He finds Christmas a huge challenge especially when he can not get the sensory enjoyment of watching and going in lifts. Although he watches lifts on YouTube as his parent I am very aware of the language used in many of these videos and would rather he was not hearing such vocabulary. Every time Isaac is distressed (which is daily) or frustrated or bored he only wants to see or be in lifts.

He loves any sort of lifts. He is a regular at the lifts in the supermarket car park, fascinated by the numbers, the voice saying what level you are at and the excitement of the words ‘door opening’. He loves to press the buttons, watch the doors and watch others getting in and out. This is not a recent thing either as his love of lifts has been ongoing now for over six years and shows no sign of abating.

The problem is on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day it is very hard to find a lift that Isaac can watch or go in as everywhere is closed. Isaac does not understand the concept of closed or have any idea about Christmas. There is no toy he longs for and he has no idea who Santa even is. All he wants is to be in a lift or to watch them. When he can’t he self harms and screams for hours.

Can you help Isaac?

Gemma Bryan, a friend of mine who I have yet to meet, decided to make this Facebook page up in the hope a few people would take some pictures and videos for Isaac that he could watch during the Christmas holidays. Please check her blog out here

The lovely Marc Carter at Little Blue Cup then shared Isaac’s story on his website and Facebook page. His site helps find things for children with autism and other disabilities that they are attached to and need replaced for any reason.

Marc happened to appear on ITV This Morning with Philip Scofield and Holly Willoughby on Wednesday 22nd of November where Isaac’s appeal was aired live. I broke down in tears when Philip and Holly surprised everyone by making their very own lift video for Isaac too.

So what can you do?

Well if you would like to join Philip, Holly, transport for London, charities, cruise companies, housing associations, lift manufacturers and hundreds and hundreds of everyday people around the world it is very simple.

The next time you are in a lift please take a photograph or a short video clip and load to this page. All the clips and photographs will be made into a dvd for Isaac and also loaded onto a special YouTube channel for others to enjoy too. What takes you just minutes will be life changing for Isaac and his family.

Be part of something special this Christmas. Help make Christmas special for Isaac.

Every picture and every video matters. We appreciate every single one of you.

Please spread the word.

Pictures and videos should be sent to HERE

With special thanks to Gemma Bryan and Kelly Kemp from It’s a Tink Thing for helping me admin this page.

I Don’t Want To Be An Autism Parent Anymore

*Preface: have you ever felt overwhelmed with life? I have. Of course I love my son with all my heart, I should never need to even justify that, but living with a child with severe autism is hard. I do not need threats made to my life or my child’s because I find some days hard. Comments like that will not be approved.

And for the record I don’t always feel like this but I am human and some days this is exactly how it is. *
The day started far too early. There was no sweet cuddles in bed or a little voice asking for a drink; no I was woken as usual by screaming. I have had day after day, month after month, year after year of being woken by screaming and I don’t want that anymore.

I don’t want to wake up to a smell that would make you want to vomit and bedding that is fit for the bin more than the washing machine, because yet again it is covered in something that ought not to be seen by anyone else. I am so tired of that now.

I don’t want to sit on my couch in the middle of the night looking at my child and wondering what I did to have a child who sees no point in sleeping, who at 8 still can’t say ‘mama’ and who still thinks the world revolves around his needs only.

I love him more than words could ever convey but I don’t want to be an autism mum anymore. 

I want to be a mum who has fun with her child rather than doing therapy with them.

I want to walk my son to school and talk to his friends instead of sending him in a taxi to a place where I am a stranger to them.

I want to be able to talk to my child about the fact it is his birthday soon and discuss what he would like to do to mark that day.

I want to be someone who takes my child to bowling, teaches them to ride a bike or even goes to the movies with them. Instead the only place I ever take him to is hospitals or respite.

I am tired of missing out on everything. I am tired of never having party invites, knowing nothing about his day at school, having to still dress him, having to take adult nappies and wipes with me wherever I go.

I don’t want to be an autism parent anymore.

I am tired of holding my child as he screams in public again.

I am tired of the never ending judgement, the stares and the horrid comments.

I am am tired of carrying around my broken heart as a result of the interventions and therapies having achieved nothing.

I simply can not bear the thought of my child as an adult knowing what society is like.

I am tired of meetings.

I am tired of phone calls from his school.

I am tired of fighting for everything but then being accused as having an attitude or people thinking I act like I am entitled. 

I don’t want my child to have autism anymore. This is not a ‘different way of seeing the world’ that he has, or ‘a wonderful gift’. This is a child about to be 9 years old who can not say ‘mum’ or use a bathroom himself. This is a child almost my height who still can’t put his own clothes on, brush his own teeth or dry himself after a bath. This is a child who can never ever be left alone, who has to have everything the same all the time, who self harms and wanders. This is a child still with the mind of a toddler who will require others to look after him his entire life.

Who would want that for their child?

Who would want that as a parent?

Today I don’t want to be an autism parent any more.

The problem is I have no choice.

So I strip that bed, bath that child, cook him that breakfast as I always do and let him sit on my knee while he rewinds the same ten seconds of video on you tube he did yesterday and the day before that and the day before that.

Nothing changes much in my house, except my feelings. 

Today I am tired. I don’t want to be an autism parent today the same way any other parent may feel about not wanting to be the mum of a toddler who tantrums daily or a baby who has reflux or the partner to someone with Alzheimer’s. We all have days when we are just down about the life we have.

Yet we carry on. We dust ourselves down, search for some positives or listen to some music.

Tomorrow is a new day. It will probably start off with screaming again too., but maybe tomorrow I will be stronger, more hopeful, more upbeat.

Maybe tomorrow I will want to be the autism parent I need to be. 

Maybe tomorrow.