September 24, 2023
Behind the Photo: Patience and Progress in the World of Autism
Pictures are funny. You can look at a seemingly ordinary one and think nothing of it.
Like this photo.
A mom. Two kids. An older boy. A younger girl. A baby doll. They appear to be at a place with model trains.
What you don’t see is the hard work. The years of practice. The relentless journey of hope. The prayers.
The picture doesn’t tell you that the older boy has a diagnosis of severe nonverbal autism. And for nearly all of his life going into the community was incredibly challenging.
The picture doesn’t tell you that this was a new place to them. With a longer drive. And so much anticipation.
Or that mom has never taken these two into the community together alone.
Because the older boy needs one to one. He needs all the attention to be successful. To be safe. To just be. He needs his hand held. And someone to guide him. To be is mouth piece. To be a buffer.
And that is hard with a two year old who wants to see and touch and play and run and be and constantly says…‘I do it myself!’
But yesterday, after years of hard work and practice, we did it.
We drove. We unbuckled. We waited. We walked. We paid. We looked. We smiled. We found the free VHS tape stack. We choose. We negotiated. We worked through it. We high fived. And we left.
We did it.
It’s so much more than just a picture.
It’s a monumental first for us.
I realize I still hold my breath a lot of the time. But I’m slowly learning to let it out.
Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook.
