The Little Things

My Son had a visitor today. A child that rides the bus with my son, rode his bike to our house today so he could play with my son. My son is almost 11, this has never happened, not once. I have initiated play dates, but this on its own has never happened. My son was over joyed with himself. He came in the house to tell me numerous times that he had a friend visiting. I was thrilled for him on so many levels. This child does not know what an impact he had on the whole house. My daughters were also thrilled. My middle daughter, our talker knew everything about this child within a 45 second time frame. She knew where he lived, that his parents were divorced, his first and last name, what grade he was in. My son on the other hand was smiling from ear to ear to have someone that came by to say hi. The homework got nixed a little bit, because quite frankly I was thrilled to see my son attempting to engage in some social activity with another child besides his siblings. This is something HUGE for a autism household!! I hope this child comes by again. My husband and I practically rolled out the red carpet. My son went to bed a very happy boy last night!!! Thank you god for the little things that really matter!!!

Autism siblings

. It is Autism awareness month. I would love to share with you a story about the diagnosis of my son; however, I am going to share the story of my daughter, who is an autism sibling. I want to tell you about my middle daughter, she is in all reality the oldest, but not really the oldest. Her brother has autism and although we ask him to does his fair share. He is not capable of being the oldest sibling at this point. My daughter is the negotiator, the peace maker, and the oldest sibling. I find myself asking her to do things, which the oldest sibling should really do. I know that I can depend on her to help me. I know that this is a burden for a five year old little girl. I kick myself constantly for laying these demands on her. The funny thing is she accepts her place with stride. She jumps in when needed; she reminds me that my son has "Austism" as she calls it. And she informs me of when she feels he is having a sensory issue. She tries her hardest to calm him down in the biggest of meltdowns. We waited 5 years to have her. I was scared and overwhelmed and just plain exhausted. She was just what this family needed in every way. My daughter has a spunky personality, a take charge attitude and a caring heart. Even in her toddler days, she had an admiration for her brother. She is proud to tell who ever will listen that she not only has a little sister she has an older brother. I think autism siblings are sometimes overlooked, my youngest daughter at this point is not able to understand the full concept of what my son has. My middle daughter is trying to understand and make sense of why her brother is not like her in some ways. I just know that my daughter was sent to us by an angel so my son would have someone to guide him and help him out. I am so very proud of her on so many levels. I feel good knowing that my daughter wants to help and does not focus on the fact that lots of times most of the attention is placed on her brother. Thank you god for all of my children, but thank you the most for giving me such kind and caring ones