Acceptance starts at home

Continuing my thoughts on Autism Acceptance Month, I will say again that acceptance starts at home. 

I can't expect anyone else to accept Emily's exceptionalities if I don't. As with all children, no one will love them more than their parents. However, when raising a special needs child there are a multitude of people that will come into their lives. Teachers, aides, occupational therapists, speech therapists, behavior therapists, just to list a few. These individuals are helping our children reach their full potential and with that comes expectations from us. The parents. 

I remember the early years when I thought Emily would be able to write perfectly after a few sessions of OT. I remember thinking if I could get a few more sessions of behavior therapy in, we wouldn't have any meltdowns or tantrums. I had so many expectations.

back then. I didn't fully accept Emily's diagnosis. I just knew she would be "typical" by the age of 5. It was a tough road and little progress was made anywhere. 

It took almost 8 years for me to accept Emily's future. But once I did, the changes that started to happen were nothing short of miraculous. The stress and worry became less for both Emily and myself. My expectations were different once I accepted she may never read or write past a kindergarten or first grade level. She has progressed more in the past 2 years than she ever has. People remark about her improvement every day and ask me how or why she is doing so well. The only thing that's changed is my attitude and way of thinking. Acceptance of what is and what may never be. Accepting that there are going to be set backs and roadblocks along the yellow brick road,

somewhere over the spectrum, but knowing that and finding ways around them has made a huge difference in our lives. 

Thanks for reading~

Jessica