You are involved.
You are present.
You consider 5 hours of sleep a "good night".
You are patient.
You have become immune to the stares.
You know that you can indeed give more than 100%.
You drive your child around from therapy to therapy.
You walk for your child.
You have mastered the art of remaining calm when things escalate.
You are a fighter.
You are tired.
You give your wife a shoulder to cry on.
You are a mind reader.
You know it is OK to cry.
You know showing emotions doesn’t make you less of a man, but more of one.
You advocate for your child.
You are engaged.
You go out to eat anyway… screw em!
You scour the web for information.
You hurt when your child hurts.
You are scared.
You survive on no sleep.
You somehow manage to be functional at work.
You wish you could fix it.
You accept that you can’t and love your child unconditionally.
You try desperately to communicate with your child.
You change your priorities.
You raise awareness.
You smile.
You are a master at body language.
You are deaf to the whispers.
You shake your head at the injustice of the health insurance companies.
You have been hit, bitten, scratched, and pinched all in the matter of minutes.
You celebrate every milestone like you just won the World Series.
You honor your vows
You educate.
You laugh.
You have perspective.
You cope.
You have your entire belief structure come into question.
You ask, “Why me?”
You ask, “Why not me?”
You know the greatest gifts you can give a child are not presents, but presence.
You want things to be better, but don’t know if you would change a thing.
You love your child so much that you could burst.
You redefine the word “Dad”.
You are everything a man should aspire to be.
You are the father to a child with autism.
You are a hero.
If you are an autism dad and are struggling to find answers, I would like to suggest a few good places to go where you can read about the trials and tribulations as well as thoughts and ideas of other dads with kids on the spectrum. These are just a few that come to mind of the top of my head, if you know of others, please post them in the comments below.
Autism Light
Bacon and Juice Boxes
Both Hands and a Flashlight
Fathers for Autism
Find My Eyes
Gingerheaddad
Happy Trouble
Jason Hague
Bacon and Juice Boxes
Both Hands and a Flashlight
Fathers for Autism
Find My Eyes
Gingerheaddad
Happy Trouble
Jason Hague
If you have not already, please take time to watch my videos, "Fixing" Autism and Autism Awareness with Nichole337 and share them with your friends.
you had me in tears 4 lines in. happy father's day, to one of the best i know.
ReplyDeleteand one of my (other) favorite dads ..
http://blogginglily.blogspot.com/
Great post - happy father's day to you and all the great autism dads out there.
ReplyDeleteNeil from http://www.pucksandpuzzlepieces.com
I am an autism dad of two...
ReplyDeletehere is my addition to the blog world of autism dads...
http://autismrethinkingfamily.blogspot.com
thank you for your work