Autism Dads

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.

Happy Father’s Day boys!

Ancora Impartial
Autism Daddy

Autism Light
Bacon and Juice Boxes
Both Hands and a Flashlight
Fathers for Autism
Find My Eyes
Gingerheaddad
Happy Trouble
Jason Hague

Joel on Autisable
Just a Lil Blog

Lost and Tired
Pancakes Gone Awry
Pucks and Puzzle Pieces

Run Luau Run

Stuart Duncan

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.

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Dad vs. Man

"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance." - Ruth E. Renkel

Being a dad doesn't mean you can’t be a man. When you have a child with special needs, they need their dads to be as involved as possible. Being a dad makes you a BETTER man.

Some men feel that the two are mutually exclusive. Scratch that. Some women feel that way too, so I guess it is some PEOPLE feel that being a dad means you can’t be a man.

Why do I say this? I say this because to me it is almost like there is an opinion out there that a guy has to turn in his “Man Card” in order to be fully vested in their kids. By that I mean that they take part in and are an active participant in ALL of the day to day routines of their kid’s lives that their schedule allows.

It is a disturbing phenomenon that I see firsthand almost every day. In the vast majority of events, therapies and functions that I attend, I am one of the only guys if not the only man in the room. At first I chalked it up to my unusual work schedule; my days off are in the middle of the week which allow me to be really active in Bianca’s week. But I work nights when I do work, so I am able to participate in weekend activities as well… and again, I am in the minority by a LONG shot.