A Woman's Work – Brooke Basically Blogging

Harrison and Sydney are amazing children. I talk about their sibling love often. If I tell you autism was a blessing for our family. Would you think I had lost my mind? You can answer yes. I would think the same.

What autism has taught us in nine years gave me the courage to share it with the world. It also gave me the real life experiences that I have included in Embracing Autism. That is one of my “baby projects” that I am working on.

Yesterday, Sydney was excited about the last day of school. She has already seen Beauty and The Beast. I haven’t, so I thought it would be our movie choice for family movie night. Yesterday was a happy day for me. But the day was emotional for many reasons. I wasn’t up for family movie night. So Harrison and I made the executive decision to move it to Saturday. Then we both looked at each other and said “not it”. Neither one of us wanted to tell Syd.

I told Syd there was a plot twist. We would watch the movie on Saturday instead. She was fine and said she had to set up. She left me a Beauty and The Beast reminder on the counter. I love how her mind works. That’s the beauty of autism.

Sydney handled the change well. I made sure to tell her how much I loved how she handled the change and that I was proud of her. All I wanted to do was relax. I didn’t have time to put on her jingle bell bracelets so I knew where she was. So I told her to get in bed with me and we would find a movie to watch.

 

She asked to watch Trolls. I had reward points with Fios so I decided to rent the movie. Once I ordered the movie. I knew I was set. Syd would stay in the bed with me, singing and enjoying the movie. And I could take a nap. Harrison was fine relaxing in his room. So I doze off and Syd wakes me up and says “Mom, do we speak Spanish?” I was so confused I just said yes. A few minutes later she starts counting in spanish. She told me we need english.

Well, I was so tired that I rented Trolls in Spanish. But Syd loved it. She grabbed her markers and started reading the color words in spanish. She started singing Feliz Navidad. I was trying not to laugh. But I enjoyed watching her type things on the iPad and search for spanish versions of songs and shows.

Sydney is smart. There is so much going on in her mind. That is when I see the beauty in autism. I probably couldn’t understand how her mind works and how she processes things. Her imagination and her vision are so complex. Don’t underestimate a child with autism. They may not show you right away. But they are learning everything that is being exposed to them.

That is why my voice will not be silent. Not until funding, resources and acceptance for people living with autism is taken seriously. Please remember that children with autism grow up to be adults, with autism.

Adios Amigos!