Things that are tiring about living with autism
Everyone I’ve ever met who has a child with autism is exhausted by:
- the refusing behaviour,
- by the chronic ongoingness of it all,
- by the fact that you never really know what’s going to happen,
- by the judgment of other people who say, “isn’t he just naughty?”
- by the not sleeping and the difficult eating and the fussiness around clothes and shoes
- and the yelling and the tantrums
- and the expensive treatments
- and the teachers who don’t know enough or who can’t do enough because there’s not enough funding,
- and the needs of their other children and their complicated reactions to their sibling,
- by the strain placed on the marriage relationship
- let alone the difficult relationships with peers and the fact that not many autistic kids get invited to birthday parties,
- and the embarrassment when they say something odd, or run away for the 50th time
- and that’s not even talking about the fear of their future
- or the heartache that happens every time the other children of the same age achieve goals that your child will probably never get to.
If you're one of those parents, take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back right now. Courage and grace to you.