Autism is...

Today is National Autism Awareness day. Autism first affected my life when my nephew Caleb was diagnosed many years ago. Let’s face it, I’m getting old! It wasn’t as personal to me as I was an onlooker from a distance; however, I saw the busyness and challenges, along with the mass amounts of love my brother and sister-in-love had for their boy. 

Several years later my world changed when I welcomed the most amazing little boy to the world on November 18. His name is Buel Burton Newman V. He made me a mommy. He has gorgeous curly hair, kind eyes, the worlds best smile, and a contagious laugh. He loves his sister and playing with her. He loves to rough house with his daddy and to be snuggled by mommy. He is also autistic.

Autism is hard. It has changed my life forever and some days are more challenging than others. 

Autism is also beautiful. 

Buel is unique. He’s not broken, his brain just works differently. In fact, he works harder than most kids I know at his age. I guess that’s because he has too. He is so strong and can climb and swing for hours. He’s got the callouses on his hands to prove it. His stamina is incredible. He stims: that is to say he has his own way of comforting himself or meeting his sensory needs. He scripts: it may make no sense to us but it helps him to feel good, it helps him to try and communicate. He has food aversions: don’t lie... you probably do too! He makes eye contact very infrequently, but boy does it give me life when he does! 

Take the time to get to know someone who is autistic. Spend time with them, real time. They may not communicate the same way but that doesn’t mean they don’t want too. Take the time to learn about autistic people. They have a lot to teach to us. Please - Don’t ignore parents with autistic children or whisper under your breathe that something’s weird about their kid. They need love and friendship and family. Chances are they feel isolated and could use the companionship. If your kid has questions about why a person flaps their hands or jumps up and down... if you don’t know the answer, I would not be offended if you asked me to explain. 

I did not make my son autistic. I did not take drugs while I was pregnant. My son would not be better off in a group home or in a mental hospital. He most definitely would be doing NO ONE a favor if he died. He is not a burden. He is not scary. He’s incredible and you’d be blessed to spend time with him. The world is better that he’s here. God knew what He was going when he blessed the world with my little boy.