12 Positive Lessons from Raising a Child with Autism

by jphilo | Mar 19, 2013 | Different Dream, Self-Care and Stress, Special Needs Parenting

12 Positive Lessons from Raising a Child with Autism

12 positives about raising a child with autism? Really?

That’s what I thought when the title appeared on internet special needs group list. The link required investigation, so I gave it a click and ended up at a Brandi Shinn post. That was pretty cool because a couple months back, her list of 10 parent priorities was reviewed at DifferentDream.com, too.

12 Positive Lessons about Autism

So here’s a quick rundown of the 12 positives Brandi learned raising her child with autism.

1. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Instead, Shinn says, enjoy today and take one day at a time.
2. All things are possible. Brandi says her son has shown her “that with patience, endurance and hard work, all things are possible.”
3. Everyone just needs a chance. Everyone needs someone to believe in them.
4. God can and will use anyone who is willing. God sees potential.
5. Not to judge. Her son, Will, doesn’t pay any attention to intelligence, social status, or your political standing. He either likes you or he doesn’t.
6. Be honest. Say how you really feel, like her son does. Even when it would be more socially acceptable if he didn’t.
7. Unconditional love. Brandi’s son taught her to love unconditionally.
8. Forgiveness. Shinn says, “Having a child who is prone to these outbursts at times towards myself and others calls for a tremendous amount of forgiveness and often.”
9. Rejoice in the small things. When milestones are reached, it is a huge time of celebration.
10. Laughter is the best medicine. Shinn says, “…no matter how difficult a trial may seem, or how dark things may get, there is always a reason to smile, to laugh and to have joy.”
11. Showing compassion and love. Because Will lacks social skills and lack of concern about the opinions of others, he doesn’t hesitate to show his mama love in public.
12. Christians should not judge. Shinn states that “raising a child with autism or any special need you learn how judgmental others can be.” (She’s referring to fellow Christian believers.) She goes on to say, “Will has taught us to treat everyone with kindness, greet everyone with a smile, and to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. When we begin to see everyone as a child of God and someone who might have their own issues to face, we will begin to judge others less and love more.”

Can You Add to the List?

Whatever your child’s special needs may be, I hope you’ve learned some positive lessons, too. If so, leave a comment to add to Brandi’s list.

Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop-up box and the second at the bottom of this page.

photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Jolene Philo is the author of several books for the caregiving community. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. Sharing Love Abundantly With Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and Amazon. See Jane Sing!, the second book in the West River cozy mystery series, which features characters affected by disability, was released in November of 2022.

Author Jolene Philo

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Are You Too Tired to Heal?

Do special needs care giving demands leave you exhausted? Are you numb with grief? Guest blogger Rebekah Benimoff knows how you feel—too tired to heal, too tired to hope.

To Tired to Heal

Sometimes it feels as if I am too tired to heal. I just want to get away for a bit, to have a much-needed respite from the madness. When life is spinning out of control, it’s hard to work through the losses that have come before. Often there seem to be many stops and starts along the way. Sometimes the best case scenario is simply staying connected to the One who carries me through. Survival is important, yes, but connection is imperative.

A Cloak of Weariness

Weariness settles over me, like a cloak of dust, penetrating into the inner recesses of my being. When bent low by burdens, I wonder if the weariness will cling to me for life. I want to shrug out from under the careworn mantle, but I know that this time, the only way to find release is through rest.

Fatigue is a part of the healing process. There comes a time when our bodies simply need rest. When dealing with multiple life changes all piling up at once, sorting through seems complicated. I often liken the process to searching through a bowl of tangled spaghetti strands with sauce poured over, obscuring what lies under the surface. I’ve learned to ask, “Why am I feeling what I am feeling?” and “What, exactly am I really feeling?” Most of the time anger is a mask, hiding more vulnerable feelings beneath. I feel more in control when I am angry than when I feel lost or abandoned. Anger is easier to admit to, for who wants to admit to being broken? Yet “broken” is often a better descriptor of where I am, and what exactly I am feeling.

Loss Mingled with Hope

My story is one of loss mingled with hope. In my mind’s eye, I travel back to that moment when my world first stopped. When my son’s life, and mine, changed forever. One word, meant to diagnose, alters everything. I did not grieve the first diagnosis for a very long time. I made it my mission to defeat the disease. To conquer the diabetes. To control the boy’s blood sugar. To control everything. Nothing was gonna hurt my baby again. Or me.

Three years later, when my husband was deployed to Iraq (for the second time), I was at the end of my rope. I signed up for an inner healing study, and the work began. Slowly, the layers were removed until we came to that tender place—the wound… the diagnosis that changed everything I do daily. It was during this time that God drew my heart to a familiar story in a fresh way. I read how Abraham and Isaac journeyed up a sacred mountain to make a sacrifice that would break body and soul. Isaac carried the wood, and Abraham carried HOPE. He tells the servants, “We will go up the mountain and we will return.”

My First Step Toward Healing

And then I felt the urging to place my own beloved son on the altar before Jehovah-Jireh, my provider. I envisioned laying my precious child on the altar before a loving father God, and in my mind’s eye, he took my son and cradled him. Surrender was my first step towards healing. And still is. In those times when one diagnosis (or several at once) are causing upheaval in my daily life, it’s time to search out that well worn path to the altar. When I release my hold on the illusion of control, I am set free. Set free to find hope, set free to do the good work of healing. Through prayer, introspection, good counsel, and times of rest, I move forward to that place of greater wholeness. Sometimes it is hard work. But, at the end of the day I find that healing is worth the work, and rest is the vehicle that allows the work of healing to carry on.

What about You?

Do you feel too tired to heal today? Or have you taken that first step on your journey toward healing? Leave a comment about your journey, and I will pray for you.

photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net

Do you like what you see at DifferentDream.com? You can receive more great content by subscribing to the quarterly Different Dream newsletter and signing up for the daily RSS feed delivered to your email inbox. You can sign up for the first in the pop-up box and the second at the bottom of this page.

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Rebekah Benimoff is the wife of a husband with PTSD and the mother of two young men, both of whom grew up with medical and special needs. She blogs at In the Chaos…. and In the Calm (justmemama.blogspot.com).