Don't Be Afraid to Embrace Autism

Nice weekend at the King household! Saturday was a lazy day spent at home.  Sunday brought church in the morning and a birthday party for all 3 boys to attend in the afternoon.  Normally drop offs at Sunday School are torturous- for both the boys and us parents.  Normally it's a drawn out ordeal with crying and hanging on mom or dad's leg.  These days, with Sunny, drop offs are running a  little smoother.  Charlie was a little hesitant but he walked right into his room, gave Sunny a hug (because Charlie cannot handle Sunny on his own-Sunny cannot stay in Sunday School with him and attends service with Tyler and I) and waved goodbye.  Wait, what?  Yep, smooth.  I could get used to this!

But then the birthday party.  Usually this is where things get a little dicey.  These types of gatherings are normally overwhelming for Charlie and while he can typically hold it together for most of the party- it's the aftermath that can be so hard to handle.  Most of the time Charlie gets so sensory overloaded and melts down.  Sunny came to the birthday party with us and Charlie checked in with Sunny every now and then during the party.  It came time to leave and I was braced for the meltdown to being on the drive home.  Nothing.  So we decided to be proactive and let Charlie and Sunny have some down time when we got home.  The 2 of them hung out together inside for awhile where it was quiet.  Then, guess what happened......nothing.  We went for a walk as a family, stopped to play at a park and played fetch with Sunny.  No meltdowns.  Nothing.  Thank you Sunny.

One reason we do this blog is to help raise awareness of life with autism.  While no two families experience is the same, there are a couple re-occurring themes we hear talked about among autism families and one of those is losing friendships.  Not all friendships are lost, but many are and for various reasons that Autism brings along in its chaotic path.  Some might feel uncomfortable when a meltdown is happening, not know how to relate to the family or that an invite to events puts too much stress on the family. While sometimes staying at home is easiest it's important to remember that these kiddos need real experiences and real interactions with others.  This is why we don't isolate ourselves.  Even though it's sometimes really hard to do certain activities- even downright exhausting, we still try.  That's why we're so grateful for the friends who have stuck by our side, continue to invite the boys to play or for birthday parties, invite our family for gatherings with friends, or remembering that mom and dad need adult time too.  Thank you.