Mothers and Autism

With my job I get to witness some pretty amazing and humbling things everyday. Here is one that I thought was especially touching. This is teacher appreciation week so on Monday some of the kids mom's came to run the class in the morning while we went to breakfast. Before they got there I was getting C. off the bus and he was off to a bad start. He came off the bus screaming at the top of his lungs and thrashing his backpack around. (C is a boy that is as tall as me and SOLID. so when he has melt downs we all brace ourselves for the impact.) So we start walking back to class with him screaming trying to tear things off the wall, me in best efforts trying to comfort him. We get to class he throws his backpack and a student tears our thank you poster off the wall. At this point all I can think is "not today C not today." So I am following him around the room keeping him from hurting another student and destroying the room. That is when his mom walks in the room and when he sees her everything changes, the best way I can describe it is, at that moment the world was right again for him. His mom was here and he had nothing to worry about anymore she would make everything better. He just got the biggest smile and his whole countenance changed. He ran to her like you see in the cheesy love movies but not cheesy at all. He gave her the biggest hug and was just the happiest boy in the world because his mom was here. I felt a little dumb I actually started to cry there in class. He may not have been able to tell us why he was so mad or how we could help, but all he knew was he needed his mom to make things better.

People ask a lot when they hear I work with children with autism if it is hard because they don't show affection. From now on when I am asked that I will just refer to this story and let it speak for itself. These children may have a hard time expressing how they feel or understanding their feelings but they are capable of the same if not more than we are.

This just made me hope that when Justin I do start our family I can be the kind of mother that is the soft place for her children to fall. The person that makes the world right again for my children when it seems wrong. Since working with these kids my respect for mothers and what they do has grown so much. Especially the mothers of these wonderful children, they are raising spirits that are so pure they are ready to meet there savior at anytime. I feel so amazed that I get to spend a few hours a day with them. They have taught me and continue to teach me everyday. To all you mothers who read this I applaud you, what you are doing is amazing and special. I am not a mother but I just want to say that when it seems hard, and like it is something that you can't do just remember those children of yours love you with a love that only can be described as heavenly.