Grocery store fiasco

Hi there and welcome to our story!! My name is Taylor and this is my very first blog so please be patient with me! I am a mother to two beautiful boys who are my world! My oldest is named Braxton and he is the smartest, funniest almost 5 year old you've ever met! He truly is growing up way too fast for me to keep up with. My youngest is named Eli and he is my little handful. Eli is a mischievous but sweet 3 year old. He loves to sing and watch TV! Welcome to our family :)

To begin, I want you to know why I am writing about our story. Eli has Moderate Autism Spectrum Disorder. He was diagnosed April 24th of this year. I'm excited to start this blog of our experiences because I want to help create awareness for autism acceptance. There is so much about autism that I am still learning about and I'm as much of a student as the audience of this blog. But I feel that I should share our experiences so that maybe another family can feel comfort knowing they are not alone. Or maybe this can help people who have zero experience with autism get a sense of what it's truly like, despite the terrible rumors many people hear and believe.

This post is titled Grocery Store Fiasco because we went to the grocery store today and had a rough time. Let me throw out that taking two kids to the grocery store alone is a terrible idea to begin with, autistic or not. But when you've put off the dreaded chore for so long that the house is basically empty, I had no other choice (lol!).
There is a misconception that autistic people cannot handle loud noises and while this is true for some, it is not for all, including my baby boy. Eli has more sensitivity to light so we can't be in bright lighting for a long period of time or he becomes very uncomfortable. And apparently the lights in the store today were a little more bothersome to him than usual. Eli began to become loud and somewhat disruptive to other customers in the store. Braxton was very good and patient. He remained calm and tried to help me soothe Eli with songs or chants. But it wasn't working. Everytime we attempted a tune, Eli would scream because it was not what he wanted. Eli is considered nonverbal because he cannot communicate needs or concerns with words or signs. He screams to communicate likes and dislikes. Eli had became so upset that his noise was drawing attention from other shoppers. As I was trying to find something satisfying for him to watch on my phone, I hear whispering. After I got Eli's favorite video playing, I turn around to see several shoppers in a group looking at us, pointing, and whispering. About us. About my son. I can imagine the judgement being passed about how I am not "making my child mind".
Look, I was raised in a home where you got a spanking as a punishment. It's not passed me to whoop my kids, trust me. But our time at the grocery was not Eli acting out and misbehaving. He was talking to me without using words. I find it very hard to teach my kids about treating others with patience and respect when they witness grown adults doing such things. I strive to teach the boys that God made each of us different on purpose. God does not want us passing judgement on others. Only He can judge us.
Im not here to preach. This is just a friendly reminder from the mom who you thought didn't discipline her kids and was creating little demons for future society, patience is a virtue and kindness can take you much further than meanness can.

Thanks for reading! :)

-Taylor