Favorite Autism moment

Recently I was asked to share my favorite autism moment. Only one came to my mind.


My favorite autism moment with my son is when he introduced me to a stranger. It was an amazing moment I will cherish forever!


My son, Eli was diagnosed at 19 months old with moderate autism spectrum disorder. It was not shocking news to me. We had concerns with Eli since he was super little.


Never greeted anyone, never responded when spoken to, never spoke a word. He always used screams, cries, and grunts to communicate.


Once diagnosed, we began outpatient speech and occupational therapies at our local hospital. Eli responded so well to his therapists. It didn’t take long for his sweet charm to win them over.

After about 2.5 months of weekly sessions with both therapists, Eli began to really speak out loud. His very first word was mama.


Most of the time though it was random things he saw in sight. Chair, book, toy, etc. A few more months go by.


We begin school which was a huge hurdle. But we made it passed the initial fright. He seemed to acclimate very well into the routine of school.


We had a wonderful and very patient preschool teacher who was a great influence for Eli.


One Wednesday I pick Eli up for therapy as usual. His teacher told me he had been talking almost all day.


So we leave and attend therapy. He had a great session. Spoke sentences of all the imagination he had in his head. I smile and say “Yeah that’s great Eli”.


We walk out the door of the hospital and there is a couple sitting on the bench by the door. When we are outdoors I always have a firm grip on his hand because I’m terrified of elopement.


As I’m walking to our car his hand slips from mine. I quickly turn around and find him standing in front of the couple on the bench.


He’s jabbering away to them and of course they can’t understand him because his speech isn’t the most articulate. So I start to listen to see if I can decifer to them what he’s saying.


And he says “This is my mama”.


It was the very first time he ever introduced me to anyone. It was the most amazing sweetest thing I ever experienced. Warmed my heart instantly!!


I cried as soon as we got in the car. I couldn’t believe my boy in 7 short months went from not speaking any words to full sentences to strangers!


I’m so proud of all his accomplishments even 3 years later. He continues to amaze me. I really enjoy how literal he is nowadays. When I threaten a “whooping to his tail”, his response is “I don’t have a tail!”

I hope this brought a smile to your face and I hope it helps you keep faith that your baby can accomplish anything that any other child can. Don’t ever set limits because they will surprise you and push right past them!!


God bless! 

Our first talk

The biggest obstacle I have faced as a mom lately is trying to talk with Braxton about Eli's condition.



Brack is so mature for his age; he hears and comprehends everything us as adults talk about.



Many times Zach and I have had discussions about Eli and how Braxton needs to know about his ASD because a lot of their fighting is due to Braxton wanting to play with Eli when he doesn't want to.



Eli has always parallel played, meaning he plays along side others but not with them. Many children with ASD do this because the scene created by their imagination remains in their head and is not welcoming to outsiders. It is not them being rude or selfish, but really a weakness that they cannot overcome as children.



Eli has learned from school and as he has gotten older he has to make conscious effort to allow others into his playing, but at home and certain off days he still parallel plays some.



So I sat Braxton down one day after listening to them go back and forth for almost two hours and fussing at them for doing it.



I said "Buddy why are you aggravating your brother like this? He tells you he doesn't want to play and you still try and make him."



Brack just looked so frustrated and said I don't know mama." and I said "Buddy when someone says they don't want to do something you have to stop trying to do it. You cant keep trying and make them."


He just shook his head as he lowered it like he was in trouble. I said "You're not in trouble. I want to ask you something. Did you know that Eli's brain is different?" He nodded like I was acting dumb for asking.



We've been telling Brack for years when Eli has meltdowns or doesn't like something that's going on around him that it's because his brain is different.



I then asked him if he knew what that meant. He said "Not really."



Well now I was stumped for words.



How do I explain autism to a 6 year old what I'm trying to say that will get the point across without it being too much for him to understand?



Then a lightbulb hit me.



I said "Brack how old are you?" Proudly he said, "I'm 7." I smiled and asked "And how old is your brother?" He shrugged and said "Like 5".


I said "Yes he is 5 years old. Not much younger than you. But when I say his brain is different, I'm really saying that his brain is not as old as he is."



Braxton looked puzzled. "How is his brain not as old as he is?" he asked me.



In my mind, I felt this was the easiest way to explain the level of social skills Eli has to Braxton that might help him understand.



"Well, Eli's body is 5 years old, but his brain is more like 3 years old. That's why Eli has meltdowns sometimes about not getting his way or when he is upset about you asking him to play. He doesn't know how to handle things that make him upset like talking to me and Duke or taking deep breaths. It will take Eli longer to learn the things you already know how to do."



Braxton seemed to sort of get what I was saying. I could see little wheels turning like what I said made sense to all the years that Eli has been having meltdowns over what seem to be the tiniest inconveniences.



"Brack baby, Eli's brain has a condition called autism. It makes his brain act younger than he actually is. And he will always have it. That's why he has a special bus, that's why he has a special teacher. That's why he has therapy at the hospital. He cannot help the way he acts out sometimes. A lot of times he can, but its going to take him longer to learn how to act than it did you. So I want you to give him a little slack."


Braxton handled it pretty well actually. He said he didn't have any questions for me right then other than if he could go play his Nintendo Switch.



I think I took the conversation a lot harder than he did. It broke my heart that he was getting old enough that I was having to tell him.


We had just blown it off for so long that I liked how easy it was to just tell him Eli's brain was different and he accepted that excuse.


But like I said, Braxton is getting older and so much more mature as the days go by.


The days of easy excuses are coming to a close. And it makes me a nervous wreck because that means my boys are growing up, and are able to learn more things about themselves and each other.


Thanks for reading! God bless!