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Monday 12 March 2012

Dear reader ...

Dear ….

How is it because someone has a physical disability we are more sympathetic despite whatever it might be.

Now when it comes to mental disability why do people judge so quickly. How can they possibly know what is wrong with a person just by looking at him? I have heard this so many times regarding my children.

That’s a naughty child you’ve got there!

“Well no actually, they’re not naughty they are disabled”. Is my reply.

Then you get the absolute classic line…

“Well they look all right to me.”

Since when did you become a doctor?

I do wish I could pluck up the courage to say this.

There are actually different from you and me they see the world differently they are not naughty they have a hidden disability called Autism.

Let me show you a brief glimpse of life with Autism, in the form of a letter to show you what ignorance my children face day in day out.

Dear ...

When I go out why do you stare, am I not like you. I have 2 arms, 2 legs and most of all I have feelings but you don’t understand that. You look at me as if I am some sort of alien. Do you know your stares upset me? I ask my mummy what is wrong with me, why do they look? I can’t help the fact I scream, I do that because I am upset, scared and I don’t know what to do.

I can’t portray my feelings like you, it's the way my brain is wired. I see the world differently and sometimes I don’t understand it, it doesn’t make sense to me but somehow I cope in your world. In my world everyone is happy and no one is sad. Everything that people say I take literally, so if you say to me ”hold on a minute”, I think you have to hold a minute. When you talk to me I have all this noise going on around me, sometimes it sounds like so many people are talking to me at once. I can’t hear your voice, it gets lost in the sea of noise.

I flap and jump because I can’t control the way I am feeling its like a sensory high voltage overload it sends my body into doing things that I can’t help. I don’t know what excitement is so I portray this in different ways, I start spinning, jumping, etc. When I hit you , I don’t mean it I get an emotion that I can’t explain and the only way I can express it is by hitting out usually at you.
I don’t understand love but I know that you mean a lot to me, I give you cuddles to make it all better, it works when you do it for me, so it will work for me to make you happy. I don’t like when my world changes I like things to stay the same .
I do try to fit in your world but sometimes its not easy please understand that I am different.



My guest post blogger is Wendy. Wendy is the mum behind the Savette Gazette. Her aim is to share her experiences as a mum of 3 children who are autistic

The Savette Gazette allows you access to a personal insight of how this family deal with everyday problems and how they can overcome them.The Savette Gazette allows you to share in their battles and triumphs that they encounter along the way.

A bit about Wendy, she is married with 4 children.

Ely is 11 years old.

Luke is 7 years old and Autistic, global development delay hyper-mobility and a chromosome 16 abnormality and he attends a special school.

Jen is 5 years old and has Autistic traits , global development delay and a chromosome 16 abnormality she attends a main stream school.

Little Gnome is 2 years old and has just been recently diagnosed as autistic and is also disabled. He is unable to walk to talk lives very much in his world.

Wendy's aim is to make people more aware of additional needs and autism and to show that the condition is just part of the person. Through this process she make friends and share ideas along the way.

As well as a Blogger she is also a product reviewer.

9 comments:

  1. Wow Wendy brilliant post. I work with many families and children who feel exactly like your post. I too hope for more acceptance for everyone. We all need to take a breath before we speak, no one can know what is going on as no one is living your life or that of your children's. I willshare this on my FB Page.

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  2. Nathalie thank you for sharing your thoughts on Wendy's guest post blog. Equality and acceptance can only be a positive step forward. Your comment regarding needing to take a breath before we speak is thought-provoking too. I remember being told if you don't have anything positive to say say nothing at all. I think we can all learn from this too. It always amazes me that people feel they have a right to openly and oftentimes negatively comment on the behaviour and/or appearance of other children when they no nothing of their circumstances. Thank you very much for sharing this link on your FB page too. We very much appreciate you spreading the word.

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  3. Thank you Nathalie for your lovely comment and sharing on Facebook. I think it is awful children and families are made to feel like this unfortunately there is not awareness.

    Thank you Vivien for asking me to guest post on your blog.

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  4. Vivien I find it very sad that people are too qwuick to judge your parenting or that you have a badly behaved child when in fact they have autism. It amazes me to hear relief from parents who say I am so please my child now has a disgnosis.

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  5. Yes, so true Naomi. I'm sure all of us at one time or another have been too quick to judge. I know I have! When I see children in distress I now wonder what is bothering them or how they are experiencing their environment. The relief experienced through diagnosis is something I experience often in my clinical practice. I have been fortunate to have supported many families and their wonderful children and I'm delighted to be in a position to help.

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  6. Wendy I am delighted to have you share your story with us. It is so helpful for us to know of your experience. You are welcome on this site anytime! I hope you will share more of your insight and thoughts with us in the near future.

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  7. Dear Wendy, thank you for your informative and caring post - it has helped me understand more about autism and moved me deeply. I am sure your insights will help others to feel less alone and more hopeful. My sincere best wishes to you and your family.

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  8. Have you seen the Youtube video of an inspiring story about a girl with autism called Carley? Here is the link
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZVV4Ciccg

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  9. Dr Rosina

    Thank you so much for your comments on Wendy's post. It's great to know you, like me can learn more about Autism through parents like Wendy.

    I will have a look at the video as soon as I am free to do so. Thank you for sharing the link with this site.

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