10 things I'm thankful for

This week is Thanksgiving so I decided to make a list of things I am thankful for this year. On Thanksgiving I am going to have my children list 5 things they are thankful for I will share their lists on my Facebook page.

1. My Children, The strongest people I know. They have faced every challenge life has thrown at us and stayed happy and smiling through it all.
2. My Friends, who are there when I need a shoulder to cry on.
3. My Father, who my kids and I can look up to and turn to for advice.
4. My Sister, who always has encouraging words when I need them most.
5. God, who has provided a way when there seemed to be none and given us hope, strength, and courage to face our challenges.
6. My Home, having been homeless before having a roof over our heads means a lot to us.
7. My Car, that has been threatening to break down for good but somehow manages to keep going.
8. The Kindness Of Strangers, who have helped us in our time of need by giving us food and clothing when we had no way to get it our selves.
9. The Salvation Army, who is giving us help for the holidays so my children can have at least one gift to open for Christmas.
10. Being able to spend the holidays with my children and father all together, even if we do  end up only having sandwiches.

Autism Awareness: The Good, The Bad, and The Colorful

Autism has become a hot topic lately. Awareness has been raised to new heights. People are becoming more understanding and respectful towards those of us with autism. It is slowly becoming easier to get the help we need. This is a wonderful thing and I am thankful for it. This has made it so my children are getting the help they need and not having to struggle the way I did. Although as with most things there is a down side. Currently while awareness is up it is mostly focused on the low functioning non-verbal side. People still don’t know or understand that it is a spectrum disorder. For autistic people, like me, on the opposite end of the spectrum where it is not as obvious this creates new challenges. One of which is people thinking we are lying about being autistic which has become all too common. This can cause self esteem issues as well as trust issues both of which most of us tend to already have. For me this is something I've learned to not let bother me if people want to think I’m lying let them I’m not going to let it slow me down in any way. The main issue for me is people hear about all the help and care autistic children will need as adults and how they may never be able to achieve full independence. This makes them assume that is true for every one with autism. So when I say I am and independent autistic adult they question it thinking someone has to be helping me. When they find out I’m a single mom not long after child protection services usually shows up at my door. They tend to assume my children must be neglected or abused since I have autism I shouldn't be able to take care of myself much less kids. This is not true. I have been investigated several times now and have never had my children taken from me. CPS has done very thorough investigations and have always found that my children are well cared for. We may be low income and not have much but my kids always have what they need. Even with having been through this multiple times CPS still shows up at my door at least once a year always for the same reason. Someone found out I’m autistic and claimed I must be neglecting my kids because I shouldn't have the capability to care for them. The sad truth is that this happens every where to many autistic parents and some are not as lucky as me and have their kids taken at the beginning of the investigation.  This adds a whole new unnecessary level of stress to the already stressful job of parenthood. So while raising autism awareness is a good thing focusing on only one side is harmful and needs to stop. We need to raise awareness for all autism the entire wonderful, crazy, colorful spectrum. Another thing that people need to be aware of is that where someone is on the spectrum is not fixed they can move up or down it depending on many factors. For me when I was young I was on the low end and non-verbal but as I aged I became verbal and slowly moved up to where I am now on the extreme high end. Yes I still have some issues that I will always have to deal with but for the most part people can’t tell I am autistic. My oldest is doing much the same as I did started out low and is slowly moving up he is now high functioning as well although not yet to the point I am. My middle son on the other hand started out on the high end and went down he is currently some where in the middle. So remember all autistic people are different just because one or even several can’t do something doesn't mean none of us can the same as just because some of us can do something doesn't mean all of us can. We are all unique and have our own abilities and challenges. We truly are a colorful spectrum.