Pressure. Pushing Down on Me, Pressing Down on You...

As a parent of an ASD child, you have a wee bit more pressure than most parents. Divorce rates tend to be higher due to stress in them family. Income levels and careers are often jeopardized because parents need to quit their jobs or drastically reduce their hours. Internal family life may suffer if siblings become resentful over the attention paid to a special needs child. And friends? Social life? We try our best. We're often on pins and needles at every social outing. But, when we forgot to bring his device/book/toy (name it), to anyplace he would rather not be, and he starts to have full-on, out-of-body experience, causing everyone to with an eyebrow raise and "whew, not my kid" praise...you'll understand.

As tough as it is, I often remind myself how much better I actually have it than others. Still, it's important to remember to take care of yourself. Just today, I had two encounters: one with an old friend and one with a new acquaintance. Both explained how their children were getting in trouble at school for issues related to their diagnosis. Intimately familiar with the issue, I have planned to contact both and talk about options. In the meantime, I wanted to reach out and hug both of them.

There is no shortage of stories of parents who don't know what to do or where to turn, those who just throw in the towel or the worst, those who take drastic measures and do harm to their special needs children.

I can't stress enough how amazing parents of special needs kids are. If you are one, you should be wearing an "S" on your chest every day. We have stamina and patience and a deep compassion that reaches beyond what we thought signed on for. But, we also have those tough days..the ones where we feel the pressure is just too much. If you're feeling that pressure, there is help.

Here are a few:

Respite Services

Autism Speaks Directory of Respite Services 
RPAC Respite for Parents of Autistic Children Facebook Page
Easter Seals Directory of Respite Services

Helpful Websites

Kids Enabled 

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