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A Parent's Story
Wren Schwind
I have a 6 year
old daughter, Mina and a 5 year old son named Johnny.
Johnny loves to swing, jump and learn about numbers and
letters. He also has autism. Having a child with autism
has its many challenges, but it also has its rewards.
Johnny is severely affected by
his autism. This means he has great trouble in all the
areas of speech, communication, sensory issues and social
skills. He uses PECS (Picture Exchange Communication
System) and didn't babble until he was 4 years old. He
only started saying words around the time he was turning
5. Since he started communicating, a lot of things have
been falling into place quickly. The boy that I used to
look at and wonder if he would be able to do anything but
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scream, now can go out to
dinner with the family and loves to go to school. He is so
smart and is already starting to read and do math. His
increased communication has also increased his play and
social skills. These improvements have been due to
countless hours on the parts of teachers, therapists, his
parents and, most of all, Johnny himself. I know Johnny
will always have challenges, but right now, his potential
is great and his future bright.
Unfortunately, most parents are discouraged from the
start, when their child is diagnosed with autism. The
professionals they are first exposed to often give little
hope for the future and quality of life. Parents have to
remember that they and no one else know their child the
best. They are the ones that can and must advocate for
their children and their children's future.
Each child is different and
therefore has different abilities and interests. The trick
is to use these preferred interests to teach many other
things. For example, we used Johnny's love of letters to
teach turn taking. We would say, "You write the letter
A." Then, "It's my turn to write the letter B". You can
also use children's obsessions to teach them more
non-preferred lessons. Visual schedules are worth more
than gold to many of the parents I have talked to. Whether
the child is verbal or non-verbal, a visual schedule of
the day or just the next half hour, can greatly reduce the
behaviors associated with transitions.
The most important advice I can
give to another parent of a special needs child is to find
another parent in a similar situation. I have now been
involved with autism for almost 4 years and ALL my
valuable information has come from other parents. Where
else will you get to talk with others sympathetic to the
daily stress, financial burdens, and other health problems
associated with special needs? There are local support
groups and online autism chat groups. There is so much
information out there that it is very overwhelming.
Talking with other parents will help you find the
important and useful information and filter out the wrong
information. If something doesn't sound right to you, a
second opinion is always a MUST. Nobody knows your child
more than you. Always be confident in knowing that. |
