Hunter ... Our little enigma!

Every Year I post this on my FB.  Some of you may not have seen it there but being April which is Autism Awareness Month ... I thought I would post it here on my blog as well.

Hunter ... our little enigma! :)

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

Today is Autism Awareness month and

I celebrate my son, Hunter, who has Asperger's Disorder. For those of you who know me well, know Hunter and what a beautiful boy he is inside and out. Some know how I struggle on a daily basis and others don't. It is hard seeing your child struggle with things daily that seem so trivial to most of us. Just starting and continuing a conversation with his peers is a battle he has to face daily. A battle you say? Yes ... a conversation may seem so easy for most of us. We banter back and forth but did you ever really think about how a conversation works. One has to either start it or answer to one that has started. You have to read cues in the other person's face, eyes, body to see what they are trying to communicate as well as listen and recognize the idiosyncratic of their voice and choice of words they use so you can respond appropriately. Then you have to counter speak in a way that is understandable to them and so on and so forth. Not so easy when you think of it that way. Now imagine you are in a box where everything is muffled and conversations and uses of metaphors, idioms and figures of speech come into play where you take everything literally. Hmmmm ... more complex then you though huh? And that is just one of the issues that makes having Asperger's so hard. And being a pre-teen boy on top of that. Well ...

For those of you who don't know, Asperger's Disorder is a developmental disorder that affects a child's ability to socialize and communicate effectively with others. Children with Asperger's syndrome typically exhibit social awkwardness and an all-absorbing interest in specific topics.
The obsessive routines. The preoccupation with one subject of interest (to the exclusion of most everything else). The problems they face understanding different social situations. The oversensitivity to sounds, tastes, smells and sights. Their feelings of being overwhelmed by even the smallest of changes…
The pressure I face daily are the inability to communicate with my child, the awkwardness I feel in social situations, the pressure it puts on my relationships with other members of my family, and the desperate desire to try anything – in amongst a sea of physical and emotional exhaustion - to ensure Hunter is able to enjoy the best that life can offer – even if it’s on his terms.
It can be VERY frustrating having a child with Aspergers. The hardest part is I feel like I’ll never actually get to know my child and how they see the world in the same way other parents do.
But Hunter brings me joy in other ways. When he just comes up and hugs me and says "I love you mom" something he does randomly. (and not just when he is in trouble) How he seems to see things in a way no one else does. How I am glad he does not fit into society's little tight box and how he refuses to be anything but his true self. He makes me proud to be his mom and the day to day struggles he faces he faces with dignity and strength. Not all the time but mostly and how he is accepting of the fact he is different and how he just has to learn to cope and deal and make it work for him. I am proud of how far he has come and what he has achieved the past few years.
Today I celebrate Hunter Irving Ward. And I celebrate the boy he is, the man he will become and how I am proud to be his mom.