10 Awesome Things About an Autism Mom

Last Monday was International Woman's Day.  And to honor that day, Stasha, decided that today's Monday Listicles would celebrate being a woman.  ""Anything Goes," she said.  And immediately, I knew I wanted to write about autism moms.  I am always so inspired by the women I meet and the stories I hear.  It was hard to narrow it down to 10 - there may be a part 2 somewhere in the future. But for now, here is my list:  

10 Awesome Things About Being an Autism Mom

1. We can go days, weeks, months, years without a full night's sleep.  We have mastered the art of sleeping with one eye open.  (maybe this isn't so awesome...)

2. We will forget many things - why we walked into the kitchen from the living room.  The name of that actor from that movie we love (wait...what was the name of the movie again?) Or what we wore the day before.  But we will never forget anything related to our kids and their services.  We can tell you what month they started.  We can recite passages of IEPs and evaluations from years past.  We can dictate passages from FAPE and IDEA and Sections of special education law. 

3. We have the ability to wait on hold for hours. 

4.  We have super hearing.  When out with our kids - we can distinguish the sound of their stim in a crowd.

5.  We have faith.  We don't have to be religious but we have a strong sense of faith in our kids.

6.  We have a broad imagination.  We are always thinking outside of the box in order to teach our kids.  

7. We wear many hats - wife, mother, teacher, chef, maid, boo boo kisser, friend, advocate, attorney, social worker.   

8. When it comes to our kids, we have extreme amounts of patience.  We can explain the same thing 20, 30, 40 times.

9. We appreciate the little things - like pointing a finger or hearing a WH question for the first time.  We take nothing for granted because we know how hard our kids work.

10. We are visionaries.  When it comes to our kids.  Where we see a void - we work to fill it.  We become the change we want to see in the world.   Like local NYC Mom Jackie of SNACK.  Or Patty Porch - who started a LEGO Social Club.  Or Margret - who inspired The Golden Hat Foundation.