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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Many Hats of an Autism Mom

Being an autism mom isn't easy. There are too many hats to wear. And only one woman to wear them. I am: teacher, therapist, chef, chauffeur, caregiver, provider, money manager, secretary, social worker, translator and lawyer.  

You get the point.

But there's one hat in particular, I wish I could where more often.

After The Boy was diagnosed with autism, we started working with an ABA therapist. Once a week, the therapist would give us homework. Nothing major, just activities for us to work on when she wasn't around.

One of our assignments was to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear - three times a day. As a working mom, doing anything three times a day with my son was difficult. But I made the time. We woke up a few minutes earlier and I read Brown Bear at breakfast. When I come home from work, I read it before dinner. And at bedtime, I read it again.

But I wasn't just reading the book, I was pointing at pictures. Taking his fingers and helping him point. Asking questions on each page and answering them myself because he didn't have any language. 

I was doing this three times a day, every day for months. Months. The same book.

Now, I'm a reader and I was reading to The Boy since he was in the womb. And after he was born, I loved rocking him to sleep with a good book. But suddenly, this assignment took our bonding time and turned it into work.

Read the rest over on Babble Kid - HERE.

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AutismWonderland - written by Lisa Quinones-Fontanez - is a personal blog chronicling a NYC family's journey with autism, while also sharing local resources for children/families with special needs.