Autism affects my speech and social skills. I am a quiet person by nature, but ask me a question about autism and I'll talk your ears off. Before autism, I would be invisible in a room of people. Now I want to tell the world about my wonderful son and how they can better understand him so I helped start a group called Tuscaloosa Autism Education, where parents, therapists, and educators provide free workshops for any group (daycare, church,etc) interested in knowing more about autism.
My beautiful boy lives in a world that is full of stimuli that hurts him but he goes out into it everyday and tries to be a part of it. I can't protect him from sensory overload at times, but I continue to try and fight this battle along with him. When Will was diagnosed wth autism, I felt lost as a mother, not knowing how to parent a child with autism. I wasn't winning any awards for mother of the year before the diagnosis, but I at least felt like I knew the "basics". All of a sudden, the basics weren't applicable and I had to start over from scratch and learn about how to get my child to listen, to make eye contact, learning the difference between an overstimulated anxiety tantrum versus a regular three year old tantrum, being on constant guard hoping to prevent an anxiety attack and feeling completely helpless when one occurred. I know that autism made me a better mother, growing my patience and appreciation of the daily victories. I know that God has something special and wonderful planned for my son. He changes people's minds and hearts and has an amazing perspective on the world that draws people to him.
Yes, autism has affected my voice. The quiet shy girl from before is now a advocate mom who will speak to anyone that will listen and not be quiet until everyone has heard!
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