Building your support network

With my son turning five in a few weeks, I am still relatively new to our journey with Autism. I can remember a time when he was two and our family was in crisis. My husband and I could not understand his behavior. We had moved over 200 miles away from any family and had not yet been able to establish ourselves in our new community or make friends. We had no experience with Autism and could not understand what our child was trying to tell us. Frustration set in and depression ruled my days. I can remember holding my head in my hands and thinking "Please - I need help. I can't do this alone." I remember reading a piece of advice in a book on Autism: Build a strong support network. It took me at least six months from that difficult, turning point moment, but I found a parent support group. This helped me find other parents dealing with similar issues, helping me see I was not alone. Resources, tips, ideas and professionals came thru this channel, bringing our family out of our crisis and into stability, well as stable as a family gets with the challenges of ASD. After two and a half years, my circle of friends, other families with similar struggles continues to support and amaze me. I posted a comment on a different website about how glorious it is to hear my son's voice. I never get tired of it - being that we had to wait so long for any words. I had at least 10 people offer their supportive comments, maybe not a whole lot to some, but to me - those 10 people represent my light in the dark. I am so grateful for them and the hope they give to me.

Hold your head up..

Hold your head up and not in your hands...You can Do it!
I too felt so very alone even in the mist of a good support system... I knew if I didn't stay strong and work with my child to the best of my ability, nobody else would do it for me... It's hard and days can be long and stressful these children are worth every minute... Keep us posted and call on us for support....

Parents will be your best

Parents will be your best resource! Support networks are so important to us all! We become one anothers family as we truly know what you're dealing with.

So glad you have joined the AO family!

Laura

Support!

1st Breath
2nd Know you are not alone.
3rd Breath again…

You have picked a wonderful group and I am not saying that just because I’m on the team. Over a month ago, I was new to this group and was over sites requiring money first. I felt the 30-40 dollars they wanted was unacceptable; when you already have the biggest fraction of your paycheck being used finding care/treatment. If the cost guesstimate is over a million dollars in the child’s life where is those 30-40 dollars coming from? (Note to all; I’m totally ok with personal donations). As a single mother every penny counts; I felt I should not have to pay for support. As I’m sure all in this group can understand. I wasn’t born a trust-fund baby; I have to work to get paid. I am still trying to reverse this reverse-salary scheme involved with Autism, having no luck with.

Pease post any questions in a blog or feel free to email anyone on the Team any question. If we don’t know we will find someone who does

Julie