Autism Is A Lonely Road

Having a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder is often a lonely road. It is not only a challenge for your child, but also for you as a parent. It's very hard to find friends who are understanding to the constant sensory issues, and meltdowns your child faces most every day, unless they have been thru it themselves.

Anything can set your child off, and sometimes it is hard to know what might set them off. It is a constant puzzle that as a parent you are trying to figure out. It can leave a parent feeling very lonely, depressed, and exhausted on a daily basis.

When your child has major sensory issues (like my son), it is scary to take them places for fear that something might set them off. And when you take your child out into public, or to one of your friend's homes, you feel guilty if your child cannot handle that situation.

You feel bad that you put them in that situation in the first place, and wonder if maybe you should just be a 'homebody' and not take your child anywhere anymore. It is scary, and hard... constantly facing angry stares from people when your child is having a meltdown, or people judging you as a parent because your child is having a temper tantrum in the middle of a store because of sensory issues.

A lot of people don't realize how hard it is for us parents. Some think it is 'our fault' our child is this way, and some think our child will just 'grow out of it' someday. They don't understand that their constant judging is pushing us further away from opening up to others.

Sometimes we lose friends because either they don't try to understand, or maybe they just don't want to put our child in an uncomfortable situation anymore, and so they withdraw from us. So we withdraw, and we go into our own seclusion and think, "Maybe it is best that we just 'don't try' to talk to people anymore."

Having a child with Autism is a very lonely road... Please understand how hard it is for us parents. We need the emotional support, and we cannot do this alone. Please do not judge us, because we are doing the best we can.

Educate yourself on Autism so that next time you see a child having a meltdown in the store, you will be more understanding towards the child and their parents, because that child could have Autism. Please do not push us aside, just because our child has a hard time in different situations... we have feelings too, and need to feel loved and accepted.

In closing, below is a video I found on how Autism is a lonely road...