What I’m going to share with you is something that I experience with my family and doesn’t necessarily reflect the experiences of other special needs families.
That being said, I would imagine there to be more than a few commonalities.
You might be surprised to learn what I sometimes find to be the most difficult part of my job as a special needs parent. This may sound a bit crazy but I often feel like the odd man out.
With my wife and all three of our boys on the Autism Spectrum, I’m the only one that isn’t. That puts me at a huge disadvantage.
I find myself having to communicate in unique ways with each member of my family. Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves and they each require a careful approach in order for them to be receptive to what I have to say.
If I had to sum up this challenge in one word, I would choose the word exhausting.
Everyone in my family have things that can be triggers. Sometimes these triggers are sensory related other times I’m at a total loss as to what has caused them distress.
While each of my precious loved ones are unique in their own right, they are better able to relate to each other than I am… Hence the odd man out reference.
They often experience things very differently than I do and can have rather extreme reactions to stressful situations…
There are times that this can lead to some tense moments, especially when it comes to my wife and I. It’s certainly not easy but we manage to find common ground and as time goes on, I do learn how to better traverse life in a house full of Autism…
It’s one of those things that prove the argument that nothing worth having ever comes easy.
I do wish that I had better insight into what they experience. It would give me the tools I need to be more supportive and less frustrated. I know I can drive my family crazy because they don’t understand why I do the things I do. Likewise, they’re actions quite often perplex me.
Somehow it works..
Life is never easy but it’s interesting and always worth it…..
This site is managed almost exclusively from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Please forgive any typos as auto-correct HATES me. 😉
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my has 2
My home the same as Avia ,
My household is currently 2 against 1 (in favor of the spectrum). It can get interesting…