Autism and Parenthood: Finding Strength in Challenges and Celebrating Victories

As a parent, your primary goal is to keep your child healthy, happy, and safe. However, when you are parenting a child with autism, you face unique challenges that require a different approach to parenting. From navigating therapy appointments to managing a child's special dietary needs, parenting a child with autism requires exceptional patience, understanding, and resilience. Picture credit In this article, we will discuss the challenges and rewards of being a parent to an autistic child, and how you can find strength in these challenges, celebrate your victories, and overcome the obstacles that come your way. Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder Every child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experiences the condition differently, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to parenting children with ASD. However, understanding the key features and characteristics…

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Today’s Gentle Parenting Reminder

This week past week, there was an issue with Gavin’s transportation to and from work. His transport under the current plan expired last Friday and I didn’t know. Gavin is managing most of his life and all his supports work directly with him and I’m largely out of the loop. Gavin forgets to tell me things he’s supposed to and so I’m often learning about things at the last minute. I know how frustrating the autism parenting journey can be but don’t let that frustration blind you to any of the victories along the way.- Rob Gorski That’s a whole other topic for another day but we’ll get to that. I had to move my schedule around this week in order to drive him to work in the morning. His…

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Balancing Autism Parenting with Dementia Care Needs in Arizona

As a parent with an autistic child, your care plate will already be pretty full. So, if you are also facing life with a parent who has been diagnosed with dementia, you may be wondering how you are going to cope and what you need to do. Take a big deep breath, because even though this will be a new challenge to navigate, there are plenty of options to help you avoid burnout and ensure everyone gets the right level of support.  Make Time for Yourself It is never, ever selfish to take time for yourself when you need it. In fact, it is one of the most sensible decisions you could make. Recognizing when you are close to collapse is an essential part of self-care and finding balance in stressful, high-pressure situations. Juggling the care needs of…

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Recommitting to self-care

If you’ve listened to the podcast or even my Facebook Lives, you’ve probably heard me talk about hitting a wall last year. I don’t share this for sympathy or anything like that. I talk about it because I desperately want you to never experience what I went through. Last year and part of this year, I experienced the worst period of burnout I’ve ever experienced. It lasted about six months and took me to a very, very dark place. I don’t want to delve into that darkness right now but it was bad enough that I never want to experience it again and it took a tremendous amount of energy to keep a smile on my face so no one knew I was struggling. I was able to mask what…

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