Narrow Path to Growth

I believe homeschooling a child with autism might benefit him/her more for many reasons. I'm not suggesting that you should prefer this over traditional school, but to at least see my perspective on it with an open heart. This also isn't in any way to pressure you into believing that homeschooling is best for your child, but to make it an option to think about. Now I've never been homeschooled, but sometimes I think about how much smarter I would have been if that were the case. Would I have done better in college? Would I have learned to be more prepared and organized with what I would have to accomplish in the future? Would I have been more successful? Would I have been less distracted? I don't think there is a rational answer to these questions. I am where I am now due to looking back at my mistakes and my flaws, and using them as motivators to make myself a better person.  It wasn't an easy journey, but it was worth it. To be honest, this blog post isn...

As I said in a previous blog post, you don't need to receive a degree in education to be the best teacher. In fact, most people would often say their parents are the best teachers. Though Jesus was only a carpenter, He is considered one of the best teachers to this day. But what about a licensed teacher? I'm about to share with you some of what not only a portion of what teachers did for me, but also some things that most teachers have not even heard about yet. Having autism was a challenging experience for me because of how hard it was to process all the information. I felt left out when most students were able to answer questions while I felt as if I was an idiot. I felt embarrassed and alone, knowing full well that while other students lifted their hands, I would be in my own world. I couldn't even do my homework without the help of my mother, who would often underline the answers from my textbook (since the context was hard for me to understand). I don't wa...

In a previous blog post, I partially discussed what actions parents should take when raising a child with autism. I talked about why it was important for them to abide by the rules and how that applies to their spiritual and emotional growth. While I sympathized that it is a hard job, I also tend to believe that being a parent to any child is hard. But it's not over yet. Today, I will be discussing more about what parents should do when raising a child with autism. I know it's a lot of work and it can be tiring, but you will be blessed for this in the future. If you love your child and want him/her to have a bright future, I recommend that you read this so that you can understand through my perspective what is best for your child. If this doesn't work for you, I'm very sorry. I hope you find something that does. What I will also be teaching is how you can teach your child independence, just as I had promised in my previous blog. Without the proper mentor, chi...

When a child is diagnosed with autism, the parent is told by doctors that there is no hope for the child. They are usually told they would never talk, read, write, or learn to have independence. Because they tend to believe there is no hope, they end up feeling too much pity for the child that it leads parents to deny that they won't be around forever, having no choice but to feel pity. However, there really is hope. I will explain why. First of all, I wasn't diagnosed with autism until I was eight years old. Years before my diagnosis, doctors told my parents the same thing. They even thought I would never go to school without an aide watching over me. Yet today, I have a Bachelor's in Theatre, I have a driver's license, two jobs, and wrote a full-length play that was produced a few months ago. If my parents didn't have hope for me, I wouldn't be writing this blog post right now. This blog post is mostly for parents. I don't just mean parents of ...

A few days ago, I wrote a blog post concerning the similarities between autism and "normal." That was my way of helping people - whether they are parents, siblings, or even friends - relate to those who are on the autism spectrum. Today, I will be sharing the differences between a typical and autistic child. I want to make it very clear that this is not to divide any children in any way. This is really to help readers get a better understanding of what goes on in the mind of an autistic child so they can be more aware. That's why we call this month Autism Awareness Month, so that you can be more aware and find a deeper understanding. It's not entirely easy for me to describe it and it might still be confusing to those who read it, but I'm going to share this in the best way I can as a person who has autism (and a little research in between). Sensory Issues One of the most dominant conditions that is very common in autism are sensory issues. This is the ...

I'm sure everyone has heard the statement that everyone is different - which is true - everyone truly is different. Yet at the same time, we all have something in common as well. Most people don't think they have the common traits of autism, but I tend to disagree. We all have some form of similarity with autism because we are all merely human. I understand that children on the spectrum don't find the same hobbies interesting, nor do they show many characteristics of any typical child, but the one thing we all have in common is that we are all designed in our very own unique way. We are all formed in the womb with a different purpose in life, as if it was all planned for us. So for my first day of writing for Autism Awareness Month, I'm going to be sharing with you what autism and "normal" have in common. This will be related to a lecture I have given a couple of weeks ago at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, and I will be sharing in serial form to those w...