What I did:

1. Go for a walk with the dog, in the bush.
2. Try to talk to other mothers
3. Research support groups
4. Facebook has a wonderful group called High Functioning Autism (HFA) – parent support group
5. Local support groups in your council area, check with your council
6. Your local council may have a disability/accessability committee
7.  call AUTISMSA
8. Local Dr

I remember we had just got back from camping for a few weeks at our favorite camp spot by the beach. We hauled up ther caravan. Dear son went off to play with some boys.

In conversations with the therapist, who suggests my husband is on the Autistic Spectrum himself! So….. This goes down really well with my husband! This is something out of Monty Python!  He’s like, “Oh so this is blame the parent! Is it?” What to do. We all just laughed! It is one possible explanation of both my son’s  behavior. Is it Dad’s fault?

Is it Mum’s fault? Oh dear we live in a society that loves to lay guilt trips at the door of the parents. “I’m digging a hole here!”. “I just want to put my head in the sand!”  like an emu. I’m no refrigerator mother. Either my husband or myself have held the child physically on me ever since he was a baby. Oh dear! It’s a painful process. I’m doing a visual family tree.

I grew concerned and thought I should go get him but was busy so left him to it! He would be fine. He came back very upset. My dear son didn’t know the social rules of engagement that no-one really tells you about but are implied. He had been playing with some boys in a cubby house. There was name calling that he did not understand or probably not hear correctly.

So we, as Mum and Dad,  had the parent talked to our son. “Everybody has different bodies and different brains Stephen, my love”, “Everybody is different”, “Nobody is the same yet everyone wants to be the same so as not to look different!”, its a very strange concept and hard to understand. “Don’t worry about it love!” “Go have fun! Enjoy!”, “It does not matter!” But all my son  wanted to do is sit in the caravan and watch DVD’s of Bear Grylls Survival Strategies and other favorites. Its predictable and safe and he knows the script, he doesn’t have to second guess what they are saying. Its a “How to” visual manual.

So we have a fun holiday. But when my son gets back home from holiday. I am trying to execute the rules and new reorganization of things to do in the house to make things simpler. (What a joke!) In the short term change made things very difficult! It meant limiting the amount of time on the computer to one hour a day. He used to have unlimited but this is the ideas espoused from therapy. My son hates it! It wasn’t working.  My husband hates it and finds it hard to stand son’s discontent! I’m getting screamed at my son for changing the rules. “Why can’t I go on the computer Mum! It calms me down!”. My husband can’t understand why I am listening to the therapist or doing anything she says.

I didn’t know Autism then, I had no idea that this was sensory processing disorder and anxiety rearing its nasty head. My son is storming around the house slamming doors, many times. Turning the TV up loud. What the Hell is going on honey! Talk to me. But he can’t cause he doesn’t have the words. Did I know that? No! This is confusing !