THE FINAL DAY OF AWARENESS

As I reflect on this last month, I think the time I have spent to share with the world our Autism story, I have also found that I am still very much a learner in this process especially as we begin to embark on puberty. This is an adventure I do not look forward to but know is coming quickly!
For the end of Autism Awareness 2011, I leave you with my descriptions of Autism and its effect on our lives through Wayne:

• Autism is not a bad thing in our life it just explains the "Wayneisms" in our life.
• Wayne is a typical child to the extreme, if a child would ask 3 times for something, Wayne will ask a zillion times.
  
• Wayne, you are not a flying bird, so if you need to move your hands remember you are like a penguin that cannot fly, so you flap by your legs.
• Stemming is as normal as the stem you chose.
  
• Weird is the new COOL!
  

I have many more but they are not as fun. Do not get me wrong, I would have loved for Wayne to not struggle with making friends, fitting in, or just understanding social norms. I would have loved to had a normal child. But God gave me Wayne for a reason, and through the eyes of this super sensitive, super smart, super brave boy, I have learned many lessons. I would not trade Wayne or his "isms" for anything in the world (even when he is annoying and doesn't want to listen to mom!) and one of the most influential parts of what makes Wayne, Wayne is his autism.