Us, the Parents

We wear so many hats, don’t we? First, we are Father. We are Mother. Sometimes we are Mother and Father together. We are Mother Warrior or Father Warrior. Most of the time we are therapist, nurse, mediator, peacemaker, cook, servant, fixer of all things great and small, teacher, duplicate of Martha Stewart, party planner, event planner, cheerleader, driver. Oh, this list could go on and on!

As parents of a different-brained child, though, we become referee on a much bigger playing field. We become psycho-physio-confusio-analyzer when checking on a new medication regiment. We become ambulance driver when beckoned to school . . . NOW. We are advocates everywhere and with everyone, including schools, outings, family, counselors, therapists, and anyone else we might come across to get our needs met and our child’s needs met. We are educators extraordinaire if we choose to share and prepare the grounds. We are detective on many, many levels.

I believe as parents of Aspies, we go through all the normal emotions, yet they seem to feel exponentially larger. It’s more. It’s intense. It’s exquisite. It’s like seeing the green flash just as the sun disappears behind the horizon, so overwhelming it doesn’t seem like it could be real.