First Things First - Sensory Nanny

First Things First

On the day that I figured out the “problem” with my son Alec, I was devastated. My husband came home from work to find me curled up in a chair crying hysterically. Not knowing why I was crying, he asked “What happened ?” I told him with tears streaming down my face what had just happened. I told him that “I looked through a book and realized that Alec has autism”. I told him “I can’t raise a kid that has autism.” To which my husband responded “You already are.” Nothing had really "just happened.” My whole world had just seemed to change; everyone was exactly the same as before I read through that book. Remember that the kid you had with all his/her good and bad parts prior to the diagnosis is the same one you have now. Sometimes you may even question why you got “this kid” instead of the one that you pictured when you saw him/her for the first time. Every family goes through this to some extent…ok maybe more for us than most, but kids don’t usually “turn out” how we have them pictured. Remember that although your path may have changed a little…or a lot…you are still headed in the same direction with the same family. If your goal was to have a happy family with well-adjusted and loving kids, then that is still your goal. You just may have to climb a few more hills along the way. It can be a tough journey, but it is much easier if you have the right M.A.P.

Now . . . the first important thing to realize is that this is not a map for your child . . . it is a map for your whole family. You are on this journey together, like it or not, and your goal is not just to get your child through this hilly domain, but to get you all through it together.

Every day look at your M.A.P. and make sure that you are still on course . . . and you will find that sometimes you are WAY off course. That is ok, just look at your M.A.P., and then get back on track.

So . . . what does this M.A.P. look like?