A Point of View
Before I had a child labeled Autistic, I thought that
parents of children with Autism were unskilled parents. Since my eyes
were opened, I see parents of children with Autism as amazing, dedicated,
strong, resilient humans, raising equally amazing, talented and welcomed
humans.
There it is - Before and After.
Before I couldn’t see out of my tunnel. I had no
idea, I had no experience, I had no understanding. I had a lot of
judgement and ignorance. I wasn’t a bad person, I was just one in a
tunnel. I couldn’t see what I couldn’t see.
After I could see. I had compassion,
understanding, empathy. I wasn’t a good person, I was just out of the
tunnel. I could see.
As humans, we sometimes make sense of the world by using
our world. We look out of our tunnel and explain a world without a tunnel
like our own. All we see is the reflection of our own walls, our own
thinking and our own feelings. Worse, we let these images, these
ideas and values limit us and confine us to the known. They also
confine others.
I feel the stares as my child screams behind me as I
walk into school. I hear the rumors of how I am a bad parent. I
remember the misunderstanding of family, the silent dismissal of others who
can’t understand.
I experience with incredible gratitude, the
kindness of one who understands. The words they speak that put my world
into a reality that feels like I can survive. The way they listen,
the time they take and the love they show. I appreciate that they
can see where I am. They can understand why I am and who my child is, even
though they are not in my tunnel. How grateful I am to them.
They change my world. They change my child’s world. To me they are
superstars.
By Tara O’Neill
