A is for Attitude

So, I was talking to my friend on the phone today about blogging, and her blog, and how much I've learned from other people's blogs and I thought, I really need to get serious about writing a blog. Except not. Serious, that is. 'Cause with raising an almost-3 year old son on the autism spectrum and his nine month old brother while being a wife and a work-from-home employee, I really don't need any more "serious" commitments in my life.

But I do need an outlet. And I do need a community. And although I have a bit of both in real life, I know that the internet universe can be so, so incredibly helpful. It's helped me thus far.

So now, what to say? I can say we are in our ninth month of recovering the Squish (my oldest) from his ASD. We are in ABA, music, speech, and OT therapies. We are working the diet/supplement angle (but not in the traditional GF/CF form) -- we are working with an allergist and immunologist. We are gearing up for his IEP. Most of all, we are a family doing what families do: loving and supporting each other. Sometimes that gets lost in all the appointments/meetings/schedules/supplement charts/dietary changes/etc. But we work hard to make sure it is so...whether it's movie night in Mommy and Daddy's big bed (with popcorn!) or a romp around the backyard (even in the rain!) -- we make sure we are always growing as a family.

As I look forward, I see that my attitude and the attitude of those around my family may have the biggest impact on Squish and his progress. We need our family to continue to learn about Squish's condition and how to help him as he progresses. We need his teachers and therapists to have as high of expectations of him as we do and the compassion and the expertise to help him reach those goals. And I need to be knowledgable about his condition and our rights, clear about our expectations, sincere in my desire to work as a unified team with the school district, absolute in my resolve to get him what he needs -- team or not -- and willing to go to the ends of the earth. I need to be the Mommy.