Autism Celebration Month | South Jordan, UT Family Photographer
- vanessa51606
- Apr 29
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 14
I cannot let this month pass away without sharing just a little bit of my experience here. My family's autism journey started a long time ago, although we didn't yet know to call it that. Among our four children we have various combinations of neurodiversity- including Level 1 Autism, giftedness and ADHD. My experience as a 2E (twice exceptional) mom has been a happy challenge and a blessing.
When my girls were little I started to notice that they were different from their peers in specific ways. My girls were each hyperlexic (learned to read very early and at very advanced levels). They had advanced vocabularies and deep, hyper-focused interests. One of them had extreme separation anxiety, while another had absolutely no sense of fear or self preservation-- my goal was just to help her survive her early childhood! As they grew we started experiencing sensory issues and deep, paralyzing social anxiety. As a mom it was heartbreaking to witness the hard parts of their neurodiversity.
With time, and a great deal of research, I started to understand my children better. We found help and diagnoses followed. My greatest work at this point is navigating life alongside them. It is also my greatest joy.
Autism is often spoken of based on its challenges. I wanted to share my three favorite things about being a mom to autistic children.
First, I love discovering their talents alongside them.
I love watching them find their identities and confidence as they figure out who they are and what they love. It can be really difficult for kids who don't naturally fit into social settings-- like a square peg in a round hole. It can be lonely and destructive to the development of their self worth and self esteem. Helping my kids to find their passions has been such a joy. I love watching them light up and find their voice.
Second, I love joining them on their deep dive interests.
Between my children I have learned ALL about greek mythology, cat breeds, ASL, marine biology, Jenna Ortega and Olivia Rodrigo, martial arts, dinosaurs, bugs and reptiles, STEM and so many more things. I love sharing their excitement as they completely lose themselves in learning about their interests.
Last, (but not a complete list in the least) I have loved learning to advocate and helping them to learn to advocate for themselves.
This one has been painful at times. It isn't always easy to know when to step in, when to back off and when to help them speak up for themselves. There is an inherent level of misunderstanding of my kids built into their social interactions with both kids and adults. Learning to speak up and educate has definitely been a process and it is one that I am still figuring out.
Having neurodiverse kids has taught me a deep level of patience and empathy. I have learned to see their struggles as lagging skills rather than misbehavior. I am learning greater patience and we have developed a deep trust in each other as we figure all of this out together. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything.