Guest Blog Written By: Teresa from Anchor Your Success
About 6 years ago we sent our beautiful son to preschool. At the time we knew that there were speech delays and high levels of anxiety, however, as a parent and even more so as a Mother you continually look at your child with adoration, love and see their magnificence.
What I did not realize was the journey I had begun was one which would be emotionally, physically and financially taxing. The only way for me to describe this journey was like being on a raft in the middle of a raging river travelling about 500 km per hour!
We were told by the preschool our son was at, that these challenges were a possible problem (I am in no way discrediting the preschool). We received feedback that we needed to consider a Psychological Assessment, Speech Therapy and ABA or IBI.
The word Autism, ADHD, Aspergers, Learning Disability and the list goes on; these labels are freely used by many people. As the parent you know your child best, you see them through a filter of love, you also see all aspects of them. I heard the label Autism many times by many people over the past 6 years. We began the whole process of therapy. Along the way we met many loving caring people who were genuine. We also met many people who knew that we had a weak spot and used the situation to their advantage.
After exhausting a large sum of money, time, energy and let’s not forget the toll on my physical health, I decided to take charge. I knew that my son; was creative, happy, had a sense of humour, however, he needed help. I realized we needed to get to the root of the problem! We needed to find tangible techniques and therapy that really worked.
It’s unbelievable the strength you have when you decide to make something happen. It came to me that for whatever reason the universe had allowed this journey to come to me. I knew that this was necessary not only to help my child, on the other hand, also to lead the way for others in this situation.
My first course of action was to forgive myself and clear the negative emotions of what if… What if I took more vitamins? What if I had taken those omega fatty acids? What if I read more to him instead of mopping the floors? What if I…. The list goes on with the What if’s.
Once I cleared these negative emotions, in a sense forgave myself, I knew I could repair my emotional health. I knew that advocating was going to be a difficult journey; I was in a way embarking on a huge war. In spite of this, I knew that there was no one more competent and knowledgeable when it came to my son.
There have been many ups and downs, tears shed, anger and frustration. During the whole process, I continued to keep my focus on the end result. In these last 6 years, my son has exceeded and surpassed everything we were told that he would not be able to do. I continue to advocate for him, knowing that I am the best person to do this. I can say that I have not won the popularity contest, but we are at the forefront of the journey.
My words of empowerment are given with love. When faced with this situation, know that you can advocate, there are alternative techniques and therapies. Don’t be afraid to seek out other resources. Don’t be afraid to advocate and ask questions no matter who it is you are speaking to, no matter what their credentials are.
To your success and empowerment!
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Beautiful story!