“Those numb hauntings come and go; but they always come… and they always go. Hang in there.”
-Stephanie Lubiani Wilkinson (on depression in parents of special needs children)
“Those numb hauntings come and go; but they always come… and they always go. Hang in there.”
-Stephanie Lubiani Wilkinson (on depression in parents of special needs children)
“So, I guess I’m writing this now to tell the autistic people who are reading this that I, too, am not your enemy. I am not afraid of autism; I do not hate autism, and I can help bridge the gap between our two groups. I want to learn from you, and I want to stand beside you as you fight for your rights. You are my child’s future and I want to help you as you make the world a better place for yourselves; and for him.”
-Jillsmo (on the contentious and painful growing divide between autism self-advocates and parent advocates)
If you like this quote, you can read the entire post here: “Let’s Talk Some More About Cookies”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, Mommy. I really like her stories, but most of the time I feel like she is inside four walls of brick and I can walk around and around them but only she has the key to the secret doorway.”
Lucy -(Daughter of Bobbi Sheahan, author of “What I Wish I Knew About Raising a Child with Autism”) upon her mother explaining to her that it sometimes feels as if she has to reach around the autism to get to her younger daughter
“I think sometimes being an autism parent is like going to war, but you have no idea who the enemy is. We just attack and hope we hit something. Occasionally we get hit by other people’s shrapnel.”
-Lisa @ Laughing Through Tears
“I would not change my son for the world. But I would change the world for my son.”
-Unknown (But kindly shared by Joanne Eaton-a reader)
(If anyone knows who said this, please let me know.)
“I think the heart just gets broken — wide open.”
-Amy Upchurch (on how becoming a special needs parent changes a person for the better)
“Yeah, but this is a group of people who understand heartache. Folks like that aren’t the type anymore to get overly upset or judgmental about things that don’t really matter. They know the difference too well.”
-My Dad (upon hearing me remark about the incredible degree of acceptance and good sense I’ve recently discovered about the special needs parenting community)
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
-Albert Camus
“Think of it: a disability is usually defined in terms of what is missing. … But autism … is as much about what is abundant as what is missing, an over-expression of the very traits that make our species unique.”
— Paul Collins (Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism)