A Mother's Story on Instagram

I’ve had comments saying how “normal”, healthy, and happy Sammy seems in all my pictures. At first I admit I was a little shocked that people would assume that just because my daughter is autistic, she may not be like other children. After some thought and looking at other people’s perspective it makes sense, especially if they aren’t around autistic children.

Honestly before having my daughter I never really took the time to understand how autism affected kids. Also, the autism spectrum is so large that not every autistic child has the exact same struggles.

It’s hard because Sammy’s outer appearance shows a child who doesn’t have struggles or a disability, but she does. This is not sad or bad it’s just the way God made her. I automatically feel a bond with other mother's who care, love, and see the daily struggles that autism has on other children. It’s easy to decide that others don’t want to understand or won’t ever understand but the hard part is using any opportunity to educate and give new perspective on autism.

Yes my girl is healthy and happy because she needs simple things like love and care that all children require. She also needs “extras” like speech therapy and a special classroom setup for autistic children. The “extras” I hope will prepare her to live in the world with little to no struggles.

The thing about autism is you don’t know if your child will speak, feed, and bathe on their own, be able to work in a social environment, have friends, drive, live on their own, and lots more. I don’t hope that Sammy gets married and goes to college. My hopes are on a much more basic level. I hope she can grocery shop without assistance, that her speech keeps excelling, and that her self-stimulatory behavior is less noticeable when she’s an adult. Those are just a few of the hopes I have.

Please stay curious, read about autism, approach parents that have a child with autism and ask thoughtful questions. Autism is very much real and just because you can’t see the struggles it doesn’t mean that they don’t exist.

Love,

Sue and Sammy. 

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Sue and Sammy are based in Arizona, US. Sue is a frequent Instagram user and uses this medium to spread awareness on the beauty of autism through snapping amazing photos of her own daughter, Sammy. All photos above belong to her and this testimonial has been taken directly from her recent Instagram update. 

You may follow her at "sueshine" on Instagram.