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Autism: Small Miracles Day By Day
The Beauty of Simplicity
Buying Simple Clothes
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An Excerpt From The eBook:
Small Miracles Day By Day
A guide for parents of individuals with low functioning autism

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A Note to the Reader

If you are reading this book, I assume you are one of us - a parent of a low functioning autistic child. (Or maybe you have several autistic children, like more and more people I've come to know.) We understand each other like nobody else can. Who else but we understand what it means to live with a child who is still in diapers at the age of six, eight, ten and even older, and even after she is toilet trained, is still having accidents? Who else but we can know what It's like to be happy that our child is only tearing the newspapers and getting the shredded paper all over the house, because at least he's not breaking the window?

We all know the never-ending pain - the anger, frustration, and even depression we feel, living in the unfair world we do. A world where so much of the public school special ed system is more concerned with their budget, and making their life as easy as possible, than they are about doing what is best for our children. A world where the government services are not nearly enough, and even when we have the budget, we can't find the people to help us.

We live with holes in our walls. Walls without pictures, because the pictures wouldn't last on our walls for a day. Our phone books are filled with autism. All kinds of practitioners whom we have hoped, or continue to hope, can improve our child's functioning, from the conventional to unconventional, and names of friends whom we have met only because we have autistic children, all fill our phone books.

But there is also the joy that only we can know. Some of us will feel this joy when our child makes eye contact with us. Some of us will feel it when we see our child is finally learning to talk. For those of us with children who have been nonverbal for a long time, every word that comes from their mouth will be precious. And some of us will know this joy when our child finally walks to the bathroom to use the toilet without being told by anyone to do so. When our children do something that we were afraid to ever dare hope for, we feel a boundless joy and gratitude that no parent who does not live in our world can ever touch.

I didn't write this book to share my pain and commiserate with other parents of autistic children, nor did I write it to let the rest of the world know what we live with. You will not find much talk of my feelings of pain, frustration, etc., in these pages. That doesn't mean that it has not been there, or that it does not continue to be there. I want you to know that the author of this book understands and has been through it all. I am a parent just like you. Understand that expressing my feelings was just not the purpose of this book.

It is the joy, rather than the pain, that has been the driving force behind this book. After years of struggling and searching, I have found certain ideas that have led to some success for my son. I wanted to share these ideas with other parents of low functioning autistic children, so that they might also experience the joy of hearing words from their nonverbal child, or see an older child finally go to the bathroom independently. Thus, this book has become more of a guidebook than a personal story, although you will find glimpses of our story sprinkled throughout these pages.

When we stop to think of it, there really isn't anything special about this book. So many parents, who have struggled for years to find something to help their child, could easily write a book about the things they have found helpful. It is only that somehow I am finally getting around to writing one. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all compile one big book where we all share our experiences as to what has helped our children? Then we could all benefit from each other's knowledge and experience. But until we all get together to write such a book, here is my humble contribution.

I'm all too aware that not every child will respond equally to the suggestions in this book. Perhaps some may not respond much at all, and some, I believe, will probably succeed far beyond my son.

Until we find the answer to this autism dilemma, I hope the suggestions you find in this book will help bring about some measure of higher functioning for your child.

Love,
Dara

Disorders - Autism