• › People Stare, I Explode — A Raw Autism Parenting Moment

    — RANT POST! SO MAD I COULD EXPLODE! —
    Warning: I yelled and cussed, which I will write here. I apologize in advance.

    Also sharing a moment I had with my son



    Having a child with special needs is very difficult and a big challenge, but that is nothing compared to people staring, judging and making situations even worse when things happen.

    My son E has level 3 autism and is non-verbal, which makes it hard for him to explain or tell anyone what he wants.

    Today we went to the supermarket (well, we just came home and I am fuming) to buy bread in the first place, but I quickly had to change plans and we will do that later instead.

    Anyway, here’s how it went.

    We had to go to the recycling bins with some cardboard, but E didn’t want to go the back way to the supermarket — he wanted to go the “right” way.

    I tried over and over to get him to follow me, but he didn’t listen.

    Instead, he threw a tantrum and sat down on the asphalt road.

    I explained to him over and over again the plan we made at home — recycling, store, home, bus — but this time it didn’t work.

    While this situation was happening, I saw people sitting outside (at my old workplace) staring at us.

    It made me so mad I was fuming — of course not at E, but at them.

    So when I finally managed to get E off the ground and over to the recycling bins (I had to bribe him with my phone), I looked at them and yelled:

    WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU STARING AT?! HE HAS FUCKING AUTISM!”

    They started pointing and shaking their heads, so I yelled again:

    KEEP SHAKING YOUR FUCKING HEADS, YOU DUMBFUCKS!”

    Yes, I admit — I was rude as fuck towards them. But I couldn’t control myself in that situation.

    Luckily, a neighbor came by who was also going to the recycling area.

    She quickly realized how angry I was, so she started talking to me:

    Oh! How tall you are, E! You are growing so fast!

    Note that we moved here four years ago, so it is a massive change in him.

    It instantly changed my focus.

    I was always focused on E, but my neighbor managed to shift my focus into having a calm conversation, and the steam coming out of my ears slowly stopped.

    Meanwhile, E had my phone and — remember this post, “Will he follow in my footsteps?” — he took so many photos on our walk to the supermarket after recycling.

    Mostly selfies inside the store, so I’m not going to share those.

    But we were looking at flowers, so I helped him look around and pointed:

    “E, there. Purple flower.”

    And he took a photo.

    So I really — honestly, from the bottom of my heart — hope that he will follow in my footsteps.

    In the store — oh my God.

    Taking selfies like crazy and flirting with the ladies. It was insane. I almost didn’t get him to go home after shopping 💀

    We had ice cream on our way home, so I will post a review of it later.


    — Enjoy E’s photos below —

    T

    I apologize for this post