PROUD MOMENTS™

This article starts a new column entitled Proud Moments. Proud Moments can be any time that you have been extremely proud of your child with special needs. It can be when they are giving it their all or reaching a milestone. You may feel you can only share your excitement or enthusiasm with someone that will really understand. We certainly understand. We are encouraging you to please share a proud moment with us for this next issue!
Subject: Proud Moments article

"God is in the details"
Have you heard this saying? It's become a daily mantra for me.
This is probably one of my favorite pictures of my boy. You see, Max is... different. Max sees the details. In this picture, Max is looking at the details. Max is tasting the details. Max is feeling the details.

This is the beauty of Autism. Watching Max see the world through a different set of eyes. When he looks at the door, he sees the screws in the knob. When he goes outside, he sees not the slide or the balls, he sees the dirt, the grass, the weeds.

~ Sarah Cook

And my hubby's revised version, "The Max Effect"
 
How do you enjoy an afternoon at the beach?  Max loves to dive into the sand. He loves to put his face down into the sand in order to intimately feel it, to taste it, and to see the detail of every grain.  Max is all about "Full Effect".
 
How do you enjoy a day at the park?  Max has once been known to ignore the standard playground equipment and instead make a mad dash for the adjoining pond.   Ignoring the mid-winter temperatures, he proceeded to tread into the shallow end, so proud to have thoroughly experienced the chilly water.  Max is all about "Full Effect".
 
How does having an autistic child change your life? They change it with immeasurable joy and heart-wrenching pain. They change it with unquestioning faith and questioning doubt.  The peace of God and the wild rumpus of Max…they both often surpass all understanding, but it's all about "Full Effect", or should I say "Max Effect".

~ Todd Cook

Saying you’re sorry… can mean so much

"My son has severe high-functioning autism, ADHD, ODD, and OCD. When he has a meltdown, he says things out of anger from things he has heard from somewhere else. These things are sometimes very hurtful. Recently, after he has cooled down, he would come to me and say that he was so sorry for the way he acted and what he said. He would say this with his head down and in a low voice. I am sooo proud of him for being able to acknowledge these feelings and create an appropriate response to them. This is a start!"

~ Sue Roberts-Thomas

Safety Patrol Role Model

Faith is 12 years old and has Down syndrome. We are proud of all her accomplishments, but sometimes the little things stick with us.

Faith loves babies and little children, can't stay away from them! One morning I dropped her off at school and she spotted a little kindergartener. She walked to her and greeted her, asking if she needed help. The girl nodded and Faith took her hand and walked her into school and to the kindergarten hallway monitor.

Faith is in the safety patrol this year so she gets to help many small children at school. People with Down syndrome are important members of our society.

~Paulette Beurrier

Compliments and Accomplishments

"I have two very proud moments.  My son with asperger's, in addition to other disabilities, gave my daughter a compliment.  He said, "You look amazing."  She was all dressed up for a speech she had to do for school."

"My second one is for my daughter.  She is gifted.  She wrote a speech on autism and living with autism.  She ended up winning 1st place for her 4-H speech.  She is now going to the county.  She is usually very shy.  When I find someone with a video camera I will send you a recording of it."

~Stormie Hill

Discipline Note… proud moment

My son Jeff has autism.  When he was 10 years old he was going to an elementary schoolin our area.  He was not very social and for the most part in his "own world” which is so typical of many children with autism.  One day he was getting off the school bus and the bus aide gave me a note from his teacher. The aide told us that Jeff had a rough day.  He came into the house, upset and frustrated.  As I read the note I tried hard not to smile.  I handed the note to his then twelve year old sister, Danielle and she too saw what I saw.  It stated "Jeff was playing a game nicely today with his friends. When he started to lose, he cheated.  He had to take a time out for cheating." 

We waited until Jeff was out of earshot to start giggling.  Our excitement

was summed up by my daughter,  "MOM... Jeff has friends and knew enough to cheat!" 

This may not be every parent's dream of a proud moment, but for us it was a turning point.  My son, who we were told would never love or care about anything or anyone, showed us he cared.  Maybe not in the most appropriate way, but we worked on that.

Jeff is now 20 and had many friends at school and other social activities. 

~Suzanne Reily

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