mother of 3 boys on the spectrum

[gracieslite]

Hi my name is Gracie and I live in Oklahoma.  I am the proud parent of three boys with Autism Spectrum Disorder-Eli 13, Jeff 12, and Sam 9.  They have given me the greatest gift in the world!  Because of this I have founded Spectrum- A Resource, Support and Advocacy nonprofit to help other parents and Autistic people.  My  oldest 2 boys attend Middle School, and currently my youngest is homebound due to major anxiety.  We homeschooled all three of my boys last year, but they all decided that they would rather go back into the school system.  The local school district refuses to accept the doctors' (more than one) diagnosis of Aspergers because my son is highly intellegent and is extremely quite.......it doesn't make sense to me either.  We are leaning toward homeschooling Sam due to the fact that the socialization that he is picking up from the peer group at school is not the sort of socialization that I want him mirroring.  My husband and I have been married for 14 years and he also has Aspergers.  I have a sis in law, a nephew and a neice who live in Ireland, and they also have varying forms of ASD.  As a family we have learned to appreciate the good that comes from Autism-the beauty in the perception.  Also, my best friend from junior high and high school has a son with Autism.  I think that she has embraced her son and his "disability" with such courage and grace.  I am proud of the life that we lead and the positive things that have happened to us.  My son Jeff was the first to be dx'd with Autism-he has classic Autism and was nonverbal until age 6.  I researched everything that I could get my hands on.  The dr's told us that he had MR and that he would never: talk, tie his shoes, understand language, he would never be self sufficient, etc.  It was personal mission to take all of the "nos" and work with him.  At age 12 he is now fully verbal, ties his shoes, eats a variety of food, tells jokes, uses sarcasm and idiom and figures of speech.  All three of my children know how to cook a variety of food (we are still working on washing the dishes), and is the most empathatic person that I have ever met.  There is no "no" there are only obstacles, but if you hurdle those obstacles to the best of your ability then they are behind you.

[Jen]

I loved your post!!! Your family sounds awesome- starting w/ Mom! Thank you so much for your post, hope you will stop by often and share with us. When our family speaks at conferences, Eric and I talk about being 'obstacle removers' for our kids- that's exactly what i read in what you wrote.
Looking forward to hearing from you again soon!