Advocating and educating for children dealing with autism
Good morning everyone. I pray everyone is well. Welcome back to SEGCenter. We are so grateful to you for your support, encouragement and prayers as we work hard to fulfill our purpose of advocating and educating for children and families with children dealing with autism. In a prior blog, I had mentioned the importance of building a village of people that can come alongside you and your child as you maneuver through the complexities of this autism journey. At this point in time, your village may include just immediate or extended family members, which is fine, but I want to encourage you to expand on that village. By God’s grace, none of us will bury our children, meaning our children will out live us. With that declaration, we have to make sure we surround our children with advocates and a support system that just doesn’t include just us as parents/grandparents. As Jayson continues to grow and we continue in this journey of autism, I make it my goal to expand his village daily.
It takes a village
Currently his village includes my immediate and extended family, his ABA supervisor Mrs. Lisa for always being MY advocate for Him, his one-on-one in the classroom Mrs. Khan (the most concerned and understanding mother I have had on his team in a long time – since Ms. Madison (Jayson’s first ABA therapist); though every member on his team right now is remarkable, his classroom teacher Mrs. Reidnauer, his special education teacher Mrs. Wojtech, his speech pathologist and occupational therapist, his healthcare providers who are truly THE BEST a mother can ask for Dr. Rachael L. Simon his dentist and Dr. Najla A. Abdur-Rahman the best pediatrician whom I wish every child could see, our pastors who constantly pray for us and my church family…….expand Romans 12:4-5 says “For just as in one [physical] body we have many parts, and these parts do not all have the same function or special use, so we, who are many, are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts of another [mutually dependent on each other].” We were created to live life together not in isolation. Some of us may have been betrayed by people and feel like we can’t open ourselves nor our children to such hurt. I get that. I am not dismissing the hurt and betrayal. But I would encourage you to try making yourself and your child vulnerable again. You need a village not just in the home or in the classroom but also in the community. You need other people to advocate for your child when you are not there. I am so grateful to everyone in Jayson’s village. I am still blown away everytime we have Jayson’s IEP meeting and I see the small army of people who show up to discuss ONE child. It is so humbling to see that everyone brings so much passion to the meeting as though Jayson is their son. I cannot thank my family, my friends, all the teachers, the school support staff, the healthcare professionals and everyone else that has played a role in this journey. May God continue to give you all the grace and patience to do your jobs! I pray this opens up a conversation you can have within yourself and with close confidants. Please leave a comment below telling me who your child’s village is made up of.
God bless you!
Your friend in Christ,
M.J.