They can smell it on you...

. 

Fear. They say animals can smell it on you.  Well, I must really reek.  Actually, this is a little tongue in cheek.  This has been getting much easier for me, although I have to say that sometimes I still get that sick feeling in my stomach.  Yeah, you know the one. 
Anyway, now that I've seen adults with autism and teenagers, at least ones that I think started out where Conor is now, I feel a little better.  Sometimes it seems manageable.  Hell, people with "typically developed" kids struggle through lots of stuff... I can get through this, right?!
 
It certainly throws you for a loop.  Conor now wants to go swimming all the time and will drop trou and run out the door with no warning.  Funny when he's 5, not so funny when he's 50!  We're working on it. We've taken to singing "Oh yes, they call him the Streak..." when he's running around outside.  Actually, his total lack of inhibition is sometimes freeing.  Wouldn't it be nice if we could all drop trou and go swimming when we wanted to?

the journey begins...

This July marks the third year of our journey down the unfortunate autism path we've been placed upon. I feel ten years older and infinitely stupider than when we first started. With this autism thing, the more you learn, the less you know!
So many more parents know so much more than me about how to try to conquer this thing. I'm struggling just to keep up and, frankly, to keep my sanity. It helps to talk with other parents, but when their kids are doing so much better than mine (and many are), it's just depressing. But, I'm committed to at least trying to keep a positive attitude.
 What are the options? Wallow in self pity? That gets me nowhere and my son definitely doesn't benefit from that either. My advice--find a mentor that you can follow and hope for the best. Keep your wits about you and keep learning and hoping.