Autism Parenting Magazine Issue 72 (Member's Dashboard) | Page 40

AUTISM SOLUTIONS

Enhancing Fine and Gross

Motor Skill with Creative

Activity

By Maria ROHAN , RN , BSN

The sun rises and sets every day . It is a proven occurrence and can be documented by most human beings who live on this planet . Now , if you are 70 years old , you should have seen 25,550 sunsets and sunrises each during a lifetime , but at the same time , you most likely missed many of them .

Why ? When the most breathtaking gift to our eyes can be seen every day , for free , how do we miss it ?
When a child is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder ( ASD ), the parent or parents are bombarded with a boatload of things they need to do to fit their child in this pretty little box called “ normalcy .” As the child grows , parents are constantly told where the child should be and what he / she isn ’ t doing , and most of the time , it feels like even when you think your child is doing great , there is always something he / she hasn ’ t measured up to . It ’ s a race . Autism feels like a race — a race against nothing . No one really tells us to slow down , and that it is not a race ; they just let us run . If one day you decide to pick your head up from the drowning of “ not good enoughs ,” “ we need to stop that ,” and “ we need to work on this ,” you will realize that you have missed many sunsets and sunrises while you were gone and that your life is not an Individualized Education Program ( IEP ).
Autism Parenting Magazine | Issue 72 | 41