Musings and What-not

Traveling can be challenging. Enter your neighborhood airport, and you’ll be faced with long security lines, crowded concourses, uncomfortable waiting areas, and once you’ve dealt with that, there’s still the hustle and bustle of trying to get in your seat without being ran over by other passengers seeking to do the same. Now, if you’re a person with autism, the challenge is dealing with this seemingly chaotic situation without having a meltdown.

Autism doesn’t have a "look". Down Syndrome, Spinal Bifida, and Cerebral Palsy all have one thing in common. They have a "look". When you encounter a person with one of these different abilities, you can see their uniqueness. However, if you were to encounter a person with autism, you wouldn’t know that there was more to them than what you see, and for some observers, seeing is believing.

I am often asked about how Nicholas "deals with change", and my response regularly receives raised brows for he adjusts pretty well to the new and unfamiliar.  His hand flapping may be briefly exacerbated, but the smile never leaves his face. While traveling to California which happened to be nearly a 1,500-mile drive, unlike a neurotypical child, I didn't hear, "Are we there yet?' nor did I hear sighs of anguish for being stuck in a car longer than 2 minutes.  What I did hear was laughter, singing, or silence whenever I spied him in deep thought or simply taking in the scenery.