To the Moms Who Love Someone on the Autism Spectrum

To the moms who raise a loved one on the spectrum,

This weekend is Mother’s Day, and I wanted you to know how important you are to your child. You may not know it, but simply by being there for them you are making a huge difference. I know this because when I was growing up with autism my mom helped me through some of the hardest moments in my life…

When I was completely nonverbal (up until I was 2.5), my mom was there.

When I was diagnosed with autism when I was 4, my mom was there.

When educators in my schools couldn’t understand why I was lashing out, my mom was there.

When I started school my mom was there.

When I had to move to three different public schools in four years, my mom was there.

When I came home crying from school for not only being bullied but having difficulty with that transition, my mom was there.

When we fought our school district for two and a half years to get me an out of district placement for students with learning disabilities, my mom was there.

When I needed someone to drive me to school, my mom was there.

When I found my strengths, my mom was there.

When we finally found the therapies that worked best for me, my mom was there.

When I made my first friend and ran home to tell everyone, my mom was there.

When I graduated from grade school, my mom was there.

When I was struggling with taking the SATs, my mom was there.

When I graduated from high school, my mom was there.

When I was nervously waiting for an acceptance letter to come to our house to see if I got into college, my mom was there.

When I graduated with my undergraduate and master’s degrees, my mom was there.

When I received my first full-time job offer, my mom was there.

When I had any self-doubt in my ability to achieve great things, my mom was there.

When I succeeded and overcame the obstacles that challenged me when I was younger, my mom was there.

To the moms out there who love someone with autism, I hope you realize the impact you have, like my mom had on me, simply by being there. 

I love you, Mom!

Wishing all the amazing moms out there in our community a Happy Mother’s Day!

This blog originally appeared on Kerrymagro.com.

The Mighty is asking the following: What’s one thing you want to make sure the special needs mom in your life knows? *If you are the special needs mom, challenge a loved one to respond to this! If you’d like to participate, please send a blog post to community@themighty.com. Please include a photo for the piece, a photo of yourself and 1-2 sentence bio. Check out our Submit a Story page for more about our submission guidelines.