{"id":255,"date":"2013-06-17T11:13:09","date_gmt":"2013-06-17T11:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/?p=255"},"modified":"2013-06-17T11:13:09","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T11:13:09","slug":"peak-experiences-with-autism-and-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/2013\/06\/17\/peak-experiences-with-autism-and-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Peak Experiences &#8211; Five Lessons with Autism, and Life"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_258\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/?attachment_id=258\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-258\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-258\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-258\" alt=\"Peak Experiences\" src=\"http:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Descending-Adams-06-15-13-e1371479065811-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Descending Mt Adams<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I&#8217;m so proud of my guys summiting Mt. Adams, the 2nd tallest peak in NH and the hardest elevation gain we&#8217;ve done (4500&#8242; feet.)\u00a0 We hiked on Saturday, cancelling the usual speech and chores routine since the weather was peak. So too were\u00a0many moments that day.\u00a0 I could gaze at the above photo for hours.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday frankly I was more frustrated with myself over my slow speed on the tough final half-mile. Only now, really, do its lessons speak to me and to all of us\u00a0parents of special needs kids.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Agility<\/strong> &#8211; the boys charged up the mountain like it was a walk in the park.\u00a0 Even with autism &#8211; or maybe because of it.\u00a0 Even W.\u00a0 What&#8217;s more, they charged right on down, something that used to be so painfully difficult for W.\u00a0 Even during the tricky parts.\u00a0 Despite this being peak #46 of the hallowed #48 I exert extra care over them due to their autism.\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson: sometimes even the profoundly autistic can achieve. Even beyond their mother.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fear<\/strong> &#8211; it clutched my throat as I looked up at 0.9 miles of rock-to-rock typical Northern Presis climb.\u00a0\u00a0 Probably because I sprained my ankle 3 years ago on a similar climb, but maybe because that tends to be my outlook on life: Fear first, ultra-planning and commitment, as a means to accomplishment.\u00a0 I went so painfully slow that half &#8211; no, most- of the other hikers passed us by.\u00a0 It made me feel old, and a little silly, but it was where I was at.\u00a0 Lesson:\u00a0&#8220;You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.&#8221; (Thank you Eleanor Roosevelt.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Patience<\/strong> &#8211; J.\u00a0 had it in spades as he stopped on command to slow his pace for his parents.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0W. had\u00a0it as he turned to watch and wait for me, still behind him.\u00a0\u00a0 Hubby had it as I kept apologizing for my slowness\u00a0even though it wasn&#8217;t that bad really.\u00a0 And I had it as I made it through, focused, stopped worrying about the autism and just focused on the climb &#8211; and on one step at a time.\u00a0 Lesson: take one step at a time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A Symbol to guide us\u00a0<\/strong>&#8211; not to spoil the future post but an unusual icon in the Madison Springs Hut kitchen spoke to me, and became my guide on the way home.\u00a0 Lesson: Just like Meyer-Johnson picto cards, symbols can have power.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Love<\/strong> &#8211; my favorite moment of the day was when W.\u00a0waited for me to catch up, then as I neared,\u00a0he bent down from his 6-inches taller than me height, made greater by a rock, and kissed me\u00a0lovingly.\u00a0 I couldn&#8217;t tell if it was concern,\u00a0joy at the above-treeline wonder,\u00a0a kiss as a way to request something, or merely a moment where he loved his mom.\u00a0 I savor it regardless. Lesson: For all those who say the profoundly autistic cannot love because they\u00a0lack words\u00a0&#8211; hello, daughter&#8217;s 2nd grade teacher &#8211; here&#8217;s your proof.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The work day beckons, with\u00a0behaviorist ABC data collection forms, state social worker paperwork, and the launch of the boys to school.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While\u00a0I cannot WAIT to get back to our mountains, it&#8217;s\u00a0almost as much of a gift\u00a0to richly savor the above lessons, and how I might apply them to daily living.\u00a0\u00a0 Because &#8211; whether it&#8217;s Mt. Adams or zero-disrobes or no self-stimulatory slapping &#8211; it is good to have an end to journey toward, but the journey is all that matters in the end.<\/p>\n<p>Bon journ\u00e9e, as they say in France &#8211; and bonne journye\u00a0today and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m so proud of my guys summiting Mt. Adams, the 2nd tallest peak in NH and the hardest elevation gain we&#8217;ve done (4500&#8242; feet.)\u00a0 We hiked on Saturday, cancelling the usual speech and chores routine since the weather was peak. So too were\u00a0many moments that day.\u00a0 I could gaze at the above photo for hours. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twinmommeetsautism.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}