I think learning to control our mind is so tough and demands much determination and effort. It is even harder to do this when you cannot make your body cooperate with the thinking that is always happening in your brilliant mind. Trying to show this intricate thinking is the inevitable struggle. Fighting through the frustration becomes exhausting. Could you survive this?
Being in our shoes is tough. However, it is because of the strong support we get from others that we are able to forge more solid connections in our mixed up wiring.
I think one of the most challenging things about supporting our bodies well is really understanding the disconnect between our thinking brains and our out of control bodies. Our actions are often misinterpreted. Can you imagine trying to talk about something important but not being able to speak the words in your mind and from your heart? Imagine wanting to have a great time with friends but not being able to get your body to interact in the way you want it to. Think about being in pain and feeling miserable but not having some way to convey this to those who care for you.
Because of our brains not connecting well with our bodies, there is a lot of misunderstanding. It is not easy to look beyond the body in order to see the intelligence underneath, but it is so important for everyone to start seeing us as we truly are: cognitively capable, but motor impaired.
Here is what you can do to support our bodies:
Just always be open to the ideas that I am sharing with you because they are coming from an expert in the field who has more experience than you do.
Challenge yourself to open your mind to the endless potential within yourself and within the person you are supporting.
Do not stop believing in the person you are supporting.
Challenge those who do not value the potential in the person you are supporting.
Work towards creating opportunities for attention to be given in a positive way to the person you are supporting.
Remember that people at large really want to try to engage and interact but often do not know how to get the conversation started.
Love what you do both in the work you are doing and the person you are doing it with.
Try to help the person that you are supporting work on their self determined goals.
Start having fun and always challenge the status quo.
Gabriella – this is such a timely post for me! Thank you for writing it.
I’ve asked Lillian’s teacher if we could present Elizabeth’s program on helping kids understand what it’s like to have autism.
*I wondered if I could use Dare To Listen as a reference?
I’m hoping to have a certain handsome guest speaker come in and talk to the kids as well…#Jordyn
Thanks and please keep writing…you have such a gifted voice when you do 🙂
Sarah Pallett
My oh my, did you ever hit the nail on the head. Should be read by everyone supporting a non-speaking autistic.