In Others Words

Following post "borrowed" from http://adiaryofamom.wordpress.com/2011/01/:


I’ve been reminded an awful lot lately that autism is a developmental disorder. Yes, we all know that, but we know it as one blurry word, don’t we? Autismisadevelopmentaldisorder. Sometimes we miss the most important part. Autism is a developmental DIS-order. Development happens IN A DIFFERENT WAY than the typical order of business. ‘A’ does not necessarily lead to ‘B’. Sometimes, ‘A’ leads to ‘F’, then back through ‘C’ and ‘D’ long before ‘B’ shows up. Sometimes ‘B’ doesn’t show up at all, but ‘R’ does and turns out to be a doozy.  Our kids development is not delayed. It is disordered – differently ordered. 
For me, this has been a HUGELY important distinction. I think we lose a lot waiting for our children to ‘catch up’ to their peers. One can’t catch up to someone who is walking on a different road. It simply doesn’t work that way.  But God, our kids DO change and grow and learn and develop, don’t they? IN THEIR OWN WAY, IN THEIR OWN TIME, WHEN THEY ARE READY.