About Me

I am the proud mother of 6 children. 5 of our children have autism. We do not feel our world has ended, but just begun. We do not chelate, intervene biochemically, give shots of any kind, practice ABA, etc. We treat them as we treat any humanbeing. We treat them with kindness and respect and expect the same from them. They are exceptional children.

Blog Archive

Monday, October 02, 2006

Now I Am Neglectful...

It has been brought to my attention, because I will not negate myself to reading a certain blog, that I am now being mentioned as a Neglectful Mother...
Okay, now we have drawn the line.
I will admit to alot of things.
I will admit to:
1. being a bad friend.
2. loving Deal or No Deal a wee bit too much.
3. hating soap operas.
4. spending too much time volunteering at school-during school hours.
5. watching Dr. Phil.

But, I will never, ever admit to being a neglectful mother...

I ask these people:
Would I be neglectful if....
I stayed up all night because my daughter cannot sleep with a runny nose?
I held my son's hand as he confronted a bully before school started...they made nice in case you were wondering?
I fix 4 different meals every night because my children have different tastes and sensory diversions?
I spent 2 hours with an ABC board, because my son loves to spell out words?
I boast because these lovely kids can live in our world without needing to change a Damn thing about them??????

I do not spend alot of time on the computer...I blog daily, it is my diary.
For those of you who like it, thank you.
For those of you who don't, who cares?????

I wonder why people need to negate me to make themselves feel better? I wonder why parent's who disagree with me seem to want to call me names? Is your life so small and do you feel so badly about your child or children that you need to try to make me feel bad?
Believe me, that will not happen.....

After our first child was diagnosed many years ago (12, to be exact), my husband and I made the decision that she would be treated as if we had a " normal" child. We put her in regular school, and thank goodness they allowed this.
After 2, 3, 4 and 5 autistic children, the school accepted them. Partly due, excuse my bragging, to the fact that my husband and myself were always available for any problems and/or praise. We have and always will be hands-on parents.
We are involved with every aspect of their education. We expect our children to do well in school....guess what? They do!
It is not so hard.
If you treat a person like a person...they behave that way.

Just because we do not believe that hating autism is the "way to go" way...does not mean we care or neglect our children in any way.

I will be called alot of things in my life,
I will face alot more challenges than those that have come before me.
But, One thing I will never, ever be is
A Neglectful Mom....


And for the record:
How is my agreeing with Soapbox Mom any different from the people who agree with Mr. Best?

6 comments:

Mom26children said...

Hi bethduckie,
The last thing I worry about is JB...I don't know him.
I have read some things he writes and I do see he is a very committed father, that is a very positive attribute for him to have.
What I do not agree with is his ability to take a discussion and turn it to filth and tasteless banter. People can disagree and still be civil.

Random Mom said...

Hi mom26children-
You may be many things to many people, every day of your life.
One thing you would never be, could not be, is a neglectful mother.
People fear what they do not understand--those people are afraid of you, for you speak the truth.
As bethduckie said, and I will elaborate, don't worry about it AT ALL.

Mom26children said...

Soapbox Mom,
As one of your biggest fans...I thank you. In all honesty, you know I value your opinion. I know it is not in my nature to be neglectful.
You know, as well as I do, that I only want parent's of children with the autism diagnosis have alternatives. They do not have to spend alot of money and see alot of doctors who cry "cure".
We both have proof, in our home, that an autistic child can and will improve without severe interventions...and you know what I mean...

Mom26children said...

Let me rephrase...I only want parent's of children who have the diagnosis of autism to have alternatives.....

abfh said...

I never watch Dr. Phil because he is so prejudiced against autistics. He did a horrid episode in January called Extreme Disorders in which he suggested that autistic/Asperger children have uncontrollable fits of rage and that their parents live in fear of them. And that wasn't the first time he insulted autistics.

As for JBjr complaining that you have too much time to blog, he's a fine one to talk, isn't he? Spends his whole life trolling and griping, apparently.

Mom26children said...

Hi ABFH,
My Dr. Phil comment was a joke...a bad one, by the way.
Our daughter with Asperger's is the most sensitive person I know. She gets very emotional when she sees anyone in trouble or hurting. She has never been violent a day in her life.
Also, have you noticed that whenever a teen is in trouble now, suddenly they have Asperger's?
It is getting such a bad rap.....