Day 1 Parenting Autism Real and Raw with Siobhan Wilcox

Hey everybody, my name is Siobhan Wilcox. You know, I'm the founder and creator of Autism Experts alliance and I've decided to create this video blog because, you know, it's going to be just about me and my life and parenting autism. And it's going to be, you know, me sitting here sometimes, I don't know, make, and the hair not even brushing, just leaping out of the bed like this morning and. But you know, that's okay. It's gonna be real. It's gonna be me being real and I'm just gonna really speak about the life, the day to day living piece and how I think, how I process what happens in my day, you know, because I realized I just went to this great event and part of the event was all about just getting out of your own way, you know. And I realized that I had, I have two boys. One at the moment is eight and one is 10 at this time now. And I realized that, you know, I'd been using my son's overwhelm and his autism as a get out of jail free card in a sense, not in a nasty way, but I was using it as an excuse to not step forward and really engage, you know, because I was letting myself live in the overwhelm. And I know better, you know, I know better than that, but I could see myself doing when I got to this event, it really became very clear and apparent to me and I started to break that pattern just two weeks before going to the event without even realizing there was a pattern to break. Because I'm writing a book on self care for parents of kids on the autism spectrum. And I just kept putting it off. I can't get to it. I can't get to it. My son had become exceptionally volatile in school and I had to go pick him up most days or go to school with him to help him. And then in the evening time he would also be very volatile and lots of overwhelm and a lot of extreme behavior. And it was really, really challenging as a parent to kind of hold my center in that, you know, to create my own individual needs and honor them. And I found that I had stopped doing that to a certain extent. And my background is teaching self care. So, you know, when I got to this event and I realized, my God, you've stopped doing that which you tell others to do. It made me think, hmm, you need to get out of your own way. And so I started bringing the laptop to my son's school and I had to go there to be with him. And I just started writing my book, sitting in the library in the school and taking notes about my thoughts, my feelings, how I felt when I was actually interacting with the psychologists and the therapists and psychiatrists and the occupational therapists and everybody who's trying to assist my son. But sometimes, you know, as a parent, you feel that they're. They're commenting on how your parents. They make you feel like you're not doing a good enough job, that there's something wrong with you for what's going on with your child. And, you know, that can be very challenging. And sometimes, you know, your defense mechanisms kick in and you go, oh, no, no, no. I'm perfect. There's nothing I'm doing. And I saw myself going through all these patterns, you know, and I just. Okay. Bubbly high in the fire is a. Like a red. Okay, do you want to turn it off? You do it. I don't want to touch it. Okay. Lovely. You close the door, and I'll be there in a second. Good boy. That's life. Gotta go. Gotta get the eggs. And I'm gonna talk to you again tomorrow. So, you know, I'd really love you to comment, to put in your thoughts on what it is to be parenting a child with autism, how that is for you. Do you lose your centeredness, your individuality, how you feel about that? And if you'd like to email me, you can email me at. Siobhan, it's damn hard to spell because I'm Gaelic from Ireland, but it's s I O B4 boy, H A N@autism expertsalliance.com and I'd love to. I made a longer video about my. My process of going through the diagnosis of my son, and I'd love to send that out to you and see if that may be of service to you. So thank you so much for taking the time. Gotta go get the eggs. Okay, bye.