Broken Records

Honestly I sound like a broken record, one that is stuck in a groove playing the same song over and over and over. I went to a function the other day, and as always, the talk turned to our respective children.

Once again, I found myself explaining what Autism is, about my very high functioning daughter, the spectrum etc. I've had this conversation so many times I swear my family knows it by heart.  I'm not a private person, I'll answer most any question as I don't have anything to hide and I want my daughter to grow up in an understanding and accepting world.

I do feel for my friends and family though. I know that I talk about our challenges a lot, I know that I keep bringing up the same issues and problems. The thing is, that's how I deal with it, I talk and talk and bake and eat until I've wrapped my head around the issue or found a solution. Having a kid who is exceptional is very isolating. I'm so grateful for my online support groups, who discuss all the same  issues, in the hopes that someone will have a brilliant idea, that will help. Having the online community takes some of the pressure off my family and friends to be my sounding boards. Which is great because, I no longer have a lot of friends, eventually our little family kind of fell off  peoples' invite lists. I understand why, and frankly going places with Tiger is challenging, we know that changing the routine is going to mean some screaming and sleeplessness. Some people just got tired of hearing the same song about this weeks therapy, or meltdown or me whining about how I don't know what to do, my lack of sleep need for an IV coffee drip etc.

The few friends I still have, are family now. They are completely accepting and non judgmental about our lifestyle.  I know without a doubt that I can count on each and every one of them to listen to me sing the same song, and they won't hit skip. That they will still come over, even when we haven't managed to go there in months. They will let my rant run its course before changing the subject.

My life seems very much to be on repeat, we try to maintain the routine as much as possible, to ensure Tiger can sleep at night. The more sleep she gets, the better she feels and does.

I'll be honest, I get a little stir crazy. Tiger is forever trying to ritualize things and add things to the routine. I have the same arguments with her every day about the things she has to do. Today we have the same song holding the number one spot folks . So we'll play it for you one more time, after this quick message from our sponsors, so stay tuned to hear

Brush Your Teeth by HFL Mama




The High Functioning Life, where we would like to play you a new tune, but that's just not going to happen.