I know that this blog has always focused on Mr. L and his autism. But have I ever mentioned that both of his siblings also have special needs? Yeah Mr. C has ADHD and Little Miss A has a bunch of diagnoses as well.

It just feels weird saying that all 3 of my kids have special needs or are differently-abled. Like many others, when I think of special needs I think of physical needs or strongly, severe cognitive disabilities. But I’m learning to wrap my head around the fact that they are. Mr. C needs ADHD medication in order to function at school, and Little Miss A is on two waiting lists for a therapist.

Mr. C literally needs his meds in order to focus on his teacher and he needs them as a life line to make and keep friends. When Mr. C first started taking his meds, he came home so elated to tell me that the other kids in his class now understood him when he spoke and he was now making friends. That’s a disability, when you can’t function properly without an aid- that’s exactly what that is.

But I just look at my two younger children and think, but they can talk! They can walk and sing and dance! And yet… Everything is so hard with my daughter right now and her disabilities and Mr. C’s ADHD just keep setting each other off. I used to have 3 kids that could put the laundry away and could take turns unloading the dishwasher without supervision. But recently only Mr. L can do these things successfully. My other 2 offspring can’t put 1 pile of laundry away without one yelling at the other and the other one raging, punching, and screaming about the injustices in this world- specifically focused on them, and their poor self.

My daughter can’t go 30min without picking a fight, and getting dressed for the day has become a jungle of sensory processing overload. I need help. I needed help with Mr. L and after years and years of work, we are currently in a really good place. But Little Miss A has a long list of diagnosis and I don’t even know where to start. I’m afraid if I try to pick up any of the pieces they will just break into shards.

So for the time being, my husband and I are practicing patience, I am reading every book about her diagnosis that I can, she is on 2 wait lists, and my husband and I are just trying to implement the parenting style we shaped ourselves into when learning how to help Mr. L. Ps. It’s not going great, but this is probably just the beginning.