Autism Therapy: Dylan Time

I am blessed. I have two boys. One of which I blog about most of the time. Chase. He is our son who has High Functioning Autism. He is 13 years old (he will be 14 on February 16th, as he reminds us constantly…lol!). He is the reason we search and dig for information on autism therapy. And one of the reasons we started our non-profit (http://dockeryfoundation.org). However, as I said before, we have two boys. And as I was reminded last night, sometimes our neuro-typical children are as affected by autism as much as our kids with autism.

Our youngest son Dylan is having a tough tim

e in school. Academically, he’s doing so well. We couldn’t be more proud of him! Honor roll two times this year. No, it isn’t grades. He’s having problems socially. And it breaks my heart. So, we need more Dylan time.

Cub Scout Dylan Camping

He’s a great kid. And just like every kid in his age bracket (5th grade), he’s trying to find his way. I think we all remember how horrible our tweens years were. Ewww… If you don’t dress a certain way, act a certain way, and if you got good grades…wow! Well, three strikes in the school of popularity. You try and tell your child that even Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were the geeks in middle & high school. And look at them! But it doesn’t matter now. What matters to your child is now. Now, when they are on the playground at recess and no one wants to hang out with them. How do you tell your son that things will change? You give him Dylan time at home. Watch movies. Hang out. Listen. And hope things will change in middle school.

I know that Dylan isn’t the only child that has these problems. That’s why I wanted to blog about it. Our neuro-typical children sometimes feel lost in the shuffle of autism. They feel like no one understands them. At home, at school, anywhere. I got that during a conversation with Dylan last night. He feels like he’s the only one who has these problems. Even though down deep, he knows better. Kids at school tell him that they don’t want to be his friend because they think they can “catch” autism from him. More nurturing, more understanding, more Dylan time needed.

Dylan at Art for Autism 2008

Our little guy has had to grow up much faster than he’d like. He’s 11. Going on 15. He’s the big brother. Although he’d like to be the baby sometimes. He’d like to have his childhood back. He’d like to be Chase’s little brother and have a “normal” family (whatever that is…lol!). He didn’t sign up for this, but for the most part, he has taken autism in stride. I just wish I could explain to his peers that: no, you cannot catch autism from my boys…and Dylan is a pretty cool kid, so take a chance and get to know him!

When Dylan comes home from school today, it will be the weekend. So, he will have a chance to spend time with his friends. And mom will have some Dylan time with him. Count on that! I will definitely explore more of what is going on with him, maybe look at a sib shop in the next town…or see if our foundation can set one up locally? Talk about some productive autism therapy? I love my boy with all of my heart. His happiness means everything to me. Hope I don’t sound like an overindulgent parent. Maybe I am. I’m just a mom who wants the best for both of my boys. For all of our children.