I could barely sleep last night worrying about the election results. Mike kept telling me not to worry but my gut was telling me something very different. Then around 6am I looked at my phone and my nightmare was true, Donald Trump was elected President. So many things went through my head, wondering how we are going to tell the boys, how we will assure them everything will be OK and how I will do it while keeping my emotions in check.
You may be wondering why our boys would be so affected by the election results, well our boys are not your average children. Growing up with Autism has given them a different perspective on life, just as my childhood gave me a different perspective on life. The boys have been watching and learning during this election, some has been good, some bad and some very bad. Early on in the election, the boys did not like Trump, they had a bad feeling about him. While we did try to keep a lot of the bad stuff away from the boys, they did hear some things from Trump videos. Each time, they would be very upset with his words. They would say he is mean, that he should respect woman and that he is a bully. My boys know what a bully looks like as they have had to deal with them, just like every woman survivor knows Trump is an abuser as we have dealt with them. Mike and I have raised the boys to respect woman and to treat them right, so we were proud that they knew Trump's behavior was wrong. What concerned us was that Trump supporters didn't.
When the boys got up this morning, we told them. Donald didn't believe us and K&K were upset. Karl cried, he said, "all my wishes and prayers were wasted." My heart broke as I asked him what he meant. He said "every 11:11 he wished Trump would lose and he prayed to God that he would lose." He asked to stay home, then Kyle asked to stay home also, we said they could. We turned on the cartoon Skylanders for a couple of episodes to let them relax for a bit. Then we asked them what their fears were. Kyle didn't really have any fears but did not like that Trump won. Karl worried about the wall, Trump being mean but he mostly feared what will happen to therapies for children. See Karl understands how much his Early Intervention helped him, he understands how important therapy is and he fears that since Trump mocks people with Special Needs that he will not want to help them like Hillary wanted to help. At age 10 Karl is so wise, he has the ability to see the bigger picture even when he doesn't understand it all, he takes after me like that. This ability can be a blessing and a curse, it gives us the ability to see both sides of situations but it also shows us how things can go horribly wrong, luckily it also gives us time to prepare. Knowing that Karl was feeling the same feelings I had been feeling, I explained to the boys that everything would be OK. I explained that I had the same fears as Karl, that the support for children with Autism would be decreased and that Autism acceptance may get harder but not to worry. I explained to them that our shop opened just in time to help families, I reminded them that all the toys we sell are Sensory, Therapy and Social based and that we can teach parents how to help their children like we helped our boys. We also talked about how as a family we have overcome many obstacles and that we will continue to do so.
Then we turned our talk to respecting Mr. Trump. We talked about the fact that while we like President Obama, there are many that did not approve of him and bashed him every chance they could. Mike and I explained to the boys that there will not be any Trump bashing in our house and that we will respect Mr. Trump as our President even if we do not agree with him or his actions. We explained that no matter what we would protect the boys, that I may have to become a more vocal Autism Activist and that together we can do anything. We talked about how we can do our part to make America great again by being good to others.
Now for my message to America - No President can make America great again!!!!!! Only Americans can make America great!!!!
Ways to do that are:
Stop bashing others!
Stop putting other down!
Stop judging!
Stop assuming!
Let people have their own opinion!
Be supportive!
Be Caring!
Be understanding!
Accept Difference!
Shop Local!
Look for the positive!
Get off your computer more!
Be friends in real life, not just online!
Stop complaining and start living!
I could go on and on but I think you get the idea;)
Embrace Autism
