Guest Post From: Kim Cummings at A Unicorn Among Horses

“Autism is like a rose; a mixture of beauty and thorns.”

This weekend there were a lot of thorns.

This weekend, we went camping at a place we go to several times a year. A place we love.

 My daughter struggled.  A lot.

There was aggression.

There was throwing.

There was yelling.

There was refusal and demand avoidance.

There was breaking of a toy in a moment of dysregulation.

There was banging pillows against walls to release frustration.

There was refusal to speak.

There was a lot of stimming. Verbal, auditory, and physical.

There was fixation and obsession.

There was major anxiety.

There was crying….by her and I.

There was major dysregulation and overstimulation.

We actually packed up and drove home at midnight last night.  No one was going to get sleep and since we were checking out in the morning anyway, we just left.

I am not sure if it was because she went to camp everyday last week and was mentally/emotionally done….

I am not sure if it was the heat wave….

I am not sure what or why….

I think it was a million little things rolled up into one.

But this is Autism.

This is our life.

This is our truth.

This is our story.

I normally only share the “beauty” with everyone but the “thorns”, well they exist too and I am not ashamed and so I am sharing.

I am sharing and spreading awareness.

Autism is hard.

There is no such thing as easy Autism.

It is all so hard. 

People see my daughter and they expect typical 10 year behavior.

But, if I am being honest, she is not a typical 10 year old.  

Not in many ways anyway.

She does not fit into the “box” of expectations the world puts on a child her age.

She does not process the world the way a child her age does.

She is different and that is ok….in fact it is more than ok because it is her uniqueness that makes her who she is…

And she is pretty amazing!

You can follow along with this family’s story on Facebook at A Unicorn Among Horses