Other Parents

As an autism mom, I'm thankful for the other autism parents out there that I have learned from and can learn from me.  We automatically are a part of a community of people from all backgrounds that have something in common.  I have found that when I find other parents out there with children with autism, I automatically have another friend.  I used to try and participate in the typical playgroups at the park where the mom's would all sit and visit while their kids would play with each other...but I would just have to follow my kid around and feel stressed.  It was so nice to meet some ladies who would have playgroup at my house so we knew where they were.  It was nice when our kids were doing weird things and no one was staring at them.  It was nice not to have other kids try to play with them and to feel sad that my kids didn't get it.  I liked that I didn't have to apologize to other kids for my kids' social akwardness.  Since we were in a confined area, we were able to actually sit and visit with the other moms like those lucky moms at the park playgroup. 
I also love that we can talk and cry and laugh together and say things that other people wouldn't understand or would think we were horrible or make comments about how amazing we are when we were given this and had no other choice.  It's nice to hear that other people's struggles are similar to our own and that we aren't alone out there. 
I follow blog.autismspeaks.org, and I loved this post because I could relate so well:
http://blog.autismspeaks.org/2011/11/21/thank-you-for-judging-me/
I also attended an IMFAR Conference, and one of the speakers spoke on this very topic.  Here are my notes: 
http://autismconfnotes.blogspot.com/2011/05/uh-huh-i-remember-those-days-how.html