Amanda lives in Parma and has three children.

How are you and your family dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic?

It has been a hard couple of months, I was teaching from home, which made it very difficult to also be a parent at the same time. I have been trying to give myself a little more grace than normal. My boys have been doing okay, we have seen a few behaviors that we thought had left behind but we are working through them. We are thankful that we all remained healthy.

What do you do to relax?

During the summer, I love to be outside with my family, going for walks, kayaking, going to the beach.

What else would you like to tell us about yourself?

I’m an intervention specialist.

What benefits has Connecting for Kids brought to you and your family?

It’s made me feel less alone and that it is truly okay to have all different emotions throughout the process of the evaluation and then the diagnosis. And that the battles won’t last forever and just keep faith that things will get better.

Which Connecting for Kids resources have you tapped into to help your child?

I am on the Connecting for Kids Facebook group and we have attended a Coffee and Chat as well as Music Therapy & More classes. My husband is a part of the dad’s Facebook group. He also enjoys being a part of the softball team with the dads as well.

Which have been your favorite Connecting for Kids resources?

Being able to chat with other families that are going through similar paths and being able to chat and not feel like you are being judged for your child’s behavior good, bad or ugly.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself the day we got the diagnosis I would say...

It’s just a diagnosis, it won’t change anything about our son. It will just help get him the resources he needs to be successful in years to come.

The hardest thing for me to learn was...

That this process is long and an emotional roller coaster but even after you have the diagnosis you have to learn what’s next and how to move on with life. Will life ever really be the same? I wanted to fix it. I didn’t want my son to struggle but in reality, was he really struggling? I was upset and thinking why my son. It took me a long time to realize that everything was going to be okay. That autism didn’t change our family in a negative way, yes things are harder at times but it makes us see things in a beautiful way we never did before. And when things are bad it’s only a season and it won’t last forever.

The worst thing about parenting a child who struggles is...

Is the way the world views him, even though they have no idea what is really going on. That the world is not kind to people who are different.

Do you have any recommended resources such as blogs, websites, or books that we can share?

Just communicate with the CFK group and don’t be afraid to ask for help.