Accountability and Growth: A Mom's Guide to Navigating Autism

Thriving Moms of Autistics

Hi Moms! Raising a child on the spectrum keeps us busy while adding bumps in our autism journey along the way.

It is natural to experience shifts in your mindset that leaves you feeling discouraged.

Our children don’t just check off the milestone boxes.

They keep us on our toes and sometimes revisit old behaviors and challenges. Other times, they keep moving forward.

I was just chatting with a friend, who explored this very thing. You know the one I am talking about. Regression!

It happens to all of us. Sometimes, our child regresses briefly. Other times, it sticks around a bit longer than we would like. But nonetheless, it happens.

So let’s take a deep breath in for 5 and hold and deeply out for 6.

Because in this episode, we dive into what to do when regression occurs and we feel like we aren’t doing enough or have dropped the ball when our child needs us most.

Find the full transcript for this episode at https://thrivingmomsofautistics.com/93

Please share the podcast with other moms to help them grow in their autism journey. You can also do this by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. I appreciate you!

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When Climbing the Mountains of Autism Impacts Mom’s Well-Being and Mindset

We all enjoy those times when things seem a bit more settled. It is different for all families.

Some might feel challenges are consistent with very short lived breaks, while others might experience brief periods of calm before the next challenge.

All of these are true, but they come in seasons.

Regardless of your experience, we have all felt that we could have handled some situations better than we did.

That leaves us with disappointment, sadness, and sometimes shame. All moms regardless of their situation experience this.

Autism moms likely experience more of this given the challenges they are faced with. We can be really hard on ourselves.

What Can Autism Moms Do When They Are Frustrated and Need Positive Change?

When this occurs, create awareness. You already know that something is amiss.

It is really helpful to identify what you are feeling. For example, you might be feeling angry. Narrow that down. Are you feeling frustrated? Annoyed? Put a name to the feeling.

When we feel frustrated because we might not have handled something as well as we could have, our go to is to blame.

When we blame others or blame ourselves, we get stuck and struggle to move forward. We only have control over ourselves for one.

Here are 4 steps for moving forward, so that you can grow as a mom in your autism journey:

1. Gain clarity though awareness
2. Be willing to stop blaming yourself & recognize it will only lead to being stuck
3. Remind yourself that you don’t know what you don’t know and that you aren’t perfect
4. Decide to learn from it and use that lesson in the future!

Always remember that you control your own thoughts and feelings. I know that is hard because we feel so out of control at times.

Exploring and owning your thoughts and feelings can be scary, but you can do this, and you’re not alone in that.

Also, don’t underestimate your power of learning lessons along the way so that you recognize your resilience and can be empowered as you grow your mindset and overcome obstacles along the way.

We are life-long learners!

I hope this helps. I look forward to our time together next week.