Elizabeth’s autism story started with an eating concern. Her young son was stuck on baby food jars, and when he saw solid food, he’d have a visual choking reaction to it. He literally gagged at the sight of food. Because Elizabeth only knew children with autism who were non-verbal or were on the severe side of the spectrum, she didn’t connect her son’s unusual reaction to food as a symptom of autism.
In her state, Elizabeth was able to find an early intervention specialist to help her with her eating concerns, but then the pandemic closed everything down. Like many parent advocates, she went looking for information on how to help her son, and by July of 2020, she’d found my toddler course online. Elizabeth is an active member in my course Facebook group, and even though we’ve never met before this interview, I feel like I know her because I’ve watched her journey over the last year.
As a minister, Elizabeth’s in a unique position to find ways to make church and community spaces more friendly to children with autism. She is excited to explore some of the ways to create more welcoming spaces for children with autism. The phrase, “Work like it all depends on you, and pray like it all depends on God”, is one that really resonated with me as we were talking in this interview.
It took Elizabeth’s son several months before she saw any progress in his language or eating abilities. She cautions parents to remember that each child’s journey with autism will look different. With consistent teaching and reinforcements, Elizabeth’s son began to make learning and language progress. While your journey may look different, Elizabeth encourages other parents to give themselves some grace as they grow on this new path.
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