A LOT of Autism in the Park

I like to consider myself a moderately funny person, that's fair- right? And call it whatever you want, but more often than not, I consider Autism to be quite the knee-slapper.

A few weeks ago, Jason and I took the kids to a picnic put together in order to provide resources for families of autistic kiddos. Not only was it like Christmas morning for Avery because there were bounce houses with no time limits- but it was a time for every parent at that park to reflect on their own disaster children. If any random park-goers wandered into our autism picnic, I can only imagine what they were thinking. Let me set the scene for you:

In front of you is a sidewalk lined with booths where there are overly-happy people giving out the coolest sensory toys. To your right is the bounce house- where the employee that obviously drew the short stick for the day was assigned to keeping a bunch of autistic kids alive... (Side note: I saw that lady when we first arrived and then again two hours later as we were leaving.. and I don't think her anxiety levels will ever be the same again.) Outside of the bounce house are clusters of parents, making small talk about the things that make their kid tick- or in other words, just secretly deciding who's kid has the... less desirable quirks.

To your left is the main pavilion- where the food is being organized and prepared for lunch.

I forgot to mention that this picnic is a pot luck style.. this is important. The importance? The term "pot luck" when associated with a bunch of autistic kids basically means, "Bring whatever the heck your weird kid will eat, because if we cater, it'll be a gigantic waste of money when not one kid here likes ham and cheese on rye and you know it!"

This obviously made for the BEST PICNIC EVER. When else do you get to have an uncrustable, an airhead, only red gummies, dino nuggets, and the marshmallows from Lucky Charms all on the same plate? For real- none of the food made sense together, sitting there under one pavilion.. but at the same time.. each individual food made SO much sense.

Its after lunch, everyone is fed, and its time to visit the booths. This is the part where the siblings make out SO good. At every booth there is a wheel of some sort- guaranteed. Each color yielding an exciting fidget or piece of autism-swag. Oliver left with slap bracelets going up each arm, endless spinners, putty containers, fidgets galore, and at least six oversized t-shirts. Avery didn't care about any of it- she was in the bounce house.

This all circles back to autism being funny, I promise. When your kid is doing weird stuff around other kids who are keeping it together, its a little harder to find the silver lining. HOWEVER, when your kid is doing weird stuff around other kids that are also doing even weirder stuff? Its a free for all- and I say bring it on! If whispering to your husband that you are SO thankful that your kid obsesses over Star Wars facts over flapping straws in your eyeballs all day makes you feel better?- judge away! Because jokes you... my kid doesnt speak enough english to bore me with Star Wars quotes all day... what, not funny? Change your perspective. All I'm focused on is the fact that the kid next to me is in full on meltdown mode because he just realized that he's wearing a shirt... so yeah, i'll take an infatuation with straws! At the same time, I'm kind of digging the loud clapping that comes in sets of five from the boy across the park- however something tells me his mom doesn't think its as funny as I do..

As we are packing up to leave the picnic, I feel the need to turn around to my fellow tributes (parents) and hold three fingers up high in the air, in solidarity- wishing that the "Odds may be ever in their favor." Because they did it, they conquered another day- let alone an outing! What what?! I can't even remember the last time Avery saw a store. (Mainly because the last time she did, she bomboozled me into letting her out of the cart- where she stood by the mannequins as still as her little body could for fifteen minutes.) I don't have time for that.

Im pretty sure that Avery would trade me in for a nicer looking mommy with better candy (Or her Grammy) at any given moment, and that's fine- I like a challenge. But i'll pretty much never stop finding the funny parts about her autism, because its our little family's defense mechanism, and it works for us! You can either join in on the fun (in a respectful way, of course,) or judge me when its time to leave the park and Avery is clinging to every stationary object she can find. Either way, the love that kid gives is SO special- and somehow I am lucky enough to be on her short list of recipients.