Parents ask all the time, why can my son do good all day and when he gets home he losses it? Seems like home should be the most comfortable and safe for him. It is! That’s why it happens. 
It’s actually a good skill, self-regulating until they return home, takes a lot of power! 
We all do that on some level, hold it together during work hours. 
I really like this Coke can analogy, i wish I had thought of it! Parts of this are hard to read but for many it is a true story.

I am blessed.
Autism looks different with therapy
Autism the way I see it at Hope Center 4 Autism
Please excuse my typos and poor writing skills but I hope you hear my heart.

-Susan Wood, Executive Director

Christmas is a time to pray for peace on earth, good will toward men.
Everyday autism parent prays for peace within their homes for themselves, their family, most of all for their child living with autism and their own personal spot on earth. 
Christmas is that magical day we look forward to all year, for the love, for family time, for gift giving, the decorations and lots and lots food. I love the holidays, and I am excited for every minute. 
Honestly, I don’t think families with autism look forward to the holidays much. These days can all be very hard for people with autism. Often the day is filled with so much “different”. Days filled with family they may not see that often and maybe don’t know that well. This means how the family members behaves may make a person with autism uncomfortable because it’s not the regular day to day people they know. 
The house, even if it’s their house will have different decorations and different people in it. The mood of the day is not normal. Voices may be louder and seem unregulated to them. The food maybe not be the normal food they normally eat and the smells this day is certainly not the normal. Even love can be hard. People want hugs and kisses which is understandable, it’s family. But for a person with autism this may feel very awkward and not comfortable. Please ask before hugging and kissing any child 
I got many reports of great victories this Christmas, pretend play and pictures of kids with Santa, parents potty training on Christmas day, one who tried new food. It maybe a stressful day for families but they celebrate great things as well. Please feel free to share your celebrations and victories in the comments.
I am so honored to share in bringing change with these families, to support and watch them grow. Thank you 
I am blessed.
Autism looks different with therapy,
Autism the way I see it at Hope Center 4 Autism
Please excuse my typos and poor writing skills but I hope you hear my heart.

-Susan Wood, Executive Director

Today was a dream come true. Today, we had a music event where our clients got to just be kids. All Afternoon long they were kids, just kids just like any other kid. Kids that had fun. Kids that everyone enjoyed being around, who chatted, who sang, a few danced.

Today we were all just like “normal”, Normal families, with normal kids, doing normal things, with other friends and families just like them. It was a beautiful day.

It is not a huge deal for most people’s kids to get to preform in the normal school Christmas event or PTA event. It is however NOT normal for most families with autism. I don’t know if any of the kids attending today have EVER preformed at a school event before. Seriously, I have clients who are not invited to be part of the holiday events at their school. They are left out. Somehow they forget to invite them. They forgot to let him practice.

But not today, everyone sang who wanted to sing. And then some sang again if they wanted. Today was an event that was created so that everyone was welcome, everyone was included, everyone had fun.

Thank you so much to each of you who found the time to be part of this amazing, one of a kind, best event ever. I know you were changed by what you witnessed today. 
Thank you for supporting the hair-brain ideas we create to expose our clients to experiences other children gets to take part in. 
How can they grow, and learn to take part in our world if we do not provide chances for them to experience our world. Thank you for being a Hero. Thank you for today.

I am blessed.
Autism looks different with therapy,
Autism the way I see it at Hope Center 4 Autism
Please excuse my typos and poor writing skills but I hope you hear my heart.

-Susan Wood, Executive Director

A child with autism is a child first and always. Every child should be shown respect and dignity. Children are gifts. For a child with autism, the autism is not their personality or who the are. They are not autism. They are a child. If you see autism you are wrong and need to filter your thinking and mindset. Autism is a cape that often hides the child. A covering that can block the language, learning, and other skills for many. A covering that can block what many see. But it is just a cape, a cape the moves and flows as a child changes, learns and grows with during therapy. A covering that can get smaller with love, time, teaching with ABA to expose the real person inside. If you see autism please look again, look harder for that cape. Most super heroes wear capes.

I am blessed.
Autism looks different with therapy,
Autism the way I see it at Hope Center 4 Autism
Please excuse my typos and poor writing skills but I hope you hear my heart.

-Susan Wood, Executive Director