Autism Awareness Month: Reaching out to help anyone who needs help processing their own autism journey.

0:00Hello and welcome to the Art of Gratitude podcast with me, Margaret Alvarez, your creativity coach, artist, art teacher, and mental health advocate, teaching you how to use creativity for your own mental well-being. I am so happy to be back. I decided that I was going to create this episode because we are celebrating Autism Awareness Month. And for those of you who know me, you would know that I am an autism mom. My son Knox was diagnosed with autism just shy of his third birthday, and he is now

0:3811 years old and thriving. Thankfully, we have been able to provide for him interventions and therapies and things that, you know, we needed to to kind of help him to function in a world that doesn't always understand children like ours. And so I thought it was important to recognize not only, you know, how important it is to make yourself aware of autism and all of the things that are related to autism, but also,

1:11you know, just to talk a little bit about how I use what I do, my creativity to channel some of the stress that I feel sometimes because, you know, as a parent of a child with special needs, there are a lot of different layers to it. You know, at the beginning, it's very scary and you feel, you know, you have to grieve a little bit what you thought was going to be a childhood, you know, for your child that would

1:44be normal and just, you know, like what everybody else goes through. And when you are, you know, when you receive a diagnosis for your child, all of those things start to, you know, they start to feel out of reach. Like, is my child going to have a normal childhood? Is he, you know, at the time when my son was diagnosed, I thought, is he going to ever speak? Is he going to be nonverbal or verbal? Or, you know, is there going to be, you know, how many different therapists will we have

2:14to see? And, you know, what does that look like? And so there's this thing that people don't talk about, which is that when your child is diagnosed, you have no idea what the future holds. You just have to kind of go through the motions and experience, you know, whatever is going to happen and a lot of the times you feel almost alone. I was fortunate to have my husband by my side the entire time and we worked through it

2:47together. But even with a significant other, I still felt alone because I felt like not everybody understood what I was going through. And my husband was going through his own, you know, emotions about it. And, you know, to this day, we work together to try to understand, you know, and try to learn as much as we can about what our son is feeling and how he might be thinking about things. And it is a, you know, you're constantly educating yourself.

3:17And so I certainly use what I teach people. And this is, you know, huge in my life. I use a journal and I use that in a way that helps me to process feelings and emotions because it is a roller coaster. There are times where things are just feeling pretty normal and we're in routine. And then there's times where you get a phone call from a teacher that's, you know, and your child has lashed out or, you know, you get, you know, you have to make appointments and

3:52or see therapists and get evaluations. And you have, you know, in the public school system, you have your, you know, arts and your IEPs and your, you know, just there's so many things that you have to navigate. I will say this, I found a community in Houston, where I'm from, called the Steel Magnolia Moms. Shout out to them. Um, this community, um, is on Facebook and, you know, as a mom, I can go to this community

4:26and ask questions about how people handle, you know, certain scenarios with, and these are all moms that have kids with special needs and different levels of needs. Um, and so it's just so wonderful. So if I could give any advice to a mom who maybe has a newly diagnosed child, um, reach out and see what is in your community, what can you, you know, who can you join? Who can you ask questions to? I know that, um, a friend of mine shared this group with me and I've been a part of that

4:58group since my son was diagnosed. And I literally go to them when I have a question about something. Recently, I went to this group and I asked, like, what do you do when you want to teach your child about, you know, sex education? And, you know, my kid's 11, he's getting bigger. Like, who, what did you do? Is there a book that you might've read to them? To help them to understand that. So that's just an example. Um, you know, I've asked about how, you know, vitamins I've asked about, you know, just simple mom things that, you know, only this community could provide me with the answers that I was

5:32looking for. And so I just say, you know, how do you take care of yourself? What are you doing? If you are a, you know, special needs mom, what is it that you're doing to help yourself? How are you taking care of yourself? You know, I have a routine that I have every morning. And if I didn't do that routine, then I would not feel like, you know, I would not have the energy to, to fight through my day and do what I need to do as a, as somebody who, you know, has a full-time job and has responsibilities.

6:03You know, I need that routine. Do you, you know, do you have a routine? Do you have a community? Do you, you know, have an outlet? Do you journal? I feel like even if you're not an artist, you could write and that would help a great deal. I am, you know, the benefits of journaling, um, are just, it's just something that I cannot live without. And I think that people, um, you know, forget about themselves a little bit.

6:34And it's really easy to do that just as a parent of a, a neurotypical child, you know, it's really easy to forget about yourself. Um, but, but this is specifically for moms out there who moms and dads who might be feeling overwhelmed. And, you know, I am so open to people reaching out to me. I would love to be able to offer my services for free. So if you've gotten this far in this episode and you feel like you need an outlet, I just

7:04want to reach out and say, please contact me. I am, um, my artsy coach, um, on Instagram, my artsy coach on Facebook, my artsy coach. Um, you know, my website is, uh, my artsy coach.com. You can find me, um, in all of those different places. Just please reach out. I would love to offer my services. If you're feeling like you need an outlet, um, I know that it can be difficult and there's

7:35times where, you know, you feel like you've got it together and then something else happens or, you know, you have an art, um, you know, and, and you feel like you need your, you're feeling a little overwhelmed, you know, I want to be able to help people with that. And so, you know, um, I've been in it for a little bit and I can say this, um, you know, my son is wonderful and he is loving and he's, he has his moments where he, he sees what I'm doing and he thanks me or says he loves me out of nowhere.

8:06And so, you know, it's, it's a beautiful thing when you can feel that connection and when you, when you feel seen, um, by the people around you and, you know, my son might not understand all the things that I do to help him. Um, and you know, that's okay. Um, but I do want, I want my community and people who listen to me to know that I see you and I want to help you and, um, you know, it is important that we take care of ourselves

8:37so that we can take care of the people that we love. Um, and so this episode is specifically for my community of people. And if you know somebody and you're listening to this, um, that needs, um, an outlet and would benefit from my services, please pass this podcast along to them, um, and let them know that I am here for them. Um, and so I just want to thank you for listening. Um, it is, it's been a while, but I plan on making more, um, you know, life gets a little

9:09busy and things get a little crazy, but I am here. I haven't gone anywhere and I am ready to start back up and I hope that you will join me. Have a good day. See you soon.