Blog for Autism Awareness. Written back in April 2017

As many of know April Is Autism Awareness month. Yet many still think Autism still means less instead of different. Many still think these poor children or adults will never live up to their true potential. The truth is some already have made great strides to advance anything from writing to science. We forget that these special people are more than capable of handling more than we give them credit for.
Now I know you are probably reading this and asking why is this important? Or how does this pertain to your writing? For that answer I have a confession. My daughter is autistic and she is my editor. Every word I write she proof reads, changes sentences and paragraphs. There is a story we started working on together, that we have yet to finish, that one day will be ready to be published.
Are our days easy? Not by a long shot. She has meltdowns, get easily frustrated and upset. Social events, even with family, are tense and can go from fun and leisurely to chaos at the drop of a dime. But she tries and she writes. She inspires me to put myself out there with my own writing.
My books and stories my never be globally recognized but I put them out there to motivate her. I overcame my own disabilities relearning to not only walk but speak again... just to show her to push forward. I as a mom try my hardest to motivate her to be the best that she can be. To be as close to "normal" as she feels comfortable with. She will never be what society says is "normal," and why would I want that for her?
Right now she is free to think, to get lost in her own mind and create truly beautiful stories. She is free to be herself and make people that come into her life come to her way of thinking. It won't always work out that way but those who really want to know her have the opportunity to think differently.
My stories, my writing, everything that I do reflects back on her. She is my reason for being here today. My husband is my muse that is very true . He has had to push me to get back some of what I had lost. But is my daughter that is the reason i made the choice to be pushed. Yes my husband inspired me to publish my first book, but I would never have had any success with it if my daughter hadn't edited it for me.
So yes, those with Autism are different... but they are beautiful. They are the ones that we should look to be inspired. As a writer I know that I do. As a mother I sometimes forget to look below the surface but when she points something out to me that forces me to think... that challenges me look outside the box... I quickly remember.
And yes, she did edit this for me. And I wouldn't have it any other way.