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Feb 17, 2020
5:45:44pm
rebelCoug All-American
The ups and downs of having a kid on the Autism spectrum. As many of you know my
son is on the Autism spectrum and is very musical. From the time he was 3 years old his musical abilities start showing up. As we have watched him grow in his music we've celebrated his achievements and abilities along the way and there have been many great moments in his life. He is a sophomore in college now and he still surprises us with the things he can do musically. These are things I'm thankful for and I'm grateful he's had the triumphs in his life.

On the flip side of this is the heartaches that come with his autism. Not knowing how to act in social situations. Never able to have a best friend to hang out with or play sports or video games with growing up. As he has grown there are the disappointments that come when he's had a crush on a girl that doesn't feel the same way towards him. His heart just breaks when he finds out the girl doesn't think of him in the same way and my heart breaks as well.

When he was five or six years old my wife did something that made it so that he and I bonded. She bought us the first Lego star wars gave ever made when it first came out. He and I played that game together a lot along with many other activities we have done together. Since then He and I have become real close which is a great thing but as a parent you still wish he could make friends his own age.

I've prayed most of my life that he might find a friend his age but I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I was hoping the kids at church might include him in some of the things they did together that weren't church activities but they never did. Trust me, I don't blame them for that, I know you can't force friendship.

I'm starting to wonder now if he'll ever find a friend or even get married. I would hate for him to be without a friend (outside the family) or a wife. However, it just may be his lot in life. The older he gets the more pronounced his situation becomes.

The highs of the music career he's had already, as great as they are, still can't hide the fact that being on the autism spectrum has it's down sides that are very difficult to overcome.

Sorry for sharing my feelings on this but it's difficult to watch him struggle with these things in his life.

I know everybody struggles with something and I'm not saying my struggles are harder than what others go through. This is just what parents of kids the autism spectrum go through watching their kids grow up.

I'll stop now. Just had to get that off my chest.
rebelCoug
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rebelCoug
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Nov 10, 2004
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2/17/20 5:52pm

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