Читать книгу Plan B - Karra Barber-Wada - Страница 7

Today

When I arrived home tonight, I discovered my son slumped over, asleep at his desk. His glasses rested crookedly on his face. Nearby, I found his laptop open and still humming. Good grief, I thought. I glanced at the clock over his bed. It was 1 AM! How long had he been studying? I wondered. As I scanned his room, I noticed a bunch of balled-up pieces of paper in the trash can by his desk. I picked one up and flattened it out against the desktop. On it was a half-written essay about the comparison between good and evil. His SAT practice book was cracked open to a page on which he had highlighted test questions. What is an auxiliary? What is the perfect participle? What is a hypothesis? There was a collection of vocabulary flash cards scattered across his desk. He must have been reviewing the materials one last time before taking his SAT exam in the morning. He’s come a long way, I told myself.

And so have I.

My son Thomas has Asperger’s syndrome. As a toddler, he had limited language skills, obvious processing difficulties, and complex social challenges. Today, you would never know that Thomas understands the concept of a “Plan B” and uses it as a coping mechanism. At age 17, Thomas is a senior at a college preparatory high school. He is awaiting his SAT results and is looking forward to touring colleges and planning for his future. I’m proud of his personal achievements, just as I’m proud to have prepared both him and myself for the unanticipated situations that arise in life.

Having been a single parent for the past 13 years, I’ve been able to observe Thomas’s progress and reflect on my journey with him and the steps we’ve taken together. Most were wonderful, some were painful, but all have been survivable. Raising Thomas as a single parent has been one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences in my life. Despite the numerous challenges we’ve endured over the years, I am thankful to have learned a lot about myself. Most profoundly, I have learned about my resilience as an individual, my commitment as a parent, and my determination as a child advocate. Raising a child on the autism spectrum by myself has provided me with the opportunity to recognize when and how to implement a “Plan B.”

When circumstances change unexpectedly in everyday life, having the ability to develop and/or accept a different plan of action (a “Plan B”) is essential. Thomas and I know this firsthand.

In this book, I will share a few details with you about my life with Thomas, to give you a frame of reference and to illustrate the progress I’ve made as a single parent of a child with Asperger’s. However, my true goal is to share relevant information with you. I hope to inspire you, so that you too can devise your own “Plan B” if you’ve determined that your “Plan A” isn’t working out as you’d planned.