In the Netflix series Atypical, one of the women in the autism support group says that parents of children living with autism spectrum disorder need to create moments of self-love. And I cannot agree more. This one statement fills me to the brim with relaxation and the urge to have more moments where I self-love myself.
Parents of children living with autism will agree with me that one of the most difficult things while living with such kids is finding moments to do things that you love. Oftentimes the autism spectrum takes over the whole house; the kid is demanding, rude, has terrible meltdowns and you as the parent have to be there for them. Single mothers whose husbands have run away from responsibility having realized that they have sired special needs children are the worst hit. For one, they feel betrayed by the errant men who have ran away from responsibility, have to put up with the societal stigma of raising a special needs child as well as struggle to be there for the kids while at the same time putting them school, giving them good shelter and better nutrition.
But when you lack moments where you self love yourself, you are highly likely to burn out. So how do find these moments.
- If you have some form of house help at your place, leave the child with the help and sneak away, even if it is for a few hours to do things that you love, say, attend a dance class, watch a movie on autism or even catch up with college buddies on skype.
- If you are married and your spouse is supportive, you need to come to an agreement and take care of the kid on the spectrum in intervals. During your off-duty moments, take time to relax and get a breather from the house.
- For school going children, once you take them to school, you will have some good number of hours during which you can catch up with friends, attend some cookery classes or even just catch some sleep.