Life sometimes changes focus for you and sometimes you have to decide it’s time to change the focus of your life on your own. In either case it’s inevitable that the focus does change, that the direction you took yesterday doesn’t jibe with the course you’ve chosen for the next week, month or year.
It’s the same with a blog of this type as well. When I started A father Speaks I did so with a very clear mission statement. I would speak for my Autistic son until he could do so for himself. It was my way of coping with some of the frustrations involved in having a nonverbal child.
Now he can speak for himself.
It’s still only in a limited fashion, but every day his vocabulary and mastery of language grows. He can ask for what he wants and express himself. He can tell me when he hurts or when he’s happy. He laughs, he cries and he asks questions. He’s still delayed, but is no longer stranded behind the glass wall of Autism. He’s moving into the world with the rest of us.
The original point of this blog is no longer valid. I’m not sure what I had originally thought I would do at this point. I didn’t think it would get here so quickly. His advancements have thrilled and amazed everyone involved, from teachers and coordinators to family and friends.
Don’t get me wrong, these are welcome advances. Every time he says something new I revel in his ability to learn. I’m so proud of him that I could burst. His brothers help, they show encouragement and his mother beams and cries from her post across the Atlantic ocean.
But I no longer need to speak for him. Lil’ B. is now capable of doing that on his own. with that comes the choice of whether to simply walk away from A Father Speaks or to adapt it to fit the new realities of our lives. I have chosen the latter.
Lil’ b. has never existed in a vacuum. There’s a whirlwind of life around him. His brothers, the dog, his mom who is serving overseas. Family drama, absolute insanity and terrible boredom. All of these things work on our daily routine.
This blog is shifting to encompass all of those things. In short, it’s turning into a Daddy blog in the true sense, with less than 100% of its focus on Lil’ B. and much more on the issues that a family deals with. It all belongs here now and I intend to give all of these things their due.
I hope the changes are OK with all of you. The new course is set and it will take time to make adjustments.
For now,
Peace. I’m out.
