"For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshipped the Lord there."
-1 Samuel 1:27-28 (KJV)-
Haven’t you heard the term “Ausome” in your life? Or maybe I just misspelled?
But you saw it right!
Ausome is the term used in our groups nowadays wherein we are the parents of a child with Autism Spectrum. Since we call them an Ausome kid (others l.o. [little ones]) then we are Ausome Mom/Dad, and I’m proud to be one.
Having a son with Autism Spectrum Disorder is not easy. It should come with a lot of patience, love, and care. And as an Ausome Mom, I need to prepare myself physically, emotionally, mentally and most of all...Financially! You heard it right, being an Ausome Mom means you must be financially stable because of the therapies that your child will undergo.
Let me take you back 6 years ago when I delivered my son through Cesarean section. It was a blissful moment since finally, after three years, my eldest will be having a playmate and our house will be filled again with cries and laughter. Fast forward to three years while we were on our routine check-up from pediatrician, she recommends us to look for a developmental pediatrician. Because he’s just a kid, we did not mind his unusual repetitive behavior. The first thing I asked our developmental pediatrician is what causes him to have that? Is it my fault? But until now, there’s no specific main cause of autism. I was a working mom at that time so I was not able to focus during weekdays which should be done for a child with ASD.
Thankfully, the level of his ASD is mild wherein he may have advanced communication skills and academic abilities, but have very delayed social skills, severe sensory issues, and/or extreme difficulties with organizational skills. Although it is mild, I still have to make time in developing the social skills which I failed to do at that time. I used to work in Alabang on the morning shift and since we have no baby sitter, my brother used to take care of him for weekdays in their place and I will fetch him on weekends. That was our routine for almost two years.
The year 2018 when our company decided to lay off due to the economic crisis and fortunately, I’m one of them. It’s an answered prayer for me since I don’t want to be on night shift if in case I’m not selected. The final payment is good that’s why it was an answered prayer for me since I really need it for my family. That’s when I started to focus on my son’s needs, particularly the therapy for his ASD.
I signed him up in Occupational and Speech therapy twice a week and also tried to enroll him at regular school as Nursery. Good thing he can adapt academically since most of the children on the autism spectrum may have trouble understanding or communicating their needs to teachers and fellow students. They can have difficulty understanding some classroom directions and instruction, along with subtle vocal and facial cues of teachers. Since I’m a full-time housewife, I can now focus on my son’s education as well which I failed to do in my eldest during his kinder days. Tiring in the sense that I have to bring him to school, then to the therapy session on a daily basis but it’s all worth it. Seeing the progress of his behavior and speech, I can say being laid off is a blessing.
Truly, being an Ausome Mom is challenging yet fulfilling, a blessing that is irreplaceable. They may misunderstand me for the way I raise my child and I’m not perfect as well, the reason why I joined into different groups to gain more knowledge in terms of motherhood and thankfully I have been accepted in this awesome group, the FH Moms who give me the opportunity to learn the Virtual Assistance for free that may help me to support my son financially. Who knows, I may be like mommy MK and mommy Tin who are willing to help other mommies as well.
To God be all the glory...
Shiella D. De Leon
Ausome Mom
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