Autism Awareness
Pablo is about education. And while helping David learn, Pablo, is hopefully educating many more and creating an early understanding about what life may be like for some children. Children who may be in your kids class, or in the playground, or just like in Pablo's first appearance, at a wedding.
I can honestly say that I've lost count of the number of times I have changed my son Brody's nappy in our car boot. Trying to shield him from passers-by, some of whom almost tut at the fact that I'm doing it. Like I want to be doing it.
Although, I wish so much Brody that we could have walked that path to your local school together, I know that your new school will take great care of you. I know that you'll meet lots of other boys and girls just as special as you are. And I know that you will continue to develop and amaze us - taking everything at your own pace, surrounded by love from people who care.
Being a parent - and being a parent to a child with disabilities more so - scares me at times. I've always been a worrier, but these days I worry so much more. Because I love both of my children so much. And when it comes to my son Brody, I feel a never ending loss of control over so many things.
Unfortunately, parents also have to battle and beg local services for help and equipment and, although personally to date, we've been very fortunate with our local services, I am well aware from friends and social media how the services you receive are somewhat a postcode lottery.
That's not easy to come to terms with. I love Brody with all my heart and I know that everything happens for a reason. But sometimes I wish I knew what that reason was. No diagnosis means no prognosis after all. Still, having others to talk to who can relate really helps. It can make you feel less isolated in a world of unknowns.
It's a known fact that most parents love to brag about their kids and since the inception of social media, that task has proved easier to do and reaches a far wider audience than a text or heaven forbid, a face to face conversation.
There are so many people, like Naoki and myself, who are struggling to find a way to live with enormous challenges. Together, I hoped we might be able to help and guide people in today's world, because disability, disease, accident and bereavement are life-changing events that we all have to face.
My daughter, Ava, was just shy of three years old when she received her autism diagnosis. I remember sitting in our developmental pediatrician's office and hearing the word "autism" leave her mouth with a sense of unforgettable finality. As a mother, I was at a loss. But three years later, that early diagnosis has changed everything for the better.
If you're walking a similar parenting path to mine, you've quite possibly heard the saying: "you meet one person with autism; you meet one person with autism". Sometimes I think that only those who really know someone with autism get how little others understand this.