Say What? A dose of humor for the day!

                  A little humor today because I need it and humor is therapy. Since Phillip was diagnosed I have heard some of the most interesting things come out of the mouths of people around me. I have a file in my brain I call the Say What file. It sits in there and gives me a giggle from time to time so today I share some of the Say what’s in no particular order but I will begin with my all time top Say What favorite.

                “No one knows the direct cause of autism, but they say two smart people get together and have a child and there you have it, autism.”

                “You’re not going to medicate him are you?”

                “I knew he had autism, I just never said anything.”

                “Have you tried discipline at all?”

                “He just needs to get out more; it might open him right up!”

                “One day he is just going to open his mouth and start talking and you’re going to wish he never started.”

                “You need to spank him. I will do it for you if you want.” (I like to think this person was joking)

                “Have you tried showing him how to use the toilet?”

                “Jenny McCarthy cured her son, you should read her books.”

                “40 hours of therapy a week is not too much for a two year old. It’s what is required with autism.”

                “Constipation is just a nasty side effect of autism; there isn’t much you can do about it.”

                “To be honest with you, boys are just slower than girls; everything takes them longer to learn.”

                “He is so cute! You can’t even tell he is autistic.”

                “You know, Einstein had autism to.”

                “I hate to reference the movie Rain Man, but in Rain man….” (Fill in the blank)

                “You’re mourning your child. It’s like you got a plane for Paris only you landed in Holland. Holland is nice but what happened to Paris?”

                Now that I have shared my Say What mental file, and hopefully someone got some giggles out of that, it’s important to realize just how different raising a child with autism is. We can ask for acceptance and awareness but at the same time we have to acknowledge it is not so easy to understand. People really do need a little help to at least know it’s not just a difference in our children; it is really a different way of life.