Is that too much to ask? We didn’t think so.
In 2004 – at the age of 5 – when our third son (of what ended up being 6 children) was diagnosed as PDD-NOS (autism spectrum disorder), we KNEW our lives was dramatically changing forever.
As soon as we heard the diagnosis, we immersed ourselves in the task of trying to FIX our sweet little boy. There was NO WAY this, or any diagnosis would define his life. I am a fighter by nature, and I would not rest until I exhausted every resource I had to help him. I read every book I could find, found every site with even a bit of useful information and poured over thousands of pages of research.
But the more research we did, the more discouraged we became and the more we suffered. There was a lot of confusion. There were a lot of questions. There were a lot of very good answers and very bad answers from the same people. To some, every child was affected differently. To some, every child was the same. The one common theme was that there were WAY TO MANY parents suffering… just like us.
When just a few years later, our fourth son was given the same diagnoses – yep, we‘ve got 2! – our dreams for both of them seemed to start to die. We were distraught, like any parent who have no idea what to do, or if anything could be done to fix our kids.
However, by now, we was fairly sure of a few things. First, there was no “FIX” for our sons – they didn’t and will never need fixing. Second, we should stop TRYING to fix our sons. What we needed to know was HOW TO FIX OURSELVES. And finally, there were NO RESOURCES available that could tell us “how to fix ourselves.”
We Needed Something BAD! Our Sons Affected Needed Us To Be At Our Very Best.
What my sons needed was for us to learn how to be at our very best for them. We needed to know how to better manage ourselves so that we were able to be in an optimum state when they needed us. They deserved and needed us to handle ourselves in a way that served them best. We needed tools, techniques and training that would allow us to THRIVE in our situation – no matter WHAT happened moving forward.
“Thrive in CHAOS” is the answer to the question, “How can I THRIVE as I serve those that need and deserve my very best?”
We Don’t Have A Lot of Time to Read.
Not only does the book have many, many funny stories about the boys and our family (as accepting and enjoying the zaniness HAD to be my first step towards THRIVING) but the book also has compiled thoughts on a wide range of subjects; from attitude to humility to marriage to philosophy and a whole lot of other things in between. Inside these short commentaries you will laugh… and learn how to train yourself to be more patient, less prone to distress in escalated situations and even THRIVE as you serve those who deserve your best. You will learn easy to apply tricks, techniques and principles that will result in a happy, more fulfilling experience for you and those you serve. You will KNOW that you have the personal power available to find the GIFTS and the JOY in your service. And if you can find the GIFTS and the JOY in the seemingly most distressing things in life, how free are you?
This book is not about those affected by autism. This book is about you. You are the person that cares for those affected. You are the real hero’s. You are the ones that spend your time and much effort, show your love and are charged with helping those that require a special kind of caring.
Get the book here: Thrive In Chaos – The Book