A broken, green crayon Raising a child with autism is hard. It's the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. As with everything, there are good days and there are bad days. When I am having a particularly hard day, I remember how a broken green crayon changed our lives and my outlook on life, forever. June 1st, 2011 was the day my life changed forever. I gave birth to Rylan, a 7lb 2oz bundle of absolute perfection. From his hairy back to his perfect little lips, he was everything I had ever wanted. It wasn't long before we started noticing little things that we thought were odd. He cried, a lot. Having your baby scream for hours at a time is gut-wrenching. I had no idea what was wrong, I tried everything. It was a rough time, that I don't …show more content…
There were so many therapies, appointments, and tests. All of which seemed like they were doing nothing. No progress was being made. It was crushing to see your son struggling so hard with the simplest tasks. I remember the first time he held a crayon, I cried. Little did I know, that green crayon would take us down a road I would have never imagined. At around 18 months old, he found a green crayon his sister had left out and proceeded to write the alphabet on the wall. We were stunned! Where did he learn that? At that moment I realized, just because he can't talk doesn't mean he can't understand. I made it my goal to see the world through Rylan's eyes. Once I allowed myself to see into his world, my outlook on life changed. Before Rylan was three, he had made his debut on the local news station, for being able to spell such complex words, adding, subtracting and even doing multiplication. We were all amazed. Every day there was something new to be discovered. I focused all my energy on him. Teaching him anything he was inclined to learn. It gave me purpose. And now, at six, he is talking, fluent in three languages, doing 9th-grade math, and has a more extensive vocabulary than most adults I