Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Worrying about what others think

Target (Australia)Image via WikipediaThis afternoon, Diver and I broke quarantine to pick up a Lego at Target. As we left the store, I saw a child and her mom we'd known since preschool.

The Mom was pointing at us, giggling and whispering in her daughter's ear.

They knew us before Diver was diagnosed with Asperger's, when no one knew why he was having meltdowns. They knew us after the diagnosis, when he continued struggling because the school wouldn't provide services.

Does it matter? Should I care if they think my child is the weird one? Do I owe them some explanation?

They don't know us now. I don't owe them any explanation.

Parents of kids with autism are harshly judged. So how do you deal with the judgement of others?


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2 comments:

  1. Here's what I want to know: does having normies for kids infect you with a rudeness gene? POINTING AND WHISPERING? A grown woman?

    I'll tell you how I deal with the judgment of others: I give them the finger, and I smile. And when/if they try to say something, I interrupt them and tell them they don't know what they're talking about.

    I'm sure they wonder what on earth has made that woman such an angry, angry person . . .

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  2. It's been so long since I've observed others judging us that I was taken aback. I felt shame and then shame that I'd felt shame. I started muttering to myself to try to make some sense of it. Diver asked me what I was muttering about and I said, "I'm having unworthy thoughts of others....."

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