Shared by The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom in Autism Stories
“You can love your autistic child fiercely and still admit that this journey is hard.”The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom
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This story, including all photos, was submitted by its author through Share Your Autism Story with full permission to share it.
Some stories start with one big moment. This one starts with a mom who felt alone and chose to do something about it. She runs a Facebook page called The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom. She shared her story on our Share Your Autism Story page so that other parents could read it and feel a bit less alone.
Every story in Autism Stories is published in the author’s own words. We correct spelling and grammar only, and we never rewrite, shorten, or rearrange a story. To honor how she chose to be identified, we left out her name and her children’s names. Around her story, the iCare Therapy team has added some context on the three things she talks about most: feeling alone after a diagnosis, the toll on a parent’s mental health, and why she asks the world for acceptance, not just awareness.
Hi! I’m a mom to two amazing autistic children. ❤️
My daughter is 5 years old and has Level 2, non-speaking autism, while my son is 4 years old and has Level 3 autism.
I started this page to advocate for my children, advocate for autism, and advocate for autism parents.
Across the world, so many autism families experience isolation, loneliness, exhaustion, and struggles that others may never see. Being an autism parent can be incredibly beautiful, but it can also be incredibly hard. Sometimes we need someone to remind us that we aren’t alone.
That’s why I created this page.
I want to be a voice for autistic individuals and for the moms and dads who are navigating this journey alongside their children. I want to create a place where autism parents can feel seen, heard, understood, and supported.
On my page, I do not sugarcoat autism.
I share the honest truth. I show the beautiful moments, the hard moments, the victories, the heartbreak, the laughter, the exhaustion, and everything in between.
Because autism isn’t always rainbows and butterflies, and it’s okay to acknowledge that.
I want autism parents to know that your feelings are valid. It’s okay to struggle. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. It’s okay to grieve the challenges your child faces while still loving your child more than anything in this world.
You can love your autistic child fiercely and still admit that this journey is hard.
My hope is that this page reminds every autism parent who feels alone:
You are not alone. Your feelings matter. Your story matters. And you don’t have to pretend that this journey is easy. ❤️
I started a Facebook page called “The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom” in hopes of being able to advocate for autism, my two children, and for autism parents around the world.
Before I started my page, I struggled with feeling alone and isolated as an autism parent. I felt like no one truly understood what our family was going through. I struggled with my own mental health, and receiving those autism diagnoses for my children was a hard reality check. It felt like all my dreams were crushed, the dreams I not only had for myself but the dreams I had for my children. My daughter (5 yrs old, level 2 non-verbal autism) and my son (4 yrs old, level 3 severe autism).
I wanted my Facebook page to be a light for other autism parents struggling with that diagnosis and the mental toll it can have.
My main goals in life are to be able to advocate for my children and others like them, and to be someone who shares the good, the bad, and overall the truth about autism so that other autism parents understand they are not alone.
I want the world to not only have autism awareness, but I want the world to have acceptance, understanding, and kindness.
One line in her story will ring true for a lot of parents. She felt like no one knew what her family was going through. A diagnosis can bring answers, but it can also leave a parent feeling isolated. Old friends may not know what to say, plans can be harder to make, and days fill up with calls, forms, and new routines, which leaves less time for the people who used to fill your week.
Research supports what she felt. A 2022 study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that parents of children with autism reported more loneliness than parents of children without autism. The same study found that loneliness helped explain the link between stress and symptoms of depression. In other words, facing hard days alone can make those days feel heavier.
That is part of why her page matters. When a parent reads a post at the end of a long day and sees their own life in it, they feel less alone. If you are in that place right now, our guides on the first 30 days after an autism diagnosis and autism parent support in North Carolina can help you find your next step and connect with other parents.
“It’s okay to grieve the challenges your child faces while still loving your child more than anything in this world.”The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom
She is open about her own mental health, and that takes courage. Many parents feel they have to hold it all together and keep their own needs out of sight. She says the opposite: your feelings are valid, it is okay to struggle, and it is okay to grieve.
Research shows this stress is real. A review of many studies in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders found that parents of children with autism report much more parenting stress than parents of children without autism. That stress is not a sign that a parent loves their child less. It reflects how much they handle each day.
A parent can grieve the future they pictured and still love the child in front of them. Saying that out loud does not make someone a bad parent. It makes them honest, and that honesty often helps another parent feel less alone. If stress starts to feel like too much, our piece on caregiver burnout and autism covers signs to watch for and ways to get help. If you ever feel like you are in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at any hour.
Her last wish is the one that reaches the most people. She wants the world to move past awareness and toward acceptance, understanding, and kindness.
Awareness has done a lot of good. Most people now know what autism is, and the CDC reports that about 1 in 31 children aged 8 in the United States has been identified with autism. But knowing about autism is not the same as making room for a person with autism. In 2021, the Autism Society of America began calling April Autism Acceptance Month. As the Institute for Human Rights at the University of Alabama at Birmingham noted at the time, the group’s president said a lack of acceptance is often one of the biggest barriers families face in building a strong support system.
Acceptance looks like small things done each day. It is the stranger who waits with patience when a child has a hard moment in a store. It is the friend who still sends the invite and asks what would make the visit work. It is the aunt or grandpa who learns how a non-speaking child shows joy. We wrote more on this shift in autism acceptance vs. awareness, and her story is a clear reminder of why it matters.
She shared her story so that one more parent would know they are not the only one. That is a simple ask, and it is one we can all meet. We can read, we can listen, and we can make the hard days a bit less lonely for the families around us.
You can follow her on Facebook at The Diary Of A Tired Autism Mom, where she shares the good days, the hard days, and everything in between.
This story was shared with permission through Share Your Autism Story and is published in the author’s own words, with spelling and grammar corrections only. It reflects one family’s experience and is not medical advice.
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Autism Stories is a place where people with autism, and the people who love and support them, tell their own stories in their own words. You do not need to be a writer, and your story does not have to be polished or grand. It just has to be yours. You can write it, record it, or film it, and you choose the name we use.
If her words sounded familiar, think about who might feel that way when they read yours. Share your autism story, or read more Autism Stories from parents and families like hers.
