Funniest Home Videos
Who doesn’t enjoy watching Funniest Home Videos? I wish I had a video of my son’s début as a ring bearer in his aunt’s wedding eight years ago. Elliott was about four when he darted ahead of the flower girl up to the alter, continuing around the other side to actually pick up the live microphone as I watched and held my breath. He dropped the microphone, and I managed to capture him and leave the service.
Recently, I sat in church and watched, smiling, as a cute boy, about two or three, carried out some “funny” antics at the front of the church during a special service. I told Elliott to watch the boy, telling him the boy reminded me of him at Aunt Linda’s wedding. Elliott laughed. But the longer I watched, the more I saw… My thoughts were, “It could be Autism.”
There was the cute and loveable kid winning the hearts of the lighthearted congregation. There was the tell-tale sweating parent getting up and down, and moving back and forth, trying to decide what to do about the out-of-control child. What kind of parent wouldn’t just get up and retrieve the disruptive child? I know what kind of parent. It’s the kind of parent who knows that approaching the child could result in a tantrum, a game of cat and mouse, or a complete disaster involving knocking over candles or valuables. This is a parent who is learning to choose his battles, sometimes before he realizes his child may have special needs.
When you raise kids who have autism, you have to discipline differently and choose your battles carefully. You’ve got to keep your sense of humor and brush off the stick-in-the-muds who will judge you. So, collect your badges of courage, for there will be many; preserve your stories, for they are priceless; and keep your sense of humor, for your precious child could be the next star on Funniest Home Videos! 
In Christ Alone, Jill D.
