Being Jessica's Mom: Growing up on the Autistic Spectrum

I saw this word and thought how appropriate, especially since I just finished looking at Autism in Our Nest blog and there were all kinds of Autism Awareness snippets with symptoms of Autistic Spectrum Disorder.  My work life deals with symptoms everyday.  I assess symptoms, I teach strategies to reduce symptoms, I diagnose mental health disorders using lists of symptoms.  Every one of us has a symptom on any given day if you think about it.  Do a quick body scan right now.  Do you have a body ache, are your tired, do your feet hurt?  Kids on the Spectrum can often have symptoms of other mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression and ADHD.  But they can also have what we call “somatic” symptoms.  These are symptoms that have no real physical basis.  They are often complaints of headache, stomach ache, body sensations, etc.but there is actually nothing physically wrong with them, in other words, they don’t have a cold or flu or some other ailment.  Jessica has had many somatic complaints over the years which have usually been connected to her anxiety or when she feels overwhelmed.  The tricky part as a parent is to walk the fine line between providing empathy for their discomfort, believing that they truly are experiencing this and not making too big of a deal about the actual symptom, but rather see what is behind the symptom and deal with that.  Sometimes I think I go too far to the side of not taking the symptoms too seriously and then I hear Jessica’s doubting that I even believe her.  I hate when I do that.   via Daily Prompt: Symptom