I need to brag for a moment on this young man…he survived abuse right along with me and is now doing awesome! He’s almost done with junior high school, which has been rocky, let me tell you…now, he’s just joined Planet Fitness’ summer program, signed up to start community college which will go right along with his high school classes, has started studying for his driver’s exam, and hopes to have a job by the end of the summer. I am so relieved, to be honest, yet so proud!
You see, he’s on the Autism spectrum…nothing wrong with that, but I’ve known since he was an infant that he was different. His Dad, my Abuser (and his Dad) constantly stated there there was “nothing wrong with my kid.” However, the Abuser noticed VERY quickly that yelling didn’t do anything but freeze this kid in his tracks and/or make him run away. He processed his feelings in an explosive way, because he didn’t understand why he and his family were being treated in such a violent manner.
This poor child had to watch his Dad beat me during our final episode and was the kid that acted out and flipped desks and cleared classrooms. He is now polite and respectful, but still struggles academically. When he found out that his upcoming high school classes could double as college courses to get him an Associate Degree by the time he graduates in 2026, he begged me to sign him up. I was DELIGHTED to, to the point of crying…
I praise God for the maturity that my youngest is coming to…it’s been frustrating, but worth it. He struggles with staying up too late (but has figured out how to change the time limits I’ve set on his cell phone and the Internet, on our home network), struggles getting up in the morning, struggles with pacing himself and cleaning up after himself, but he IS still fifteen, so that figures…
Love does conquer all! He’s on a ‘spectrum of awesome’ and I’m going to do everything in my power to help him succeed, as I’ve always done, but will put a lot of things back on him as a nearly-adult person, so we can set boundaries and hype up responsibility.
