I write regularly here on the blog about being a special needs mom. Most of the time I try to share helpful tips and tricks to help get through the day. This, friends, is not going to be one of those posts. The inspiration for this post came from a conversation with a friend of mine. I was over the moon excited that A-Man touched pasta (to move it off of his plate). No melt down, no screaming, and he touched it!

We were kidding about how silly this would sound coming from a mom of neurotypical children, and thus, today I’m sharing a few “you might be a special needs mom if…”s! All for giggles and solidarity, no offenses meant to anyone.

You Might Be A Special Needs Mom If…

You don’t know when you last ate, but you can answer when your child’s last neurodevelopmental pediatrician appointment was without blinking.

You hear “he’s so tiny!” so often that you have a canned response memorized and don’t even have to think anymore.

Your friends are so tired of hearing about the horrors of autism speaks that you hardly even have to talk about it anymore (but you still do).

You cannot do the same thing the same day of the week two weeks in a row unless you will do that thing the same day of the week forever. Doing something the same two weeks in a row makes it a routine and law!

Leaving your child in the church nursery is a battle as much as a blessing.

You don’t think twice about purchasing expensive therapy equipment for your child, but you think it’s crazy to spend $30 on clothes for yourself.

You spend too much time explaining eating habits and food aversions before leaving your child with anyone.

Your heart melts when someone makes any extra effort to include your child with special needs.

You don’t leave the house without extra everything. Diapers, pull ups, snacks, toys, literally everything.

Your celebrations are completely mundane when chatting with your mom friends with neurotypical kids. “My two year old is walking on his own!”

You know your children’s therapists better than you know most of your friends.

There is nothing sweeter than your child saying “I love you, mama” for the first time, and it may have taken years to hear it.

You’re early to everything so that you can help your children adjust to new surroundings.

You bring your own food everywhere, and if a friend specifically asks what food your child can eat before an event you may cry.

An afternoon at the park takes an entire day of planning and hours after to recover.

Plans are made around your children’s routines.

You spend hours explaining to other little kids about how “some people’s brains and bodies work differently, but they still want to be friends”.

You find friends with special needs kids and you never, ever let them go!

When someone tells you to take care of yourself first you laugh and laugh.

“We just wanted to surprise you!” is not a happy fun thing to hear, but potentially horrifying.

Do you have anything to add? Let me know in the comments!

About Kaylene

Kaylene George is an autistic self-advocate, author, and mother of five, including one autistic child. She realized her own autism as an adult shortly after her son received his initial diagnosis. Suddenly the parts of her that seemed so “weird” to society had an answer. Since then, Kaylene has passionately shared about her experiences with autism from both sides of the great divide between parents and autistic self-advocates on AutisticMama.com.