Living with Non Verbal Autism

Two posts in one night wow ! Ok here goes .As I have both been Seeing and reading a lot of misleading things lately I thought I'd write a short bit about being a parent with two little boys that have non verbal autism. I cringe that some people on social media are treated like gods because they talk about autism 24/7. I have honestly had more difficulties in 1 day than most people have had in a lifetime, I'm being serious here ( Not spiteful) I don't like the fact that celebrities such as paddy mcguinness can go on national tv and don't even know half the facts about autism and yet leave the masses of the public with a false perspective of life on the spectrum. "Everyone is different "Paddy's kids can say good night dad and speak they can also tell him what they want and how they feel. I'm sure there are people who find things even more challenging than myself but for what it's worth here's a small snippet of my own personal experience. I have two young sons 5 and 7. They don't talk at all despite extensive 1 on 1 time and speech and language. They walk buy each other in school !.They don't say mum or dad. They can't tell us when they are upset what's bothering them, is it a tummy bug ? A migraine , feeling sick? They can't tell us what they want for dinner sometimes we go through 4-5 meals in 1 night . They show no intrest in Xmas or birthday presents, they don't know who Santa is or the Easter bunny or even the tooth fairy, or building a snowman .I never got to read them bedtime stories . If I try to get a hug I get pushed away because they prefer to be left alone in their own world. I'd love my kids to be able to ask for toys or tell me their favourite cartoon , or tell me how their day was at school ? or tell me what they want for their "packed lunch" ect. Yet people who's kids /teenagers can talk get treated like a hero /God for going talking consistently a lot of absolute nonsense. Then we have celebrities on national tv to talk about autism when in reality they dont seem to know much about it . They ain't no messiah , they have it lucky. my teenage daughter is doing well at school but I feel she's not getting enough of my time because her wee brothers are taking up all my time. That's the reality for some parents. I accept everyone's situation is different but not being able to speak is a lot harder and challenging to teach especially with the lack of eye contact not to mention trips to the barbers where everyone stares at you through ignorance. Celebrities on tv getting exposure is not spreading awareness it's misguiding people. I take my hat off to anyone living with autism or autistic children as it can be extremely challenging . Then you have millionaires who put their children into an institution to have an easy life . I'll "NEVER" give up on my kids no matter how hard things get . I guess part of me wrote this tonight is to show autism affects people in all different ways and if your reading this and identify with anything I says then your not alone more awareness has to be spread . I hope I've not offended anyone . Thanks for taking the time to read . And hope this spreads awareness as it's real life 🫶💙- ( Not "FAKE REALITY TV" ) Joe-young 4/1/23 .