We all want things to go well for our kids, and sometimes we push harder than we should in our efforts to make that happen. Michael’s mother gets a little too excited when her teenage son goes on his first date: her expectations are high as she drives the kids to and from their movie. But because her son has autism, she panics and jumps in too quickly when the conversation starts to falter–and succeeds in making a bad situation worse.
I’m the mother of a teen on the autism spectrum so was able to draw on some personal experience for this fictional monologue. I wanted to write something that was specifically about having a child with autism but would also resonate universally. And one thing every parent of a teenager learns is that very few things are actually within our control and sometimes the best thing we can do for them is take a step back.