{"id":3643,"date":"2025-12-13T07:02:32","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T07:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=3643"},"modified":"2025-12-13T07:02:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T07:02:34","slug":"her-disability-is-invisible-mom-painstakingly-navigates-outings-with-daughter-who-has-severe-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=3643","title":{"rendered":"Her \u2018disability is invisible.\u2019: Mom painstakingly navigates outings with daughter who has severe autism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cAutism requires strategy. Even though before going into Panera Bread I sat in the car and came up with a strategy for our mission to order and eat food in a public place, we will still look like a hot mess for the next 30 minutes. There is a great quote by Harry Winston: \u2018People will stare\u2026 make it worth their while.\u2019 We do exactly this despite our effort to blend in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you see me in line, I am holding both of Sadie\u2019s hands within mine. That is because Panera strategically places giant cookies in front of all the registers. I have had to purchase so many of these bakery goods thanks to Sadie\u2019s ninja hands, but today will not be that day. There are phones in everyone\u2019s hands as they wait. Sadie sees them and she wants them. Oh and the glass\u2026 For some reason, Sadie loves to lick glass. It\u2019s gross. I am the first to admit it. I can\u2019t imagine being an onlooker, especially 7 years ago. Today Sadie will not lick the glass. Sadie is jumping and making a strange noise that I don\u2019t even register anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People are staring. Of course, they are. A lot of times, people exchange glances with each other. It\u2019s ok. I would stare too. I think I am ok with it. I only worry about how it affects Celia, my eldest daughter. I am always trying to teach her to stand proud and not let it bother her, but she is just 10 years old. I won\u2019t pretend that I \u2018get it.\u2019 I have not experienced her young view of all this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am talking to the attendant, prompting Sadie, and trying to be a normal mom for Celia. Actually, I think we are doing awesome. I am ready to pay. My credit card is in my back pocket. I wisely placed it here ten minutes ago for easy access so I would not need to look in my purse. I release my hand from Sadie\u2019s to insert my chip and\u2026 *#@%! We are now the proud owner of a Panera Chocolate Chip Cookie. Sadie wins! Celia wins too because it\u2019s only fair. Seriously\u2026 I get the whole symmetry thing, but sometimes I think three hands would have been so much more functional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That was a lot of work and we still have the hard part\u2013waiting. Fortunately, we have (I mean HAD) that cookie. Sadie finished eating half. The other half she dropped. I have to prevent her from grabbing it from the floor. But Sadie is a big advocate of the 5 second rule. She wins again. By now the onlookers have caught on. They are probably coming up with their own hypothesis. For some reason, I feel better about the staring once people realize her disability. I think its because I tell myself they are no longer thinking it\u2019s just bad parenting. Why should I even care? So now my job is to keep Sadie from grabbing Celia\u2019s cookie, other people\u2019s food or the cell phones. This has happened. And since we are not using screens ourselves, I start singing \u2018One Two Buckle My Shoe\u2019 and pulling out 6 to 36-month toys from my bag while trying to have an intermittent conversation with Celia. She has created a barrier around her cookie with my bag. Good for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our food is ready. The beeper goes off. Yikes! Did you know, some Panera\u2019s bring you your food and some want you to come up to the counter? I forget how they do it at this one. We wait long enough and they eventually bring our plates to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time to eat. I have a decision to make. Should I let Sadie eat by herself or feed her so we don\u2019t make a huge mess? Today, I take the easy route and choose to feed her. More staring. After all, Sadie\u2019s disability is invisible, so people see me feed a 7-year-old with a spoon as I try to block her other hand from grabbing and, keep her from jumping in her seat. I don\u2019t dare order food if I am alone with the girls. It\u2019s impossible and not enjoyable. I start to question the whole outing\u2026 why didn\u2019t we go through the drive through, order for rapid pick-up or any other option? I quickly remember\u2026 because I will not limit Sadie to a life at home. And the day we start limiting her, is the day we lose. My husband, Brewer, and I will continuously work to maintain our ability to go out in the community. So I guess\u2026 we will see you at Panera!\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAutism requires strategy. Even though before going into Panera Bread I sat in the car and came up with a strategy for our mission to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/598149242_1257435949539582_1274995115784520981_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3643"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3645,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3643\/revisions\/3645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}