Notes from Tuesday, November 12, 2013: Autism Parents Wellbeing Roundtable (South Bay)
Place: APJCC (Silicon Valley JCC), 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos (adult lounge room, second floor)
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Facilitated by: Jennifer Timmerman, Mochaa parents group (Mothers of Children with Autism and Aspergers), and Jill Escher, SFASA
Purpose: The ASA Housing Initiative focuses on lifespan needs of our ASD children, but perhaps no issue means more for our children's well being than having healthy, happy and energetic parents who can provide supervision and involvement for decades to come. Participants in this confidential group will discuss what works for them, and also where they need help in improving their physical, mental and emotional health over the long term. Topics may include:
• Attitudes and beliefs
• Nutrition, exercise, addictions
• Relationships
• Aging and health
The goal is to learn from each other with encouragement and without judgment. Hope to see you there!
Notes from the Roundtable:
While specific information shared is confidential, major themes to emerge were:
• Difficulty accepting our children's disabilities and differences
• Daily grieving; shifting from the life we expected to the life we have
• The need for time to ourselves, lives apart from the "autism mom" role
• The immense helpfulness of finding support and guidance within the autism family community
• Worrying about our own future without "golden years," relentless responsibilities and burdens of care
• Worrying about our children's futures, unable to care for themselves
• Struggling with health, weight, food issues, and ways to recover health
• The relative superficiality and tedium of the moms-of-normal-kids groups
• Deciding to do what we need to do to care for ourselves and make us happy, no matter how unconventional
• Finding new and positive narratives to frame our lives
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Facilitated by: Jennifer Timmerman, Mochaa parents group (Mothers of Children with Autism and Aspergers), and Jill Escher, SFASA
Purpose: The ASA Housing Initiative focuses on lifespan needs of our ASD children, but perhaps no issue means more for our children's well being than having healthy, happy and energetic parents who can provide supervision and involvement for decades to come. Participants in this confidential group will discuss what works for them, and also where they need help in improving their physical, mental and emotional health over the long term. Topics may include:
• Attitudes and beliefs
• Nutrition, exercise, addictions
• Relationships
• Aging and health
The goal is to learn from each other with encouragement and without judgment. Hope to see you there!
Notes from the Roundtable:
While specific information shared is confidential, major themes to emerge were:
• Difficulty accepting our children's disabilities and differences
• Daily grieving; shifting from the life we expected to the life we have
• The need for time to ourselves, lives apart from the "autism mom" role
• The immense helpfulness of finding support and guidance within the autism family community
• Worrying about our own future without "golden years," relentless responsibilities and burdens of care
• Worrying about our children's futures, unable to care for themselves
• Struggling with health, weight, food issues, and ways to recover health
• The relative superficiality and tedium of the moms-of-normal-kids groups
• Deciding to do what we need to do to care for ourselves and make us happy, no matter how unconventional
• Finding new and positive narratives to frame our lives