Stolen Praises

One of the things about autism that most gets to me is that it affects our kids ability to speak and process language. Although Alec is now verbal, he still has difficulty processing language, often relying on phrases he has learned in a cartoon to communicate a thought. Often, he uses the phrases appropriately, but cannot break them apart at will to formulate his own unique sentence. However, this is getting better and daily, his language skills improve.

But as a mother, I have said many prayers at his bed at night asking God to help me communicate to Alec how much God loves him. To help Alec to know just who God is. With my daughter Elise, this is easy. You read her Bible stories, tell her about Jesus and ask questions.

But it's harder with Alec. Does he understand what I am telling him? How can I explain a difficult concept like God's love? For a long time, I couldn't be sure he would understand, but I kept on praying for it to come.

I know that communcation comes in many forms, not only through words. An expression, a touch, all things can help communicate with our children. I truly believe those ASD children who are non-verbal communicate in many ways, just not alway through words.

I know, now, that God is not limited in any way by autism. Here's an example:

Every night, I sing the Veggie Tales "Grateful" song to my son at bedtime. "I thank God for this day, for the sun in the sky, for my mom and my dad, for my piece of apple pie...." I know that Alec loves music, so I sing this same tune to him every night, praying that someday, I will be able to talk with Alec about God.

One night, not too long ago, as I sat at Alec's bedside, Alec, in his typical short sentence, said to me "Sing your prayer."

That brought tears to my eyes, because I have never called it a "prayer". How could my son, struggling so with words, understand that this simple song was a prayer? But yet, he did!

So often I try to do what only God can do: to reveal Himself to Alec. God will show Himself to my son, and I have that promise. God will not be limited by autism, he can and will reach out to my son and embrace him.

Also recently, again at Alec's bedside, I said to him as I always do, "Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you, Elise loves you." Then, as an afterthought, I asked "Alec, who is Jesus?".

Alec replied, "Jesus loves me."

Autism can never hinder God's ability to show our kids His love. That's a promise I now know.

"At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

Matthew 11:25