Day 5

For my final post, I wanted to talk about my overall experience so far with having a special needs sister.  I feel that because Madison has special needs it has completely shaped the person I am today. I used to get angry and frustrated when I found out someone was making fun of someone with special needs and now I know that most of the time it is because of ignorance. Not everyone understands special needs and they usually have the wrong ideas about them. Instead of getting angry now, I just try to explain to them about special needs and I tell them that my sister is autistic. I don't think I would be as accepting of people if it wasn't for having a special needs sister and I feel that is a gift. Not everyone can be in a career that has to do with working with special needs and I feel that when a person can, they should. I feel as if being able to work with special needs is a talent and I am so happy to have been blessed with that.
I grew up knowing that I wanted to spend the rest of my life working with special needs children but I didn't know what. Every Sunday at my church, I help out in the special needs class and I look forward to it all week. I have talked to many of the kid's parents and they said that besides an occupational therapist, a speech therapist works with their children the most. The day I heard that, I went home and researched all about a speech therapy and realized that is what I wanted to do. And now I am on my way and so excited about it.
I could not be more blessed to have the family that I do. Even though it is hard sometimes, I couldn't imagine my life any different and I feel that I am so lucky. I have learned so much and become a better person because my sister is autistic and I love her more than anything. She truly has taught me that it's the little things in life that matter.

Day 4

Today I wanted to share about going on vacation with Madison and what that is like. Madison loves any kind of water and will stay in the pool for hours on end. She can't swim but she wears a floaty suit and floats around and plays in the water. Traveling can be difficult with Madison because she doesn't like being in the car for very long and she doesn't like staying in places away from home. We usually bring my grandmother on vacation with us so that she can help out with caring for Madison while we are on vacation. My mom cares for Madison everyday so we like for her to have somewhat of a vacation while we are there and a little bit of break. We have to get a house normally because it is hard for Madison to get upstairs and we like to have our own pool so that she can swim there. She doesn't necessarily like the ocean because it can be so rough so a lot of times grandmother will stay at the pool with her during some of the days. Even though it takes a lot of planning, time, and effort we try to go to the beach at least once a year because of how much Madison enjoys it.
So with this post I wanted to educate people about how some things can be difficult, like a family vacation, but they are possible. As long as you are spending time with your family, that is all that really matters.

Day 3

Today I was trying to think of different incidents in which Madison's life was in danger and it was a really scary time for our family. There were many incidents when she was younger that I don't remember because I was too young but my parents have told me some of the stories many times. They found out Madison had seizure disorder around the age of 3. Her first seizure was the worst of any seizures she has ever had and she had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance because she wasn't breathing. Having seizures adds to the difficulties that Madison faces and she takes a lot of medicine everyday to try and keep them under control. Madison had a seizure this past Christmas and ended up falling and breaking her wrist. We were all sitting in the living room together and she was just walking around the house and I can remember hearing a really loud noise and see the end of her falling behind the couch. My dad jumped up as fast as he could and ran over there. It is really hard when something like that happens because she can't tell us things like if she hit her head or if something hurts. We took her to the hospital to get everything checked out to make sure nothing was wrong and there we found out that her wrist was broken. It makes everything much harder that she is nonverbal because when something does happen we don't know what is wrong. Knowing that Madison could be hurt but she can't tell us makes me sick to my stomach and it makes me so thankful that I have a voice and I am able to talk. Most people take that for granted and I want people to know that not everyone has a voice, not everyone can express how they feel and what they need or want.

I am not writing this to make people feel sorry for Madison or my family, I just want to share my story and some of the things we go through on a daily basis. I want people to know that even though it is hard we are so thankful for having Madison in our lives and because she is, I get to share my stories with other people. 

Day 2

Madison is turning 22 this May and can no longer go to high school. Madison still attends school because it gives her something to do everyday and it also helps my mom out. My mom is a stay at home mom, but that is her job. She works just as hard as anyone else and most of her time is spent doing things with and for Madison. Next year is going to be very different for her, every time she needs to do something like go to the grocery store she will have to find someone to babysit Madison. Everyone always asks me if we have help at home with taking care of Madison and when I say that my mom does it all they are shocked. It is a lot of work but I have never once heard my mom complain about it. Some parents might give up or send their child away or put them in a place where other people can care for them but my parents would never do that. They love and care for Madison the same as they do me and my other sisters. I try to help out as much as I can and if I ever get aggravated with having to help feed Madison or take care of her I just think about my mom and how she does it all day everyday. I want families with special needs children in them to know that it is possible. It is possible to be there and care for your child, and even though it may be hard at times, not to give up. It is okay to not necessarily be able to do everything like go out to eat all the time or go shopping with the whole family and things like that. Every family has different reasons for not being able to do the "normal" things and you just embrace that as a family and move on and enjoy the things you can do.

Day 1

"It's the little things in life that matter." That is one of my favorite things to say because I feel my life so far has taught me that. I have 3 sisters, two of them being younger and my older sister has special needs. My parents found out when she was about 18 months. She is autistic and nonverbal. She has no form of communication and cannot express the way she feels to us. It was very hard for my parents at first but with their faith they have made it through. My parents have devoted their lives to taking care of my sisters and I and they spend a lot of their time caring for Madison. It is hard for us to do simple things like going out to eat because Madison does not like too and since she has to be in a wheelchair it is hard to transport her places that would be normal and easy for most families. Even though it can be difficult sometimes, I don't like to complain or talk negatively about having a sister with special needs. She has made me who I am today and I don't know what I would do without her. People with special needs are normal to me and they always have been. Having Madison as a sister has allowed me to be so much more accepting of people and I try to help other people to be more accepting as well. Because of Madison I want to become a speech therapist and work with other special needs children. I know that Madison is my sister for a reason, and I wouldn't change that for anything.
I am going to blog to share with you some experiences we have had with Madison so that I can educate families with special needs children who may be having a hard time or people who may have discriminations against people with special needs.