Monday, January 30, 2017

An Autism Mom’s Confession: I'm Coming Out


 
 
 

 

               The past few months my family went through an adjustment period.  My oldest son graduated High School, and  we put into place a home-based program  to further his education and growth as an adult on the autism spectrum. The transition was our main focus so much of life was put on hold.  It was a lot of work remodeling to make our vision a reality, but it ended up a success. 
 
 Now that Tristen is settled in his self-led schedule based program, I am able to continue to homeschool my youngest child, and continue to be available for support and redirection as needed.  Now that the transition period was over, I am thinking about the next milestone. In a year and a half, my youngest child will also be a High School Graduate.
 



 

                When I was in the thralls of motherhood, with little children needing constant care and supervision, I used to dream of my life when my kids were grown. I imagined all the things I could do while in that stage of life, like getting a degree and having my own hobbies.  My dreams became bigger and bigger as time went on….a master’s degree, medical school, starting my own business….the sky was the limit.

 Back then I supposed that Tristen would always live with us at home; but what was in question was the degree of assistance and supervision he would need on a daily basis.  What services would be available for him?  Would there be trustworthy care available?  Could he be left alone for short periods of time?

 
And here I find myself, today, with the reality of the situation and it is a sobering one. Tristen has made progress in leaps and bounds, but he is not yet at a place of total independence.  He has ups and downs in which his autism seems more severe some weeks than other weeks.  Often times, months will go by, where I think “He is really overcoming his obstacles,” and then seemingly out of the blue we are surprised by his lack of coping with change or being in tune in “our” world.  During those episodes, he tends to have less of an understanding of where his body is in space (which I refer to him as “a bull in a china shop”).  He is too much in his own world to keep himself safe in his environment, rushing from one end of the house to the other, often times breaking things and hurting himself in the process.  So, as far as fulfilling some of my dreams and life-long passions, much continues to be put on hold so I can care for him properly.
 
 
This is our reality, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have hope for the future.  We will continue to search for ways for his body and mind to heal, and I am confident progress will be made and I will be able to achieve my dreams of so long ago.


But as for now, I needed to find something where I can contribute to my household and give more income to put towards giving my kids the best future possible, while still upholding my maternal responsibilities.



               Then I tried Keto//OS pure ketones energy drink and my whole world changed.  (You can read bout my chronic health issues at greenbeangirl34.blogspot.net)  I felt almost super human using non-jittery energy to clean my house, do laundry and make dinner for my family.....all in a happy cheerful mood!
 
 
At this point, I didn't know much about the product except it was gluten and dairy free and it promised energy.  Never could I have expected such dramatic results.  It was the answer I had been looking for to a better functioning self.
 
From that point on, I had some ups and downs, trying the different products and figuring out just how this stuff worked and why.  I wanted to know how to get the full effect and get my money's worth.  I soon found my sweet spot with a Charged Chocolate Swirl and 100 oz. of water every day.  And when you feel good, you want to tell everyone about it!
 
 
But, my preconceived notions about becoming a promoter loomed in the back of my mind holding me back.
 
 I fought the idea for as long as I could, but in the end, I took the path, after much thought and sincere prayer, that I never thought I would take:  I joined network marketing.

 

                If you have read this far, I hope you will continue on to hear me out, before you write me off as your friend.  You see, I felt the same way as many of you when being approached by my friends who had joined a company to sell something, whether it cleaning products or make up or books or whatever….I always wondered if their friendship and kindness was real, or if all they saw when they looked at me was a potential customer.  I never questioned their love of their own product or the want to earn money for their families.  But the idea of me trying to “sell” things to my friends and family, made me feel pretty uncomfortable.  I didn’t want anyone thinking of me as being insincere or trying to use them for my own personal gain.

                So here is my personal mission statement:  I am your friend regardless of your opinion of the product I am selling.  I will value you and be sincere whether or not you order any products from me....it's that simple.

                I can promise you is this as well:  I am going to tell my truth.  The good, bad, and the ugly of this product as I see it.  I will not lie to you for a sale because my integrity is worth more than that.

                When something impacts you the way this simple energy drink has impacted my life, you can’t help but tell people about it.  They notice the changes in you, and you are happy to share why you are feeling and looking  better. And if you are interested and want to try ketones through my website, that is awesome.  If you don't, no hard feelings.  So hopefully, if ketones doesn't work out for you, you won't hold it against me personally.
 
 In my personal life, I’ve been telling people about vitamins, supplements and therapies for chronic illness and autism for the past 10 years. This is just a way for me to do the same thing but try to earn money to support my family while I do it. Why should I feel guilty?

                So  I decided this is my “coming out” story….a secret I have about how I’ve chosen to live and conduct my life.  I’ve kept this secret the past few weeks because of the stigma around MLMs and I want my family and friends to know the truth, and hopefully be supportive of me and my life choices.

 For more information on my business, click here   and save 20% off through January 31st