The 2012 Olympics has come and gone, but we’re still here, performing super-human feats of energy and endurance:
Where are our medals?
The good news is, now you can take part in the 2012 Autism Family Olympics, being held throughout October. You’ve gotten through the summer and the start of a new school year, and now it’s time for some fun.
Just like the sports Olympics, there will be competitions and prizes. You can win a signed copy of the novel, If I Could Tell You, by Hannah Brown, about four mothers raising children with autism in New York City.
There will also be T-shirt giveaways for random participants, and more!
Winning entries will be published in full on the site, unless you request that it not be.
Here are the events, enter as many as you want throughout the month:
1. Most elaborate/time-consuming complicated morning routine: Describe your morning routine with your child. Amaze us with your intricate, complicated rituals to get him/her out off to school smoothly.
2. Most elaborate/time-consuming complicated bedtime routine: Describe your bedtime routine with your child.
3. Flash fiction: Tell us a story from the pages of your life in 300 words or less.
4. Six-word autobiography: Describe your life in 6 words. It’s a beautiful challenge. Mine is: Writing from heart for my boys.
5. Most touching moment with your child. It can be something he/she did or said, or any moment that made you realize how much you love your amazing kid with autism.
6. Sibling challenge: The siblings of children with autism go through a lot. Tell us something about your amazing typically developing kids, in 200 words or less. You can also ask your children to tell us something about themselves.
7. If you could make the outside world understand one thing about raising a child with autism, it would be . . .
8. If you could convince the government to change one aspect of its education/medical policy affecting children with autism, it would be . . .
9. The funniest story that only another mom of a child with autism would get: Tell us yours.
10. Grab-bag: Poems, songs or drawings inspired by your experiences as a parent.