Navigating A Special Journey

A message from our founder Erica Moshe

On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency. By March, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Soon after, the United States declared a national emergency, and from there a rapid sequence of events that leads us to today. To say our world was turned upside down is an understatement.

As a Registered Nurse and a mother of two children, one of whom is impacted by Autism, I have always lived in the moment. Taken it day by day, knowing that on our most difficult days it would eventually end and our next day would be better. Over the years we have built a network of key individuals that help our son learn, navigate his sensory needs, and integrate into our community. On any given week our son has a network of at least 5 key individuals working with him. These individuals range from Swim Instructors, Teachers, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, and Behavior Specialists. Any disruption in this schedule can lead to a downward spiral of events such as regression, meltdowns, overwhelming anxiety, self-injurious behavior, aggression toward parents and siblings and so much more.

Living in a rural area with a special warrior has its challenges. Communities often lack services that are important for our warriors development and progress. There are long wait lists. I can go on and on but I will leave it at that. We were blessed to have been able to start tele-health therapies in 2012 for our son. Through much trial, error, frustration, and meltdowns we learned how to navigate tele-health and help our son through the necessary therapies. Since tele-health was not new to us or him, the transition during these changes has been relatively seamless. Most of our families have not had this experience. What has happened over the last couple of weeks has sent our families into what I like to call survival mode. We went from having a network of key players to help our warriors and us as parents raising these awesome kids, to a computer and a parent. In the matter of a few days we became our warriors Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, Special education teacher, and for some many more titles and hats. The places our warriors socialize and connect are closed. The vital respite that once helped parents navigate this special journey is not as available or safe. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unimaginable journey for our parents and Warriors.

It is critical we as parents raising these special warriors recognize that we are doing the best we can! We can not feel discouraged if we don’t get our child to sit at the computer for an hour! We cannot feel discouraged if we do not fit everything in! We need to take it one day at a time! We need to reach out to friends, family, BWP, or a support group if we are feeling overwhelmed! We need to remember we are WARRIORS! As my favorite program coordinator for BWP, Shannon Cox likes to say,

YOU ARE DOING GREAT!

*We have resources available to help. If you need to talk with someone, be connected to another parent in a similar situation, Visual supports, ideas, etc please email shannon@thebravewarriorproject or erica@thebravewarriorproject.com