Judge ye not...

Before I had kids, I would often see a child misbehaving in public and think to myself, "I would never let my child act like that.", "That kid is old enough to know better.", and "How could a parent let it get that bad?". 

That was all before I was a mother.

Since I have become a mother of a little girl with autism, I realize that I now have a totally different perspective.  When I see an older child screaming out or having a tantrum in a store, now I usually think, "I wonder if he/she is on the spectrum (the autism spectrum)".  I no longer have any negative feelings toward the parents or have any notions that I could certainly do a better job if I was in that situation.  Now, my initial feeling for them is sympathy, and I wonder if there is a bigger picture going on within their family situation. 

Until I was a mother dealing with autism, I never even thought about autism as a possibility.  I have no idea how I could have been so ignorant to the fact that so many children are now being diagnosed with the disorder.  I was a pediatric nurse for goodness sake!  I surely never thought that I would personally have to deal with it within my family. 

I guess, you never know what others are dealing with in their day to day lives.  Until you have been in the situation, you really can't understand the daily (and sometimes hourly) struggles.   Next time you see an unruly child out in public, I challenge you to look at the situation with compassion rather than judgement.