A Father’s Day Celebration

Today was my first Father's Day event at Hudson's school. And it was nothing short of amazing.

The school gym had tables and snacks setup for a Father's Day celebration. He and his classmates formed a receiving line to greet Fathers and Grandfathers as we walked in. In typical Hudson fashion, he broke rank from the line and rushed to hug me tightly while saying "Welcome to your Father's Day coffee break!"

The moment he held me I felt tears welling up.

Hudson led me first to a table to grab our donuts and coffee, and then to our seat where personalized gifts awaited me. While other Dads around us opened their gifts and talked about the things that were made for them, Hudson read my an A to Z book on insects.

I wanted nothing more than to look at each gift with Hudson while expressing my joy and gratitude for his hard work. But that wasn't what he wanted or needed. When he's excited about something, his stimming kicks into high gear. I sipped on my coffee while Hudson asked me what I thought about each insect in his book. He would redirect me back to his book with each question that I would ask about my gifts.

And that was totally fine with me.

To many people unfamiliar with autism, stimming can appear to be a selfish act; one where the individual is concerned with their agenda only. But that's often not the case for Hudson. He had so much excited energy for the day that he channeled that into what was comforting to him at the time. Reading facts about insects wasnt something he did out of boredom but rather out of necessity as it was the "valve" he had available to relieve the nervous pressure that was growing.

Through all the stimming, Hudson made sure to hug me and tell me how much he loved me. There is no greater gift than that from your children, autism or not.

I took Hudson home from school after the coffee break. This is pretty common for most Fathers during this special day, and I knew Hudson would

be triggered if he had to stay. I watched him play games for a bit at home before we grabbed some lunch together.

Having a child with autism often means that you miss out on some fun school events because they can be too triggering and overstimulating. I am forever grateful that Hudson worked as hard as he did on this event and that my work was flexible enough to allow me to attend. When you see a certificate that was colored in by hand, I see an incredible level of detail from someone who struggles with hand gripping. I see detail that was no doubt very painstaking for him to add.

I am grateful for today and for the effort Hudson put into making it special for me.