LINCOLN

PHOTO BY RANDY BACON

LINCOLN

“I Have Autism”

I have autism. I get angry very quickly. The hardest thing is mostly my anger issues and trying to conceal most of my anger and put my feelings into words.

Lincoln has a lot of autistic triggers. He has a hard time advocating for himself and understanding what he's feeling in order to express it, which leads to frequent meltdowns. When he makes a mistake of any kind, he beats on himself and calls himself horrible names – names he’s never been called by anyone else. Our strategy is to ask him how he would feel if someone else said those things about him. He admits that it would be really hurtful, so we point out that he’s being his own bully, that he’s human and all of us make mistakes – the key is to learn from them and try to do better in the future. We do our best to encourage him and offer coping strategies. He’s done occupational therapy and speech therapy. We are on our fourth counselor for him in three years and finally feel like it’s a good fit (he struggles with trust and opening up). - Michelle (Lincoln's mom)

I had to leave a private school that really helped me because it closed, but I do home school which is ok. I miss being with friends.

Lincoln is lonely, but we don’t feel that public school can accommodate his needs at this time. It’s a constant battle to be sure you’re doing the right thing for him in this season. We do what we can to keep him connected to old friends and make new ones. He struggles to even take that first step to establish new relationships though. - Michelle (Lincoln's mom)

It's kind when my mom and dad encourage me. Dance classes, reading, drawing and piano make me happy. I'm actively learning coping skills with therapy.

Try hard not to get very angry, if you do go to a different room or do something you like to do.