I've never prayed for God to make Brody's Autism go away. I've prayed for peace, patience, understanding, perseverance, opportunities for more time to work with Brody, and knowledge for myself and my husband. I've prayed for Brody to learn the love of friendship, to experience the gifts of imagination and pretend play (God answered that prayer, by the way), to be accepted and accept others, to learn social graces and appropriate social cues, to gain motor skills that he can participate in sports at the level of his peers.
Why don't I pray for complete healing? Because there are aspects of a ASD that are true gifts. Brody has an amazing memory. He can figure out how just about anything works. He has an acute curiosity about the world around him and a desire to learn everything. He loves to read, play boardgames, and practice math, sight words, and science with flashcards. Most things academic come easy to Brody and he enjoys participating in it. He's four and while with ASD comes some ADHD behaviors, he will sit with flashcards and puzzles for a long time unlike most kids his age. Why would I want to pray that away? These are Brody's gifts.
I love this quote from Temple Grandin:
"What would happen if the autism gene was eliminated from the gene pool?
You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done."
— Temple Grandin (The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's)
While Brody has some challenges that other children do not, he also has many gifts. I thank God for every aspect of Brody, everyday, and I pray that he will hone his gifts while gaining the skills necessary to succeed and flourish in his beautiful life.
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