Day 1 - I think on this first day , I should introduce you to our family . My husband , Brian , and I live in Tennessee and we have five children . Tori is eighteen , Zachary is thirteen , Timothy is eleven , Benjamin is seven , and Payton is four . Mostly though , I want to introduce you to Timothy . The last week of December in 2001 , I came down with a stomach virus , or so I thought . After a week of being sick and completely exhausted , I began to wonder why this virus was lasting so long . I also began to wonder how the rest of my family was able to avoid this terrible illness . I 'm sure most women would 've had the , " Duh , " moment a lot earlier , but being pregnant wasn 't anywhere on my radar . We were done . We had the " perfect " family , a girl and a boy . What more could we need ? Apparently another boy ( and further down the road - one more boy and another girl ) . To say we were a little shocked by the two pink lines on the test would be an understatement . This should 've been my first clue as to what our life was going to be like with our newest blessing . My pregnancy was rough ! I lost 22 pounds in my first trimester due to illness . By the end of my pregnancy , I was in a lot of pain . Timothy has a flare for the dramatic , so it 's only fitting that he came into this world five weeks early . Oh , and did I mention we were on vacation when I went into labor ? He seemed like a healthy baby boy for the first few days of his life . He was born on a Wednesday , but by the following Monday , I couldn 't wake him up anymore . He was admitted to the hospital that day . This began a long journey of finding out all the things wrong with him . As all of the medical issues were being resolved , I knew there was more . I know for some families the diagnosis of autism can be devastating . For me it was a relief . I had been saying for a while that Timothy was autistic , but no one would listen to me . As soon as I would say it , I was met with a reason why it wasn 't possible . I knew that I was right though . Being around other children with autDay 2 - Timothy began early intervention therapy when he was around 1 - 1 1 / 2 years old . He had an occupational therapist and a physical therapist who would come to our house several times a week . I mentioned in the beginning that I sensed from an early age Timothy was autistic . He spent a great deal of time rocking and crying when something happened he didn 't expect . When he would get really upset , he would rock violently and roll his eyes back in his head . His occupational therapist told me that I needed to stop him from doing this . She said he was trying to tune us all out . He started doing it so often , she became concerned . Her concern was by him tuning us out so frequently , he would eventually tune us out altogether . So , whenever he would start to rock and roll his eyes back in his head , I would get down on the floor with him and talk to him until he would start looking at me again . If he tried closing his eyes , I would open them and keep talking . Eventually , he stopped doing it as often . He still rocks on a regular basis , but he doesn 't roll his eyes back in his head anymore , trying to tune us out . Day 3 - I 'm still trying to learn the balance between making Timothy do things even when he doesn 't want to , and not expecting more of him than he can handle . I also worry way too much about how people will react to him . Some days it just doesn 't seem worth the effort to force Timothy to interact with the world as well as forcing the world to interact with him . I remember one shopping trip when my sister and her family were visiting . Timothy absolutely did not want to go . I made him go anyway . His behavior progressively got worse . Eventually , he went into full meltdown mode . Right in the middle of the store , he began screaming and throwing himself around . Out of desperation , I sat down in the floor with him . I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed tightly , while rocking back and forth as hard as I could . It took a little while , but he did finally calm down . We received lots of stares while sitting in the floor together rocking . One thing I 've learned over the years is I need to let " the world " go and just focus on taking care of my son . Day 4 ( This story is from Timothy 's older sister , Tori . ) - Timothy went through a phase where he loved the High School Musical movies . He would watch them all the time and he knew every musical number . In High School Musical 2 there was one scene where the lead female character ( Gabriella ) said good - bye to the lead male character ( Troy ) . It was slow , dramatic , and , for Timothy , tear - worthy . To him , this was an incredibly sad moment . He could deeply feel Troy 's heartache as he watched his love walk away . Timothy knew at the end of the movie they got back together , but every time he saw this scene , his reaction was the same . Through big , crocodile tears he would say , " Gabriella said goodbye ! " My best friend happens to share a name with the main character . One day , when I was leaving to go to her house , Timothy heard where I was going and started panicking . He told me , " Tell Gabriella not to say good - bye to Troy ! " Day 5 - Timothy goes through phases where he becomes obsessed with certain things or people . I never know when one obsession will end and another one will begin . Some of these obsessions are funny . Others can be expensive for us ( like his current obsession with putting items in his ears ) . Then there are the phases that are downright embarrassing . One of the most embarrassing phases he went through , I refer to as his " grabby phase " . He went through a time of grabbing women on their backsides . He didn 't do it every time he passed someone . He did it randomly enough to keep me on my toes . I felt like I should carry a sign or a recording around with me saying , " I 'm sorry . " Sometimes , I would try to explain , other times I simply apologized and walked away . As if that phase wasn 't bad enough , he took it to a whole new level . He began grabbing women on their chest . One of the most embarrassing times was when I took my children to a curriculum display . At a curriculum display , you can look at all the books to see what they 're like before purchasing . When we walked into the room I saw lots of moms peacefully browsing curriculum while their well - behaved children sat quietly at a table reading their novels . Ok , maybe they weren 't really reading novels , but that 's what it seemed like to me . Then we came in , the Britt family tornado . I was trying desperately to keep Timothy from dumping books off of the table while also trying to look through the ones I thought about purchasing . I was watching my friend 's daughter as well , who was around 13 years old at the time . She saw the trouble I was having trying to hold Timothy in my lap while also filling out paperwork . So , she knelt down in front of him to try and distract him . Well , this just put her at the perfect height for him to grab her . After he grabbed her , she started laugh due to embarrassment . Timothy took this as an indication that he should keep going . He laughed loudly as he continued to grab her . She had to stand up and back away , while he continuedDay 6 - Since Timothy was little , he 's had an eye for the ladies . Before he could talk , he would just stare at them . When I say stare , I mean an unrelenting stare . Then once he finally learned to speak , it became a little more awkward . I never really watched the show " Friends " , but I 've seen enough to know Joey 's infamous pick up line . Somehow , so did Timothy . He was sitting in the front of my grocery cart when a pretty lady walked by him . As she walked by he said , " Hey . How you doin ' ? " Man , was I embarrassed ! Another time as we were walking into church , a teenage girl walked by us . As she was passing Timothy said , " Hey , hey , hey … slow down . Not so fast . " He wanted this young girl to walk beside him into church . When we were in Philadelphia for Timothy 's open heart surgery , we had to stay at a Ronald McDonald House . Different groups would come in to fix dinner or do projects around the house . A group of teenagers from a local high school came one night to cook dinner and hang out with all of the kids staying there . It wasn 't long before Timothy was surrounded by every girl there . He turned on his charm and had them eating out of his hand . They did whatever he asked them to do . I think if he had asked them to jump , they would have replied , " How high ? " Day 7 - In December of 2006 , we welcomed Britt baby # 4 . I wasn 't sure how Timothy would handle having a baby around . In the beginning , he viewed Benjamin as more of a toy than a person . Timothy liked to play one particular game with his new toy , I mean little brother . He would walk up to Benjamin , look at him , and then yell , " Boo ! " , causing his baby brother to jump . Timothy thought this was the most fun game . He would laugh and laugh . Benjamin did not see the humor , however ; he would cry and scream . I tried to explain to Timothy that babies didn 't like being scared . He didn 't believe me , so the " game " continued . Eventually , when Timothy would approach Benjamin , he would start crying . One day , Timothy came to me and said , " Benjamin doesn 't like me . " I explained to him again how babies didn 't like to be scared and how maybe Benjamin would like him more if he was nice to him instead . It still took a while for Timothy to really understand . My sister reminded me of another time when we were all together and I found Timothy in the room where Benjamin was sleeping . When I picked up Benjamin , I noticed there were scratches all over his face . I asked Timothy what happened . He replied , " His face was itchy , so I scratched it . " Poor Benjamin laid the groundwork for teaching Timothy what babies like and dislike . By the time Britt baby # 5 came along , Timothy had learned . As soon as we walked in the door with his new baby sister , Timothy began singing her a lullaby . He kept his voice soft and sweet . Now he actually does well with babies . When he sees one , there 's nothing I can do to stop him from going to them . Thankfully , he switched up his game to peek - a - boo instead of just yelling , " Boo ! " Day 8 - We lived in Virginia when Timothy began kindergarten . I remember having an IEP meeting where I was told he wasn 't functioning in the school 's Special Ed Program . They told me we might need to start looking at alternatives . In my mind I was thinking , " I thought Special Ed was the alternative . " Shortly thereafter , Brian unexpectedly got a job offer that moved us to Tennessee . I wasn 't sure what to expect , but I heard Rutherford County in Tennessee had great schools . We moved the weekend after Thanksgiving in 2007 . Timothy had only spent a few weeks at his new school before the Christmas break . While he was on break , I noticed him playing with a learning toy we had . It had all the letters of the alphabet on it . At first I thought he was pretending to know all the letters and their sounds , but then I started listening closer . He knew every letter and the sound it made . Brian and I were blown away by how much he had learned in just those few short weeks . I 'm not sure what the teachers here in Tennessee did that was different , but whatever it was worked for Timothy . We knew then God had directed our steps and provided exactly what Timothy needed . Day 9 - Not too long after we moved to Tennessee , Timothy went through a rough patch at night . He would wake up sometimes at 2 a . m . ready to start his day . Once he woke up , I couldn 't get him back to sleep . It was an extremely exhausting phase . After one particularly rough night , Zachary came stumbling down the stairs rubbing his eyes . Knowing how little sleep I had gotten , I asked him how many times Timothy had awoken him . He told me one time during the night he woke up feeling a banging on his stomach . When he opened his eyes , he saw Timothy hovering over him with a toy hammer in his hand , banging away . Like most of us would , Zachary asked him what in the world he was doing . Timothy replied , " It 's working ! My wobot is working ! " Zachary did not share his enthusiasm , however . I couldn 't help but laugh as I thought about Timothy being lost in his fantasy world , working so hard on his robot . I 'm sure he was overjoyed to have his " creation " come to life . Day 10 - Timothy was very sick when he was younger . His first few years were full of doctor appointments , tests , procedures , hospital stays , and surgeries . By age four , he had undergone four major surgeries . It wasn 't until after his last surgery , open heart surgery , that the multiple hospital stays each year lessened . It was heartbreaking to see my little one go through such awful things . Being autistic , made it harder because he couldn 't always process or understand what was happening . A lot of times I had to help hold him down while the medical staff poked and prodded him . He would look at me as though wondering why I was allowing them to do these things to him . I felt so helpless , knowing I couldn 't make it stop . Out of desperation to do anything to comfort him , I would rub his hair and whisper comforting words to him . It never seemed to help because he would just keep screaming and rocking . Even though it seemed to be in vain , I kept trying to comfort him throughout the years . When Timothy was six , I was pregnant with Payton . For some reason I can 't remember now , Timothy went with me to one of my pre - natal appointments . We were just there to listen to Payton 's heartbeat . He was playing with his toys when the midwife came in . As she laid me back on the table and started to locate the heartbeat , Timothy stopped what he was doing and came to my side . He started rubbing my hair and whispering in my ear all those things that I used to say to him . He kept whispering them over and over again . I knew at that moment all those years of what seemed to be comforting in vain , were not . He did hear me , and he did understand when I was trying to comfort him . I thought all those times of trying to comfort him never really mattered , but they did . I lost it . I 'm sure the midwife thought I was crazy , lying there bawling . I was so overwhelmed , that I could barely explain what was happening . When he thought I was going through some of the things he had gone through , he wanted to comfort me . As most mothers of autistic childreDay 11 - Timothy went through a really rough stage when Payton was a baby . He had so much trouble controlling his anger . He took it out on me for the most part . It didn 't matter who upset him , I was the one he hit . I tried not to take him out in public much during this time . We mostly stuck to the places where he was comfortable . There was one day , however , I couldn 't avoid going out with him . By the time I neared the end of my shopping , he was done ! While in the store he got very angry and began shouting at me . I couldn 't get him calmed down and it escalated into him hitting me . We had to leave our groceries and get out of the store . I was wearing Payton in a sling , so I kept my arm stiffened to keep him from accidentally hitting her . On our way out , Benjamin fell down and started crying . So , there I was , wearing a baby in a sling on my chest , carrying a crying toddler on my back , and holding my arm out while holding on to Timothy so all he would be able to punch was my arm . Of course we made quite a scene and received many stares . One woman decided to do more than look . She came over to help me . Though there wasn 't much she could do , it meant so much that she didn 't just stare or judge , she offered to help . I don 't know her name , but I 've never forgotten that moment . Day 12 - When he was in the first grade , I was invited to a Mother 's Day party at Timothy 's school . The morning of the party , he reminded me about it and wanted to make sure I was coming . After letting him know I would be there , I put him on the bus . Not too long after that , we got a phone call that my father - in - law had passed away . This meant that I would need to quickly get my family ready for a 12 hour drive back to Virginia . It 's no small task getting our family of seven ready for a road trip . It 's especially difficult because Timothy has lots of food allergies . Stopping to eat along the way isn 't an option for us , which means I have to prepare all of our food . When I thought of all the work facing me , the idea of heading to school for an hour or so seemed to be out of the question . I knew I had to go , however , even if I didn 't have time because Timothy was expecting me to be there . It may not bother him , but then what if it did ? I 'm never really sure of how a situation will affect him . He could handle it without any problem , or it could upset him and affect his behavior for the rest of the day . I did as much as I could and then headed off to the school . It really was a touching scene with a room full of children and their mothers . Some children were getting plates of food for their moms . Others were showing them all the gifts they had made with love . Timothy was doing therapy , so I took in this moment while waiting for him . When he came into the room , he looked at me , looked around the room , and said , " Can I go ? " Heartwarming right ? After I told him that he could , his teacher apologetically handed me my gifts . I reassured her that I was fine . I 've learned that I can 't make those moments happen with him . I just have to enjoy them when they do come . I 've also learned that those heartwarming moments don 't always look the same as they do with my other children . It 's not that he doesn 't show affection , it just looks different and comes at unexpected times . Day 13 - Timothy doesn 't have many inhibitions . When he gets into a character , he 's all in . He wants to dress , talk , and act like whatever character has his attention . That leads to some interesting moments . Some moments are pretty funny . Some can be a little embarrassing . His Tarzan phase was pretty interesting . Thankfully , it didn 't last long . We never got used to him running around in his tighty whities while beating on his skinny little chest . Others lead to lots of laughs and fun . If he hears music and wants to dance down the street , he does . If he wants to act like a pirate , he does . When we were out shopping one time , Timothy decided he was a spy . Instead of trying to make him stop , I joined him in his fantasy world . While the rest of our family was shopping , we " tracked down " Daddy all throughout the store . We hid behind racks of clothing , tip - toed across aisles , and made ourselves " invisible " by standing up against the wall . Daddy figured out our game and played along with us . We got a lot of strange looks that day , but my favorite look was the smile on Timothy 's face . Day 14 ( Today 's story is from Timothy 's older brother , Zachary ) - One Sunday , on our way home from church Timothy was pretending to be a bear hunter . He stayed in this character all the way home and through lunch . After lunch Timothy said he was going outside to hunt a bear . When he left , my mom asked me to go put on our bear costume so he could " hunt " me . My dad took him out the front door while I went out the back door to hide . I was not for the idea in the beginning because I was about 10 years old and of course every 10 year old wants to be cool . Dressing up as a bear so your little brother can " hunt " you was NOT cool . At first Tim didn 't know I had put on the costume . He was still hunting a pretend bear . I kept sneaking through the yard trying to be spotted by him . When he finally saw me , his face was priceless . He chased me through the yard and shot me with his toy gun . BAM ! I was down . Tim stood over me proud of his hunting skills . Then my dad told him to butcher the meat before it goes bad . Somehow the bear revived and quickly ran inside . Day 15 - I was a little nervous when we first started letting Tori babysit . Not because I thought she was irresponsible , but because I know how difficult it can be to keep up with Timothy . He 's so impulsive . He 's also very quick . Usually , I don 't see him cause the damage , I just find the evidence . One time Tori called us saying that we needed to come home . Thankfully , we were almost there anyway . Timothy didn 't want to watch the same movie as the rest of the children , so he asked if he could go downstairs and watch something else . Tori told him that he could and off he went . After 10 minutes or so , Tori asked Zachary to go check on him while she made the popcorn . When Zachary went downstairs he noticed water coming from the bathroom . When he opened the door , he saw the sink overflowing . Timothy had turned on the water , plugged the sink , and walked out . Not only was the bathroom flooded , but it had gone through the wall into Zachary and Benjamin 's room . It took a while to get all that water off the bathroom floor and out of the carpet in the boy 's room . Tori is a wonderful babysitter , but I joke that it 's because of all the experiences that Timothy has given her . There aren 't many situations Tori could come across as a babysitter that she hasn 't already encountered in our home . I think we should call it " Britt Babysitting Boot Camp " . Day 16 - We don 't do a lot of vacations . We 're more stay - cationers rather than vacationers . First , because as a larger family , it 's difficult to find places that we can all stay in for a reasonable price . Second , because it 's difficult to find a place that will capture Timothy 's attention as well as the rest of the family . In 2011 , our family was able to spend a few days in Gatlinburg . This was also the same time of the cicada invasion . Timothy is afraid of any flying insect . By afraid I mean , when he sees one he screams , waves his arms frantically around his head , and takes off running . I thought we had a bunch at our house , but it was nothing compared to the number in the mountains . Every time we left our cabin , Timothy would panic all the way to the van . We worked out a plan to help him out . One of us would go to the van and stand by the door to wait for Timothy . Then someone else would open the cabin door for him and run out with him . As soon as he would get to the van , we 'd open the door and then quickly close it behind him . He wasn 't satisfied until everyone was safely in the van without any cicada stowaways . If one happened to follow us into the van , I 'm not sure I know words that would describe the scene accurately . Once we rid the van of intruders , it would take lots of convincing for him to believe us . So needless to say , when the cicadas invade again , it will definitely be stay - cation time ! Day 17 ( This story is from Timothy 's sister , Tori ) - In the summer of 2011 , I had the opportunity to serve at a mission in Mexico . I had never been so far away from my family before . I also had never been away from them for more than a week . The morning I left , I was eating my breakfast and going over the details of my trip with my parents . When Timothy came out of his room , my mom told him this was the day I was leaving . She asked him if he had anything he wanted to say to me . Timothy turned , looked at me and asked , " Can I have your toast ? " And that was my good - bye from him . Day 18 - Timothy is afraid of fire . Well , anything to do with fire really - smoke , burning smells , candles , fire alarms , etc . If he sees a lit candle , he won 't stop until he blows it out . We have to hold him back at birthday parties so he doesn 't blow out the candles before the birthday child can . If he sees a pot of boiling water , he 's convinced it 's on fire . One day , Tori was making grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch . The sandwiches got a little , shall we say , crispy . It didn 't make for the most pleasant of smells . Timothy was convinced there was a fire . It took a while to reassure him there wasn 't a fire , just a slightly overcooked sandwich . To this day when Tori starts to cook , Timothy says , " You aren 't going to cook are you ? Is there going to be a fire ? I don 't want mine cooked . " Once something gets into his head , it 's very difficult to get it out . I don 't know how long it will take for her to live that down . Day 19 - Making friends can be difficult for Timothy . He doesn 't really excel at social skills . If he thinks something , he says it . He doesn 't have a great concept of personal space . When he sees something he wants , he takes it ( it doesn 't matter if someone else had it first ) . Adults tend to be more understanding of these behaviors than children . Timothy can be pretty intimidating without realizing it . He also doesn 't really play with other children . He mostly plays beside them . So , as you can imagine , he didn 't have a lot of friends . When he was in the 4th grade , he came home from school with a pirate book from the book fair . I hadn 't given him money yet to buy books , so I was a little curious . He told me that his friend , Maddie , bought it for him . Timothy has a way of pestering you when he wants something . He 's so persistent that he 's hard to resist . Now I 'm thinking that he pestered this poor girl until she spent the money that was supposed to be for her , on him . I talked to his Special Ed . teacher the next day and she told me that wasn 't what happened at all . She told me that Maddie and Timothy really hit it off . She would come to get him each day to take him to his Regular Ed . class or to go to lunch . She knew how much he loved pirates , so she bought him the book and brought it to him . Not too long after that , I got a note from her . Maddie told me about the birthday party she was having and how she wanted Timothy to be there . It was such a sweet note . This was the first time Timothy had been invited to a birthday party . Others in our family had been invited to parties and Timothy was able to tag along . This time someone chose him and said that the rest of our family could tag along . I cried and cried after reading it . Once I pulled myself back together , I called the number she gave me in the letter . As I spoke with Maddie 's mom , Christy , I couldn 't hold back my tears . I told her how much it meant to me that Maddie included my son . Christy had no idea that Maddie had written me that letDay 20 - Being the sibling of a special needs child can be very difficult . I 've spent so much time in hospitals taking care of Timothy . That means I 've also spent a great deal of time away from my other children . I remember one night in particular when Timothy was still little and I was on the phone with a doctor talking through his symptoms . The doctor came to the conclusion that we needed to yet again head to the ER and most likely he would need to be admitted to the hospital . I had no idea that my daughter was standing behind me for this phone call . As I hung up the phone and turned around , she said to me with big tears in her eyes , " You 're leaving again , aren 't you ? " I 'm sure you can imagine how this pierced right through my heart . It 's not just the times away that can be difficult for them . There are times that we have to let Timothy get away with things because either he just can 't process it properly or we have to pick our battles . It can be difficult to understand why he can do things they aren 't allowed to do , or he may not have to do things they are expected to do . We do have expectations for him , they just aren 't the same as our typically developing children . Then there are times we couldn 't go somewhere , or we had to leave a place early because Timothy couldn 't handle it . I even remember one time when Benjamin was telling me what he wanted for his birthday . He paused for a moment and then said , " Well , maybe I shouldn 't get that . Timothy will be able to break it too easily . " He was five years old and had to consider whether the toy was made well enough to enter our home . Timothy is very impulsive as well as very quick . You don 't usually see him breaking toys , you just come across the toy carnage . So , when I see the siblings of special needs children acting out , I try to put myself in their place , and try to understand what they may really be feeling . Day 21 - Timothy LOVES Disney movies ! He gets completely engrossed in the characters and wants to act out scenes from the movies . He really loves Toy Story , Cars , Wreck It Ralph , and Peter Pan . Since he loves pirates , Peter Pan is the movie he 's loved the longest . My concern , though , is that he always wants to be the villain . Therefore , Captain Hook makes frequent appearances at the Britt house . He 's even gone so far as to make himself a hook for his hand . He took a plastic hanger and snapped the hook part off and then used that to poke a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup . He was then able to put the cup with the hook , over his hand . One day , I pointed out what a great character Peter was and suggested that Timothy be someone other than the villain . He took my advice , just not the way I had hoped . I found Timothy wearing Payton 's tu - tu the next day . He was acting out the scene where Tinker Bell stands over the mirror and sees her hips . He did the hand measurement and finished the scene with the shocked face at the size of his hips . The next morning , I found him sitting in the floor shirtless and both legs in one side of his pajama pants . He was acting out the scene where the mermaids were sitting on a rock , flipping their tails . After seeing that , I told him that I changed my mind . Being Captain Hook was fine with me . Day 22 - I mentioned in the previous post that Timothy loves pirates . Actually , he 's obsessed with them . During his recovery from a traumatic brain injury , the Child Life Specialist at the rehab hospital asked him what toys he liked to play with . He replied , " Pirates " . When she asked him what else he would like to play with if she couldn 't find any he answered , " Pirates " . Thankfully , deep in their storage , she found some pirates and a pirate ship . Captain Hook is his favorite . His copy of Peter Pan is also an anniversary edition . At the end of the movie there 's a documentary on the making of the film . I imagine most children wouldn 't sit and watch that , but Timothy isn 't like most children . He not only watched it , he memorized it . One night , as Brian was going to say good night to Timothy , he heard him reciting it . He was sitting in the dark , rocking , and reciting the entire thing . Timothy was even doing the British accents from the actor interviews . His love for pirates runs deep . Even in his dreams , he 's Captain Hook . It 's not uncommon to hear him yell out in the middle of the night , " Blast you Peter Pan ! " One morning I woke him up and , in his best Captain Hook voice , he said , " Who dares to disturb my slumber ? " I often wonder what it would be like to take him to Disney World . Would it excite him to see all these characters that he loves so much or would it overwhelm him ? I don 't know but maybe one day we 'll find out . Day 23 - Timothy is a very sweet , loving child . It just may look a little different than other children . He 's not overly affectionate or a person prone to compliments . When he 's overwhelmed , he can be a little violent . Not fear for your safety violent , but enough to keep me on my toes . Once Timothy woke up after his brain injury and began moving around , I noticed that he was very affectionate . All throughout the day he would ask me to come closer so he could hug me . He would tell me that he loved me or that I was beautiful . It wasn 't just me though . As we made our way down the hallways of the rehab hospital , he would stop people and say , " You look like you need a hug . " This was all very new to me . I heard over and over from personnel at the hospital that the goal was to get Timothy as close to baseline as possible , meaning as close the way he was before the fall as possible . I would joke with them and say , " I 'm ok if not everything goes back to baseline . " As I was discussing this with one of his therapists she told me that normally traumatic brain injuries can have the opposite effect . She told me how children with the sweetest dispositions before their injury became angry and difficult after . Now the opposite was happening with Timothy . We both became curious how big of a role his autism played in the difference . Either way , I just kept telling people that I was going to enjoy it while it lasted . It did last for a couple of weeks . Then one day I made Timothy do something in therapy that he didn 't like and I got bopped on the head . After that , the hugs and compliments diminished . So while it was just for a couple of weeks , it was fun while it lasted . Day 24 - Being at a rehab hospital in Atlanta was difficult for Timothy . Routine and familiar surroundings are important to him . We both missed our family . I noticed bedtime was the most difficult for him . Timothy seemed to cry and ask to go home at bedtime more than any other time of day . Then it dawned on me why . Every night at bedtime , Brian prays with Timothy . It doesn 't happen the same way as it does with our other children though . Timothy always tells his daddy he wants to pray by himself . Then when Brian says he can , off to his room he goes . Brian waits a few minutes and then goes into Timothy 's room . When he asks Timothy what he prayed about , he begins to pray out loud . After he finishes , Brian prays . The same scene plays out night after night with Timothy pretending he doesn 't want his daddy to pray with him . I realized Timothy was sadder at bedtime because he really missed this prayer time with his daddy . Brian had questioned whether or not Timothy really wanted to have this time with him . When your child has autism , you have to learn how to read clues and then put all the pieces together . Our time in Atlanta showed me Timothy really does enjoy the time of prayer with his daddy . Day 25 - Confession time - I 'm a little jealous of moms of children with an easily recognized disability . I know it sounds weird , but let me explain . It 's not that I think these moms have an easier time having children with a particular diagnosis . I know people who have children with a wide range of disabilities , so I know there are many trials and difficulties no matter what the official title may be . The reason I 'm a little jealous is their diagnosis is easy to spot . I 've noticed when you know immediately that a child has a disability , your interaction with them is different . Your expectations of their behavior is modified . If they did something odd , you 're more likely to excuse it based on their disability . When you look at Timothy , you don 't immediately recognize his autism . The people who know him , are well aware of his physical and mental differences . Strangers , however , just see a " normal " boy . So , when he does things that are inappropriate or just plain odd , we get some terrible looks . I still fight the urge to explain to everyone he comes in contact with about his autism , not that I need to discipline him more or that I 'm a lazy parent . When he fell in August of 2012 and suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury , I got a glimpse of what it would be like . Before his hair grew back , you could easily see the large incision on the left side of his head . When we went out in public , I noticed that stranger 's expectations of him dropped and he was free to be himself . His hair has grown back now and his scar is less noticeable , but for a short time I got to experience what it was like to have strangers meet Timothy on his level . Day 26 - I mentioned in an earlier post how special Timothy 's friend , Maddie , is to us . After Timothy 's accident , she came to the hospital to visit him several times until he was sent to Atlanta . For one of her visits , Maddie went to the school 's library to find pirate books that he hadn 't seen yet so she could read to him . Timothy only lasted around five minutes after he agreed to let Maddie read the book . He became overwhelmed and began throwing himself around . Maddie apologized to me for upsetting him , but I assured her there was no reason to apologize . I asked Timothy several times if I could read him a book , but he always turned me down . Because of the special bond they share , Maddie was able to do something with Timothy that even I wasn 't able to do . Their friendship is such a beautiful thing to witness , I knew more people needed to know about it . I wanted the world to see how special their relationship is . When I contacted a local news station , they were eager to share their story . Here is a link to the news story : https : / / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = JhBJ35MQNmY Day 27 - Some mornings Timothy wakes up determined to do whatever it takes to completely frustrate me . I try to be determined to not let Timothy frustrate me . He does everything he can to push every button I have . As I dig my feet in , to prove I won 't lose my temper , he digs his in deeper . Then , when I can 't take it anymore , I lose my temper and start yelling . What makes it worse is that he usually laughs at me . Sometimes I cry . Sometimes , I get really frustrated with myself . There have been times that I 've wondered why God would choose me to be Timothy 's mother . Not because I don 't want to deal with him , but because I think surely there 's someone else who could do a much better job raising him . Someone with more patience , more experience . It 's a bad place to go . A place full of accusations and guilt . When I can 't trust my own thoughts , I have to trust what I know . God did choose me to be Timothy 's mother . If He chose me , He will equip me . When I feel I have messed up , I can find forgiveness and be filled again . Day 28 - I mentioned in an earlier post how difficult it can be on the siblings of a special needs child . While there are difficult times , there are also really special times . There are many things my children have learned by having Timothy in our family . They have learned to have compassion , learned to interact with someone who can be difficult , and learned to love sacrificially . I have witnessed many scenes of love for Timothy play out in our family . One time that stands out in particular took place on a trip to Atlanta for a follow up appointment . While we were at the doctor 's office , the fire alarms were being tested . I 've heard a lot of fire alarms in my day , but none as loud and obnoxious as this one . We had finished our appointment and were trying to schedule the next one when the alarms went off . Timothy immediately began to panic . He was screaming , crying , and trying to cover his ears . I had Zachary , Benjamin , and Payton with me as well , so when he tried to take off running , it made the scene very chaotic . I managed to grab on to Timothy 's coat before he could get too far away from me . I struggled to hang on to him while trying to get my other children to hurry out of the building . The alarm seemed to be just as loud outside of the building as it was on the inside . Timothy continued panicking and trying to run . We had to walk a little ways to get back to our van in the parking garage . I managed to keep my grip on his coat and keep track of my other children . Once we got inside the van , his meltdown continued . I tried to drive away as quickly as I could , reassuring him that we were far away from that terrible noise . My reassurances didn 't seem to calm him down . That 's when Zachary stepped up in a way that warmed my heart and made me so proud . Knowing Timothy 's love of animals , Zachary started talking to him about animals . Even as Timothy kept crying , Zachary kept going . Eventually Timothy started to listen more and more to Zachary talk about animals . Then he went from listening , to talking withDay 29 ( This story is from Timothy 's older sister , Tori ) - Timothy loves music ! When he hears a song with a good beat , he can 't resist the urge to dance and sing along . Whenever I drove Timothy anywhere , we would listen to my 80s playlist . If it wasn 't on when we got in , he made sure to ask for it . We would always roll the windows down , turn the music up , and sing along . If it was a song he knew , he would sing along with reckless abandon . If he didn 't know it , he would just play his air guitar and encourage my dramatic singing performance in the front seat . He would say , " Oh yeah ! That 's right . Sing it Tori . " Either way we 've always had a lot of fun jammin ' to 80s music together . Day 30 - Our family rented a house for the first year we lived in Tennessee . When the time came to buy a house , we tried to stay in the same district so Timothy wouldn 't have to change schools again . That didn 't work out however , and he had to change schools . I was nervous since Timothy had done so well at his new school . I quickly realized God knew exactly what he needed and put him with , in my opinion , the best Special Ed teacher and Teacher Assistants around ( Although , I 'm still getting to know the middle school teacher and assistants , I think they 're pretty fabulous as well ! ) . Timothy clicked with them right away and his learning continued . They were so invested in him and helping him learn everything he could . Even while he was in the hospital recovering from his Traumatic Brain Injury , they came to see him . They didn 't just come visit though . They had taken pictures of all his teachers and students from his Regular Ed and Special Ed classes to help him remember the people in his life . They put together some of his favorite activities that would also help with his recovery . His last day at Rock Springs Elementary was very sad for all of us . I had grown to love these beautiful women . At his 5th grade graduation party , Mrs . Martz played video she made of his years with them . We were all emotional . Our lives will forever be better because of Mrs . Martz , Mrs . Dangerfield , Ms . Susan , and Ms . Emily . Day 31 - As I wrap up this project , I want to share some final thoughts with all of you . What does autism look like in our family ? It is frustrating , exhausting , heartbreaking , and difficult . It 's also rewarding , joy filled , hilarious , and life changing . Would I have chosen this path on my own ? Probably not . Most of us , if given the choice , would want our days to be easy . I have learned that through the most difficult trials can come the greatest blessings . I used to say that I was blessed to have healthy children . I am no less blessed to have Timothy than my other children . Mostly , I am blessed because God is at work in our lives . He is using difficult circumstances to teach us how to be more like Him . My hope is that through reading our stories , you know a little more about our day - to - day life with autism . I also hope that if your life has been touched by autism , you have been inspired to share your story . Whether it 's one a day like I did , once a week , or just once , all that matters is that you share . Our children have so much to offer the world , but how will they know if we don 't tell them . Bonus Video - My husband , Brian , and I put together a video of pictures from Timothy 's life thus far . We enjoyed looking back and seeing how much he 's grown and remembering all that the Lord has brought him through . You can 't really see in these pictures how sick he actually was as a baby . I also don 't have pictures from all of his surgeries and procedures . I think the words of this song say it best -