Recently, Calyn Stringer's youngest child was diagnosed with autism [1]. Like many parents in her situation, she felt like during that initial moment at the therapist's office many of her hopes and dreams instantly fizzled. "I went from, 'What college will he attend?' and 'What will he be when he grows up?' to 'Will he ever speak?' 'Will he make friends?' 'Will he connect with us?'" she shared on Love What Matters [2] Facebook Page.
A few days later, she saw Benjamin playing with his older brother, Dale, and realized what most people don't see about her biological child with autism and the five children she adopted first [3]. "They sat on the floor for about an hour, laughing and speaking their own little language. . . . He knows 'Aye-ya' means, 'There it is' and 'Owa' means 'I don't like that,'" she wrote. " He told me that Benjamin is his best friend. Benjamin has even taken to calling Dale 'mom' sometimes. I secretly love it because I know what Benjamin means when he says it."
Benjamin's therapist commented on how well he plays imaginatively and what a great sign it is that he doesn't mind when she plays with him. "I laughed because when you have five older siblings, you kind of have to take things like that in stride," she wrote. "The truth is, Benjamin has had five tiny therapists from day one. These five tiny therapists are so incredibly patient. They do all the things the therapist is having to train me to do, and they do it so effortlessly."
Calyn is sharing her story because when she and her husband decided to adopt their oldest five children before having a biological baby, they were flooded with comments asking why they wouldn't want "their own" kids first. "It didn't make us question our decision, but at the same time, I think we were surprised at how many people seemed shocked that we would adopt just because we wanted to meet a need and didn't want to wait until we had met all of our other dreams first," she wrote.
But now as she sees her kids playing together in their living room, she realizes how blessed her family is and that they came together for a reason:
