Hi, I’m Sonya King.
I’m an author, comedian, speaker and parent surviving autism. Raising my Autistic son Josh is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and realizing how I feel about myself as his parent is a close runner up. The fact that he’s still alive, and I’m not in jail, is a direct result of humor, and finding the funny amid heartache is what saved us both.
“Words reflect the soul, and humor heals it”
When I was much younger than the young I am now, I was called “flaky” and “scattered”, because I was flaky and scattered. So, how does the person voted most likely to forget their baby in the grocery store successfully raise an Autistic son? Seriously! Who thought I was equipped to handle that? Uh, no one.
But I did raise him, and I am equipped.
Along the way I discovered that what is sometimes deemed a disability could be considered a gift. A gift that stops me in my tracks on a regular basis. Mixed in with the difficult quirkiness that makes him who he is, Josh is pure. He says what he thinks, doesn’t regret, ruminate guilt, or pretend to be something he is not. He doesn’t take offense, even when I mean to offend. Those things don’t occur to him. I want to be like that when I grow up.
“Raising an Autistic child is like going to a carnival…I never know what I’m going to see, and sometimes it’s amazing, just like funnel cake.”
Sometimes people forget who they are. I did that. It’s easy to get lost in the constant decision making and care giving that being Josh’s mom requires. Then I remembered… I love loud motorcycles and giant pretzels. I am a perpetual optimist when my pessimism isn’t looking. I’m a hugger of people, animals, and trees. I don’t like being scared, and when the idea of doing something scares me, I do that very thing to dislodge the fear. I’ve been married for thirty five years, and it works because together we make one complete adult.
I give speeches, write blogs, and do podcasts about the experience of living with and raising a child with Autism. That’s my thing. That’s what I’m here to do. That’s why Josh is mine. I share his insight, my ah-ha moments, and the ridiculous funny that has kept us sane, in hopes that it will light the way for those that follow. My adult son is Autistic…I’ve traveled down the path before it was a road.
—>>> Learn more about hiring me to speak at your organization, read more about our journey on the blog, listen to our podcast, or send me a virtual hug and say hello.
