Last week I sent you an email saying we had a family emergency. What happened was that I fell on my hip, and had to go to the Emergency Room to make sure it wasn't broken. But unfortunately the x-rays proved that my hip was broken after all, and I had to have surgery.

But the great news is that I went in to the hospital on Saturday, had surgery on Sunday, and they said I was okay to go home on Monday! I was really happy to be able to get home to my boys!

Fortunately, my older adult son was here to take care of my younger autistic son while I was in the hospital.

This all happened because I did something stupid. I thought I was still 25 (ha ha) and tried to put my socks on while standing on the tile floor. The problem is, my ability to balance myself isn't what it used to be.

So I just fell over like a bowling pin.

Other older women have told me, "I do that all the time!" They are learning from my mistake and trying to be more careful to sit down to put on their pants and socks.

If you are in the same camp, I just wanted to warn you not to make the same mistake I did.

The second thing I wanted to mention is how when these things happen, it's a good reminder of what it must be like for our kids who have disabilities.

At the risk of stating the obvious, everything is harder when you have disability. Even though an injury is a bad thing, it does help me to understand what it's like to have a disability and to experience it first-hand.

Our kids may or may not have a physical disability, but if they can't speak, communication is that much harder. If they can't process spoken instructions very well, then listening is that much harder.

I hope you don't ever have to suffer an injury like I have, but I can say that my temporary handicap helps me to understand my disabled son just a little better.

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Warm Regards,

Kay Donato

Discover Autism Help, LLC