Sorry, but your kid isn't like my kid

I can't tell you how many times I've heard this phrase: "my kid is just like your kid".

No. I'm sorry, but no.

Unless your kid is autistic, your kid is NOTHING like my kid. I know Lex sometimes talks, acts and behaves "typically" in front of you, and the stories I tell you may have you believe this, but you are wrong. I give you a snapshot of maybe 10% of his life. If you do not live with me or his father, you cannot begin to understand what he is truly like and therefore, cannot compare your child to mine.

Let me take another stab at this.

Has your child been invited to a birthday party from a schoolmate this year? If so, our kids are nothing alike.

Does your child get singled out on the playground for their preference to play by themselves? No?

Do you have to....you know what? I'm not going to continue. I made my point. It's insulting to parents of special needs children to try to tell us that our kids don't go through anything different than typical children. Because trust us. We WISH this was the truth. We wish our kids were just like yours are. But that's just not the way it is.

The point of this post is that sometimes it's best to keep your opinions to yourself. I lost a friend over a conversation that went something like this. I got accused of using Lex's autism as an excuse. Yup. Chew on that one for a minute.