1. It’s okay if you’ve started partnering with a BCBA/psychologist/speech, occupational, or equine therapist again after an extended hiatus. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed as a parent. Your child is changing and has different needs for different seasons.
2. It’s okay if you thought it would get easier with time. Time alone doesn’t make it easier. It gets easier with intention and experience—managing your schedule, finding your people, knowing your child’s strengths and challenges, as well as your own.
3. It’s okay if you feel like your brain is breaking. The to-do list, the hypervigilance, and the uncertainty are often overwhelming. It’s crucial to find some relief from it. Two of mine at the moment: Love is Blind and Yasso chocolate crunch bars.
4. It’s okay that your heart aches when your child’s close friends won’t be returning to his school next year. You know the journey it took for your child to build these relationships, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t sent a thought to the universe that they may one day live together like Rachel, Chandler, Ross, and crew on Friends.
5. It’s okay that you’ve wondered why everyone moves on in this community: your child’s babysitters, therapists, teachers. Is it burnout? Underappreciation? A life change or something else? It’s okay if you’ve thought it may be you and/or your child.
6. It’s okay if you no longer relate to some people after having and parenting a neurodivergent child. It’s okay that you are a drastically different person.
7. It’s okay if you’ve focused on progress and appreciation regarding All The Things for some time and then reverted to comparison and expectation for a while.
8. It’s okay if you fantasize about going away for a week. By yourself.
9. It’s okay to say no, with or without an explanation.
10. It’s okay to believe everything may turn out okay.
by Natalie Rodriguez 
