An Extraordinary Normal

Welcome to my first post! I’m excited that you’ll be joining me for this adventure. I’ll be writing twice-monthly articles, this first one is a little introduction.

My husband, Daniel, and I have always responded to the needs of our children in ways we thought were odd but were necessary. Because of this, we used to feel far from normal. Everything from naps to sleep environment to socialising to clothing was done our own way - aiming to show Christ’s love while gently responding to the needs of our three children. We knew we weren’t ordinary parents.

When our eldest daughter was formally identified as being autistic, we found a whole community of families who also aren’t ordinary parents. Loving families, responding to the needs of their members, living lives outside of the ordinary: “extra-ordinary” lives. As we joined this community, we found that there are so many of us! We aren’t ordinary but we are normal, an extra-ordinary normal.

It’s extraordinary in the other sense too. God has enriched the world with diversity and given us diverse perspectives by which to appreciate it – amazing! My autistic daughter has extraordinary sensory perceptions, and she has taught me to notice smells, sounds, textures, light, and colours in ways that I had previously been unaware of.

Yet the experience of being outside of the ordinary can bring a very difficult experience of the world. Many neurodivergent people experience the world with pain, anxiety, sadness, and they may also have cooccurring conditions that increase the complexity of life. On top of this, being outside the ordinary can bring a loneliness; they may be met with impossible expectations from those around them, or they may experience violence or exclusion. Our job as parents isn’t simple.

I’m really looking forward to writing articles for An Extraordinary Normal: Faith, Family, and Neurodivergence as we work together to embrace the uniqueness of our families for the benefit of our families and for the glory of God.

💛 This Substack runs on prayer and the generous donations of a few paid subscribers. If you’re able, please consider upgrading to paid—it’s less than a couple of coffees a month and really helps me a lot 💛