Q&A with Araceli Verduzco Meza – Autism Mother

May 13, 2012 Margalit Sturm Francus

“Sometimes he gets overstimulated, but we rather chance that than keep him isolated from the world. “

Q&A with Araceli Verduzco Meza-Autism Mother — photo credit Araceli Meza

Hi,
My name is Araceli Meza, and I have four gorgeous children between ages six and fifteen; two boys and two girls that keep me busy. My youngest son was diagnosed with autism at age four.

My philosophy in educating my kids is to let them be themselves but make sure they know the difference between right and wrong . I strive to teach them to be humble and appreciate the little things in life appropriate for their age.Thye are educated not only to be courteous and polite but appreciate the even the small gestures that others do to help accommodate or include them on any given day.

So far, we haven’t traveled much, and the one place we do visit occasionally is family members who live between 7 and 8 hours away from us.We prefer the car to travel to train or plane as it is somewhat a more familiar and confined environment we can accommodate the kids as needed.
During our travels, our son sometimes does get overstimulated; but we ‘d rather chance that than keep him isolated from the world, so we opt to take him despite the difficulties.
So far, Las Vegas has been the only placed we have visited with more than one say stay. We discovered we like to come back since there are so many places to see and explore ; it never gets boring.Unlike some kids on the spectrum, my son with autism loves noisy places.
He’s also enjoyed exploring theme parks like Six Flags particularly the thrill rides there. We mostly drive there, and we try to make the trip a smooth one by bringing electronic game devices and a portable DVD player along with much-needed snacks. Our kids love to watch movies in the car which helps pass the time quicker. Another trick we’ve mastered over the years is to abstain from making too many stops along the way so now we only stop to stretch out and use the restrooms.

Once we get to our destination, we tend to stay at a family member’s home (it is more comfortable that way) and make the best of our vacation by taking it one day at a time.

Bottomline: we always end up enjoying our family outings because we expect nothing and savor those cherished moments we can bond together as a family.