There was a time not so long ago that I let the stress of caring for a child with autism turn me into someone I could no longer recognize. I went from a well adjusted young man and transformed into a person who was constantly moody, tired, and without the will to help provide quality care for my autistic son. I was absolutely buried under the unique stresses that only autism can deliver.

I was overwhelmed by everything I needed to be for my son. I had to learn to become a advocate who helped defend against people who might not value my child. I was forced to become a fountain of patience who needed to be there for my son as he threw a self-destructive tantrum because he could not find the words to communicate with me. I had to become the ultimate fundraiser who tried to scrape as much money together to pay for "just one more" speech therapy session.

I had to do all those things while trying to push aside the enormous grief that I had from finding out that my son was going to be forever known as "autistic". I had wanted to be a father for years before I actually became one. I had always knew that once I became a daddy that my life would become filled with many more responsibilities. I knew it was going to be hard work, and it was going to require me to put my children's needs ahead of my own. What I did not know back then was that my wife and my journey as a parent was going to be filled with such heartache and struggle.

I had thought that I was going to be a father whose biggest worry was if my son was going to like Tee-Ball. Instead I became the father who stayed up at night frightened that my autistic son would try and sneak out of the house while we slept. While other fathers worried about their children watching too much TV, I worried about the IEP meeting that I had to attend the next morning. All of this was more than I could handle...at least that is how it seemed at the time.

It was about the time when I was so completely broken by all of the stress I was living with that I began to recognize that all of my stress was affecting the kind of care I was offering my son. It seemed like I was constantly sick with a cold, and I always had a deep sense of being tired all of the time. I was running on empty, which meant that I was failing to be the advocating, patient, and loving father that I knew I had to be for my little guy. I was not taking care of myself, so how could I take care of my autistic son?

I decided that it was time to do something about this stress which was slowly killing me. I knew that there was nothing I could do about the source of my stress. I also knew that there were probably some ways in which I could help deal with all of the anxiety and worry I had that was weighing me down.

Once I discovered that there were simple ways I could simply manage my stress and anxiety levels I knew I had to commit myself to them. It was not difficult to introduce these stress management practices into my life. One of the best things was that this self-care only took a few minutes out of my busy day!

Since I learned how to manage my stress my life has absolutely become much better. I am more happier, energetic, and hopeful than I was before I started dealing with my own stress. It was amazing how just doing a few simple things a day I am able to keep a certain balance in my life. I am no longer overwhelmed by the stress of raising a child with autism!

I cannot imagine how I was surviving before I started managing my stress. I have more energy, patience, and hope! I finally feel now that I can become the father that I always knew I could be. Of course autism still provides my life with more stress than I like. However, now I know that there are tools out there for me that will help me keep stress from running my life. I know what is like to be sick with stress, but now that I know how to manage it I am so much happier!

John Roedel lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming with his wife Jennifer and his three boy's Noah, Riley, and Logan. John is an advocate for parents of ASD children, and holds out hope that the Denver Broncos will one day win another Super Bowl!