MOMMY SPOTLIGHT

I usually write about my personal experiences as a mom of my two little girls but as I expose myself to the world I get alot of feed back from other mothers telling me their stories and in my personal life I know alot of women who are mothers and I decided that I would like to share my little place in this blogsphere to shine a spotlight on some of the mothers out there who I feel are in my sense strong, able woman and above all else great mothers! Hope fully I can make this a biweekly or weekly feature on my blog if you know anyone who you think is an awesome mom and would like me to interview her please send me an email to zlopezf@gmail.com. This week I pick a woman who I am beginning to get to know better in recent months, though we lived in the same building for years it was not until we found ourselves on facebook that we began to see we had more than our address in common. I am so glad she agreed to this interview so everyone in mommy land please give a warm welcome to Joydeth Martinez!

Modern MOM: What are the ages of your children? 

Joy:Richie 15, Dayzha 12 n Joseth aka Joey 10

Modern MoM: What do you find is the hardest part of motherhood?

Joy: Having enough time in a day to do everything that needs to be done!

Modern MoM: What part do you find the easiest?

Joy: Enjoying every moment with them.

Modern MoM: When did you first realize that Joey was different?

Joy: At about a year old, having older children I realized he was not hitting milestones at the right time and as a mother I knew in my heart he was different.

Modern MoM: I hear from other parent of Autistic children that it was hard to diagnose did you find that it was hard to get help for him?

Joy: It wasn't hard for me I think since I knew he was different and something was wrong I just wanted an answer, his pediatrician gave me the number to Early Childhood Intervention and I quickly called. 

Modern Mom: What programs do you have him in?

Joy: By the age of 2 he was diagnosed so he quickly received therapy and I found a group called NAC (New Alternative for Children) in downtown Manhattan.

Modern Mom: I have noticed that there are two kinds of parents when it comes to caring for special needs children those who try to hide and shield their kids and those who embrace it I see you are one that embraces it?How do you make him feel like he is the same as others?

Joy:I do embrace it very proudly and I treat him the same as my other kids.  He needs to learn to function like every other child, he has to know there is right and wrong and he knows,  MOMMY DON'T PLAY! LOL

Modern Mom: How do your other kids deal with it?
Joy: I believe when they were younger they did resent their little brother because he got more attention but when I found NAC they gave my kids a chance to be in a group with other kids who had a special needs sibling, they received all types of services as well and now they understand that sometimes you have to give Joey a little more time to understand.

Modern Mom: Is it hard to do all of this on your own?
Joy: We are a regular normal family, Joey doesn't make us different he just makes us better and stronger!

Modern Mom: Any advice to all the other modern moms out there especially those with special needs children?
Joy: Just be a mom, no matter what people say about what you are doing or what you should be doing different. Love them, play with them, kiss them and hug them, jump completely into their soul and follow your heart with every decision you make. To those with children with special needs do the same and never give up always fight and when people snicker or whisper behind your back and give unwanted advice, realize it's out of ignorance and they just don't know. God knew I was strong enough for this challenging love.

It is estimated that between 1 in 80 and 1 in 240 with an average of 1 in 110 children in the United States have autism. 
ASDs are reported to occur in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, yet are on average 4 to 5 times more likely to occur in boys than in girls.

If you feel that your child is not meeting his or her milestones like our featured mom above it is very important to get them help and diagnosed right away. With all the research and awareness that has been given to Autism in recent years your child can grow to live a normal and fulfilled life you shouldn't have to suffer in silence there are many resources out there for parents and children and siblings of autism children. NAC is a wonderful place located on west 26th street in New York City that helped out Joy and her family and organizations like http://www.autismspeaks.org/ are great resources that you should use when looking for information. Always remember your first instinct as a mother is usually the right one so like Joy said follow your heart!

Joy wanted to close by saying: I was told when Joey was 2 he would never talk, he would never show me affection, he would never acknowledge my presence. He would live in his own world for the rest of his life. The happiest moment of my day is when he greets me at the door after work and says "Hi mommy, your home, did work finish today? I love you mommy can you take off your shoes" Don't ever let anyone put limitations on your child, special needs or not!