Erica Yueh‘s debut novel is one the world needs to hear. her first book, My Sonshine on a Cloudy Day, is an ode to her son, who was diagnosed with autism at age 3 and the perfect book for other parents who are also raising an autistic child. The book is out now, and she was our latest guest on Meet The Author.
What inspired you to write the book?
My inspiration came from my son. A lot of people didn’t know, which made it kind of hard to actually write and share this book now, because only my close-knit family and friends, knew that my son was on the spectrum. My son was diagnosed when he was 3, but I had questions of if he was autistic ever since he was 18 months old. So, at 18 months, there was something that kind of happened where he just started, like regressing, like he was reaching all his milestones and talking and doing what he was supposed to do. But it just like stopped around 18 months, and I took him to see some specialists. They told me that he was too young to be diagnosed. But fast forward, he’s eventually diagnosed. And yeah, it’s been it’s been a journey. It’s definitely been a journey. And I think that’s why I really wanted to write the book, because I hear so many stories about people just finding out that their kids are autistic and their kids are like, 9 or 10, and they could have received help much earlier. I started my son in speech therapy literally around 18 months.
What has been the most beautiful part of raising him?
The most beautiful part is the way he loves me, because he is just such a sweet soul, and he’s such an innocent soul. So, he just loves; there’s good days, there’s bad days in motherhood like, where he’s not listening. So, we might have a conversation back and forth, and it might be a little scolding going on but it’s his innocence.
What were your emotions like when you found out he was autistic?
It was hard, because at first, I didn’t want to be in denial. And I think most parents, they can be in denial sometimes. And I want parents to know it’s okay, it’s not it’s not anything to be scared of. It’s really their superpower like they just see the world different, and that’s perfectly fine. We all see the world in our own lenses, but they have a different lens that they see the world in, and that’s perfectly fine. It’s not a disability. It’s their strength, it’s their superpower.
Cousin helped diagnose Yueh’s son
So, but the emotions I had, I definitely, you know, didn’t want to be in denial, and my cousin was actually the one that, like, kind of brought it to my attention, because I didn’t know what autism was. I really didn’t. I had no clue. I didn’t know any you know, people with autistic kids. And as I started doing my research, I’m like, okay, my son is showing symptoms of this. This, like, this is, you know, it’s looking very similar. I remember one night. It was actually the night before he had the appointment to be diagnosed. I remember just holding him, and I prayed to God. My prayer wasn’t, “Oh, God, don’t let, please don’t let him have this,” you know this, I don’t want him to have autism. That wasn’t my prayer. It was my prayer was, “Lord, prepare me to be a mother of an autistic child.” And that’s exactly what He did.
For that parent who recently received the autism diagnosis for their child, what would you want them to know?
I would want her to know that it’s okay. Yeah, like, literally, I had to just keep telling myself that it’s okay. It’s going to be hard. There’s going to be battles you’re going to face. There’s going to be a lot of sleepless nights, because autistic kids, their body doesn’t produce melatonin, like non-autistic kids do, so they have a real struggle with sleeping. So, there’s going to be sleepless nights. There’s going to be days where they have those episodes, those tantrums, and they can’t fight their aggression. It’s going to be difficult, but I want them to know it’s going to be okay. Just breathe like you’re going to get through this. It’s actually going to make you stronger, literally, like, it’s going to make you even more sensitive too.
