Seeing your child off to school leaves you as an emotional wreck.
You realise you can't be there to pander to their every need, they now rely on their teachers, not you.
You remember the times you couldn't wait for them to start, leaving you to wonder why the thought ever crossed your mind.
Sending a teen to school is much of the same, because the older they become the less reliant they are on you, the gap widens as they want to spend more time with their friends than you, their mum.
You spend your days wondering if they are fitting in, making friends, adjusting with ease, as they have to find their own way.
However, when your teen suffers with autism it's difficult for them to make friends, as their social skills will be little to non existent.
This is when Cara Thulin realised as a mum, there is something you can do to help your teen adjust; she wrote a Facebook post.
Mum shared a post directed toward parents, students and teachers of Kickapoo, Missouri, on the social media site, knowing there was a greater chance of students paying attention.
Revealing to all that her son is now amongst their 'ranks' in school by holding his class ID, Cara asks for some help, as she explains: "His brain grew up differently than a lot of ours."
"It grew up focusing on protecting Zeke from being overwhelmed by sounds, light, textures, and smells. His senses are stronger than ours. [...] He missed out on all that social training we didn't even realise we were getting."
"He runs to class, he doesn't know his graduation year, he gets really confused in busy hallways, and he loves that he can tell what year you are by the colour of your ID badge."
Acknowledging the difficulties that come hand in hand with autism, the mum-of-two requests some simple acts of kindness from students and teachers alike.
"If you see this kid, say 'Hi Zeke!' and don't get offended if he doesn't respond. He heard you. And he feels a little more confident now that someone knows his name. Ask if he's doing okay, if he likes class, or if he has any questions."
"Compliment his band T-shirts. He LOVES Panic! At the Disco. He may answer you. He may stare at the floor. He may run away. But he'll know that you care."
And knowing that someone cares is exactly what Zeke needs during moments which may be normal for me or you, but can be incredibly overwhelming for him.
"I promise you, it will help him feel better than he does when people laugh at him. Because he does notice when people laugh at him. He just doesn't know why," added Cara.
In turn, Mum is asking that people show a little kindness: "I am raising a very VERY strong kid. Please do me a favour and raise very kind kids in return."
It doesn't take a lot for us to make our children aware of kindness, and the joy it can bring to people regardless of how they may be able to express themselves - let's encourage more kindness mums.
