Why “The Lafaya Way”
What Happened to
“Raising ASP-Holes”?
Why “The Lafaya Way?”
Did you know that the original title of “The Lafaya Way” parenting book series was the highly controversial, “Raising Asp-Holes”?
Well if you don’t know, now you know! [RIP Biggie]
I was so proud of what I thought was a clever and catchy title that any parent struggling with a child diagnosed with Autism Spectrum, Aspergers, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, A-Typical features or whatever diagnosis is considered “kosher” these days, (since the diagnoses continue to change every time I turn around); would embrace with both arms and proclaim, “Oh yes, I too have a little “Asp-Hole” in the house.” There were many parents that did.
My dream was short-lived when I came to learn that some of the parents out there did not appreciate my wit and in fact felt as if it would just be one more troublesome label for their already ostracized kids. I must say, that although I didn’t fully agree with their concerns because “I knew“ that I used the term in love, yet I could understand why the parents were concerned or upset about the old title of the book series.
The original intention was to assist parents to identify, become accepting of, and provide tangible skills to heal and foster better relationships with their hypersensitive kids. I concluded each of my parenting books with, “My hope is to help struggling parents around the world proudly say, with help from the Lafaya Way, my kid is not such a little “Asp-Hole,” after all.”
All of the parents who had already worked with me or attended my workshops expressed a great appreciation for the title and the book series. Some even expressed how freeing it was to be able to refer to a tough situation in such a humorous way; it freed overwhelmed parents to feel a little less guilty about sometimes not liking their difficult to manage child.
Alas, there were other parents who were a lot less than thrilled with my play on words. Ultimately, I decided to let go of “Raising Asp-Holes” for “The Lafaya Way,” a much more tame and fitting title from a branding perspective.
I must say that it was difficult to let go of a title that I felt was a huge part of the creative downloading process that I had gone through to write the book series. The final straw for me, was when one of my parents with great intentions to help other parents with the information that had helped her and her family so much; shared the book with her online parenting group and then was promptly excommunicated from the group. I was floored by this loss of support for this mom due to my book title and immediately decided to lay to rest “Raising Asp-Holes” and “The Lafaya Way” series was born.
So, even though the title of the attached video is “Why Raising Asp-Holes,” now you know the story behind why it is now named, “The Lafaya Way.”
Peace and Love to you all. Stay you and stay true!
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