Archive for May 2016
I Am This Mom
This image has been going around Facebook for a few weeks now with the following caption: Disabled people in US: 19% Transgender people in US: 0.03% THIS is the bathroom issue I am more concerned about. Having a private place to change my beloved son with dignity, privacy, and cleanliness…not on a dirty bathroom floor with a large cot I have to carry everywhere with us. We consider ourselves “fortunate” when we can find large private family bathrooms like the one pictured…but most places are stalled restrooms where even the…
Read MoreCooper's Talking Device
Hi all, I wanted to share a video of Cooper’s talking device. Cooper has been using it at school for a little over 3 months and we are just starting to use it at home. Much like everything else I find it to be a little overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like it’s just ‘another’ thing we are trying. But in saying that his speech therapists are RAVING about his successes with it. He can say up to 6 word sentences. An example would be: ‘I want to eat yogurt please.’…
Read MoreI See You…Perfect For Today
I am so glad I saw this today. On the way to work this morning I was thinking about how hard it is to raise babies. It’s exhausting and challenging and tiring and wonderful and amazing. For any of you that know me you probably saw on Facebook that Sawyer put sand in my lawn mower gas tank last night. And then stripped down naked and ran around my front yard destroying plants. As I chased him around my yard screaming I had a silent chuckle at the neighbors watching…
Read MoreA Nonspeaking, Autistic Teenager, Wrote An Incredibly, Profound Letter Explaining Autism
I found another amazing article about autism! While I am struggling to write about our own journey it appears that autism is becoming more and more popular in society. YAY! Every time I open up Facebook I see another article or blog that is changing lives and perceptions. Gordy, a nonspeaking, autistic teenager, wrote an incredibly, profound letter explaining autism….one letter at a time. See his letter below. Here is a link to the full article. What touches me the most is how he talks about the reasons autistic people…
Read MoreNonverbal Autism
I say the words ‘nonverbal autism’ daily. Cooper isn’t just autistic…he is nonverbal. It adds another layer. A really difficult layer. It adds severe frustration. It adds yelling and screaming and sometimes scary, loud noises. It adds a lot of head hitting. And mostly it removes a lot of layers of simple every day interactions. I will spend minutes staring at Cooper and wonder what he is thinking. Wondering if he is happy. Wondering what he would say to me if he could. Wondering if he understands me. Talking devices…
Read MoreLearning to Say Yes…
I know I’ve been gone forever. I go through these droughts where I don’t know what to say about Cooper. Trust me I have hundreds of things I could write about but the words don’t seem to flow out. Maybe I am too tired. Or overwhelmed. I don’t really have an answer. We are still having major potty training struggles and successes. Cooper is pee trained but his pooping is worse than ever. We have made the decision to keep Cooper at Fraser day treatment for one more year. So…
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