Archive for December 2016
I Can Say He’s Severely Autistic. But No One Else Can
Yesterday, we had a meeting with Cooper’s social worker. I am aggressively going for more services or as the state calls it…emergency services. It took me precisely three strongly worded emails and two phone calls (One where I sounded a bit crazy) to get a social worker in my home to evaluate Cooper. Not too bad. There is help out there. I need it. And I am demanding it. As I prepared for the in-home evaluation I typed up a list of Cooper behaviors. Let me note that the county…
Read MoreFirst Steps After Your Autism Diagnosis
After I received Cooper’s diagnosis of Autism I expected things to change overnight. I thought for sure we’d immediately start treatment or medicine or something and we’d begin to fix him. My child was sick. Let’s fix it now. We had an answer. We knew the source. Now we fix it. But that’s not how autism works. It’s not a disease. There is no curing it. There is no solution. There is managing it. There is navigating it. And it is straight up trial and error. If you’ve met one…
Read MoreA Little Mom Life Humor
I shared this on Facebook today and tagged my bestie. So funny. So true. The life of a mom. Quickly Cooper’s dad responded with how untrue it was. So I dug into Instagram and pulled up these gems from my life. They just keep getting better…. I see you mom. Mom, I see that you are pooping. Here, have some tea. Or would you prefer coffee. My two little sidekicks. Notice the raincoat. And that he’s in between my legs. And my personal favorite… I can’t remember the last time…
Read MoreAnd Then He Was Six
Yesterday was Cooper’s 6th birthday. My baby is 6. How can that be? Of course I knew this day was coming. And I prepared for the emotional impact it was going to have on me. Each year brings on new challenges. New services are needed. Services end. He will be done at Fraser in January. That’s a toughie. Our family moved here for Fraser. And it changed Cooper’s life. His needs are changing too. It is very apparent that Cooper has severe autism. Or low functioning autism. When he was…
Read MoreGetting More Services
Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was dealing with so many effects of Cooper’s disability. I spent over an hour talking to the county. I have decided to move forward with trying to get more services for Cooper. And this means confessing my whole life story to a random social worker that doesn’t know me or Cooper or sometimes anything about Autism. Telling our story is a lot. It makes me feel trapped. Sad. Embarrassed. Like a whiner. Uncomfortable. I feel like I am begging at times. And…
Read MoreTo The Parent of a Newly Diagnosed Child
Hiya there friend, Your child has just been diagnosed with Autism. You heard about me from a friend of a friend. Or maybe you found me on Instagram. Or you emailed me at 1 am as you were frantically googling autism in the middle of the night. You are so confused and scared. You feel like you’ve lost control of your life. I see you. I understand what you are feeling. I was you. I am you. You are going to look to me for hope. You are going to…
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