Archive for May 2017
When Persistence Finally Starts To Pay Off
Many of you will look at this picture and see a boy drinking out of a cup and think…so what? This is a normal thing. How is that a big deal? To a parent that has a kiddo that struggles with using a straw, drinking water, using a cup, swallowing, pooping, using his lips, frustration, fear, rigidity, learning, trying new things, regressing…this is so much more than a picture of a boy drinking out of a cup. This is a picture of five long years of struggles finally coming together.…
Read MoreCost Effective Health Insurance
I want to share some of the craziness that is managing my Autistic son’s benefits. I am very vocal about how everything is a fight…and the services are in a vacuum. The right hand isn’t talking to the left hand. And it’s exhausting. To be honest, managing my son’s benefits is a full time job. I mean that wholeheartedly. Six months ago I learned about Cost Effective Health Insurance Premium Reimbursement. So, listen up if you live in the state of Minnesota. And, if you live in another state, it’s…
Read MoreAutism and Age
Have you stopped thinking of your Autistic child as a certain age? I think I sorta have. While Cooper is six…cognitively, socially, behaviorally, emotionally, he is all over the board. He ranges from six months to probably four years old. Yes, he wears 6T clothes. And yes, he was born in 2010. On paper he is six years old. But in my mind, he is almost his own unique age. And, I don’t think it even is a number. In my world…age and autism don’t correlate. Having a disabled child…
Read MoreFacing a Weekend Alone with Autism
I like to give insight into my world because I think it’s really eye opening. I heard a quote once that an Autism Parent is prepared for war at all times. I think that is true. As a mom to an Autistic six year old and incredibly active four year old, I know our limits. Cooper’s daddy is going on a fishing trip this weekend and I’m flying solo with the boys. This means no going to grocery stores, no drive thru’s, no gas stations, or parks and I have…
Read MoreEducating Police Officers About Autistic Behaviors
Autism and law enforcement is a hot topic in the news right now. Stories like the one about the ten year old boy with Autism who was arrested at his school in Florida are all over my Facebook news-feed. I continue to get questioned about it by friends and family. How do I feel about it? As a mom to a little boy with severe, nonverbal Autism my answer is…SCARED. And it’s not just about law enforcement. It’s by teachers, therapists, doctors and even strangers. I could go on and…
Read MoreWhen the Autism Checklists are Wrong
I like to talk about common misconceptions surrounding Autism because I was lead astray by well-meaning friends, loving family members, a guilty, worried conscious, and the damn internet. I like to talk about misconceptions around autism because I was so confused before I knew. Before I REALLY knew. And lost. And scared. I was so desperate for my son to NOT be autistic that I believed anything I read on the internet…or that was told to me. I was a new mom with a beautiful, smart, cuddly baby boy. A baby…
Read MoreI Never Lost My Son…In A Way, It Felt Like I Never Had Him.
I want to talk about the first three years of Cooper’s life because they were the saddest of mine. I had dreamt of becoming a mother for years. It was the thing I wanted most in my life. And then in the blink of an eye I was a mama to a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Except from day one something wasn’t right. Only, I couldn’t describe it and to make it worse it was like no one believed me. My son didn’t need me for anything besides a bottle…
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