Adjusting to Our New Home

As of Saturday our family is officially moved into our new home! I wanted give all you wonderful people an update. I know many of you genuinely care about our family and how Cooper is doing. Can I just say moving is hard with or without an autistic child. It’s exhausting. It’s so much work. It’s expensive. There are also so many variables that can go wrong and we actually had a few on the day of closing. It all worked out though. Thank goodness. If it hadn’t we would…

Read More

New Video: Finding Balance Outside of your Home

In this video I discuss how fantastic my son is doing right now. He is happy, healthy, and thriving in every area. Every day continues to be the best and happiest day of his life. Our family feels calm and relaxed. It’s been an amazing few months. But, we also realized that Cooper has literally only been going to and from therapy and to visit families houses. That is it. Otherwise, he is home. We want and need him to be able to have successful outings outside of our home.…

Read More

As Autism Awareness Month Comes to a Close

As we come to the end of Autism Awareness Month, I feel inclined to write this.  I have read opinions from both sides of the fence on this topic that are in abundance lately (probably something to do with Autism Awareness Month, ya think?), so I feel the need to offer up my two cents.  I know you can hardly contain yourself! I, like many other autism parents, follow a lot of Facebook support pages and other social media pages for parents who have children on the spectrum, as well as various other bloggers.  I have seen several…

Read More

Autism Outside the Safety Net of Home

Yesterday, Jamie pulled me aside and asked if I thought Cooper was acting more autistic than usual. I told him no. Now before you gasp at that statement, know that it comes from love. And an increase in autistic type behaviors means pain, anxiety and other areas of concern. If we see him all of a sudden head hitting, lining up objects, closing doors, etc., we know that something is wrong. And we dive in and try and figure it out. When a child is not verbal and not able…

Read More

What Is Versus What Should Have Been

There is an emotion that lives inside me now that I can’t really describe. It’s a mix of heartache, anxiety, helplessness and a feeling of being overwhelmed. There is actually a term for it. It’s called “Chronic Sorrow”. I feel sometimes like I live a double life. One with my older girls and friends being myself and another in this adaptive world we have created for our daughter Isla. Even when I am away from autism…I still feel like I live it. There is no escape and I have changed. I…

Read More

Divide and Conquer: A Way of Life for our family

This morning Sawyer had a family breakfast at his preschool. When we initially saw the invite we knew that if both Jamie and I wanted to attend we’d have to make arrangements for someone to watch Cooper and bring him to school. At this time, he is unable to attend an event such as this. It’s our reality. He doesn’t sit or participate. He isn’t safe. And it would make the experience not enjoyable for Sawyer. And that’s not fair. When I think about our family, one of my greatest…

Read More

Inclusion at Church

This morning we are becoming members of a new church. This is our place. We love it there. Of course we had to find someone to watch Cooper. He can’t go. He can’t sit or be calm. This would be setting him and our family up for failure. I like to be honest with you. I’m sad and a little bit angry. But not at anyone or anything. Just the situation. It plain old sucks. I hate that we can’t all go. I hate that everything is such a big…

Read More

That Moment When

For some reason I thought about autism when my girls were babies. I kept track of their milestones, and as they grew, I was reassured when they continued meeting them within the normal range. A new school for autism was being built just down the street from us when our first was a baby, and I remember thinking to myself, “I sure hope we won’t ever have a need for that school”. I thought about autism with our son Austin as well. Just once when he was a newborn. I remember…

Read More

It’s Going to be Okay, Because You Will Make it Okay

I often get overwhelmed by life. Parenting, working, surviving, money, winter, whatever. You name it. I’m human. But typically, the worries I carry around life have answers that I can see. I may not always be able to do them or fix the problem but I do know what I ‘should’ do. I don’t always feel like that with my son’s autism. I feel like the questions are more confusing. They are harder. They are unique. I often feel like the questions and concerns live in the grey area. It’s…

Read More

Let Your Child Show You The Way

As a young child, my son Cody was always full of energy and often became dysregulated and would have meltdowns and tantrums for hours at a time. I remember sitting against his bedroom wall just watching him during one of these meltdowns to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. There was really nothing I could do. I just made sure he was safe. Those were very hard times in our journey. I didn’t know what he needed and felt so helpless. I can say I look back and I now…

Read More