The Beautiful Parts of Stimming

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One of my missions with this page is to give a glimpse inside our beautiful, unique world with severe, nonverbal autism. This photo is a perfect example. His mind is amazing.

Cooper is absolutely in love with family photos. He even uses them to communicate. Thankfully, over the years he has relaxed a bit around them too. He used to take them out of frames, take them off the wall, even break the glass. Now, he just gathers them up, carries them around, spreads them out, studies them, shares them with people in his world and even sleeps with them.

It’s pretty special to our family. In a sense, this is one of the ways he shows love.

As his parents, we watch this very carefully. We take a very focused stance on stimming. As long as it’s not causing our son anxiety, profoundly impacting our family or home life, or dangerous to Cooper or others, than stim away sweet boy. If you love photos of your family and want to enjoy them in this way…mom and dad support you in every way. But if he starts to get anxious around them we step in and help.

One funny part…Sawyer, our five year old, came downstairs this morning and immediately saw the photo circle. ‘What is that?’ he exclaimed. I told him it was his brother’s treasures. And he responded with, ‘I wonder what he is thinking when he does that?’ And that was that. Curious questions from a little boy about his brother. We welcome questions in our home.

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Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook and subscribe to our newsletter.

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Kate Swenson

Kate Swenson lives in Minnesota with her husband Jamie, and four children, Cooper, Sawyer, Harbor and Wynnie. Kate launched Finding Cooper's Voice from her couch while her now 11-year-old son Cooper was being diagnosed with autism. Back then it was a place to write. Today it is a living, thriving community of people who want to not only advocate for autism, but also make the world a better place for individuals with disabilities and their families. Her first book, Forever Boy, will be released, April 5, 2022.

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2 Comments

  1. L on September 28, 2018 at 8:01 am

    Hi Kate! Just wondering if you can clarify something- when you say you guys step in & help, what do you mean? I’m having a hard time knowing what to do.



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