Archive for April 2019
Have Courage
When you are nonverbal, it takes unbelievable strength to leave your home, where it’s safe and people understand you, to go out into the world. Imagine people not listening to you. Looking at them. Needing something. But the words don’t come out. Just screams. Grunts. You know what you want. It’s pretty simple to you. A drink of water. A specific show on your Kindle. Or imagine your ear hurts. Or the noise is too loud. It’s so obvious. But people just stare. So you scream some more. Frustration rises.…
Read More3 Autism Assumptions
So, it’s Autism Awareness month and if you are like me you kinda giggle when you get to the “awareness” part. Pretty sure most people are aware that autism exists but depending on what generation they fall in, autism exists in their mental image catalog as scenes from “Rainman” or the “Good Doctor” or “Atypical” all of which represent my daughter Isla, well, ZERO. Not even close. Here is just a quick look at some of the more common assumptions floating around and I’ll let Isla help me squash those…
Read MoreHer Spinning
I told her tonight that if she wanted to cuddle she would have to stop her wiggling and squirming. She was hiding underneath the blanket by my toes: giggling. Total sensory overload. She crawled out and laughed and flapped and I told her again. Things need to be structured to go smoothly. She wrapped her arms around me reluctantly avoiding too much touch and squeezed gently. The whole process so uncomfortable for her. “One, two, three, four…” We started together and then her counting became as always rapid and just…
Read MoreMaybe I am Delusional
I read your comment this morning. It was mostly a bunch of gibberish. I will never, ever understand why trolls have such terrible grammar. If you want to attack me, please don’t make me decipher what you are saying. But anyhow, this was one of my favorites of all time. You targeted my looks. Funny. You went after my kids too. Mostly Cooper. An 8 year old boy. You don’t seem to like him much. Which is weird. Because you don’t have to follow him. But I get it. The…
Read MoreThe Difference One Year Makes
Our family had a wonderful Easter day. We spent the day at my parent’s house. The boys had an Easter Egg Hunt and each got baskets. Their baskets were filled with goodies. Cooper especially loved his train magazines and flash cards. I saw so many amazing positives in Cooper’s day. Ones that others outside our world might not notice. He was so excited to get an Easter basket for one. Last year, he didn’t notice. Or care. He ate treats. Yes, you read that right. Cooper used to be so…
Read MoreI’m Thankful for my Unsung Hero
Its been almost 3 and half years since we received our son’s diagnosis of classic autism level 3. When we walked to the car that day I sat in my seat and just crumbled… As I sobbed and sobbed, you took my hand and said “we’ll get through this together.” You may not have known then but that’s exactly what I needed to hear. No one could have prepared us for this journey. The women and mother I was that day is not the same person I am today. Autism…
Read MoreIt Will Always Be Like This
It was a normal Monday afternoon. My boys were playing while I finished up my work on the computer. I closed the Macbook and started thinking about dinner when I heard a large thud followed by crying. My 20 month old had fallen off the toddler bed and hit his head. He was bleeding and a bump was forming. As I was trying to check it better and hold an ice pack on it, my sweet baby stopped breathing. He’d done this before. He gets so mad and screams and…
Read MoreHe’s Just Like Any Other Boy
I was making sure Austin didn’t follow someone through our gate the other day and this comment was made. “He’s just like any other boy” It’s not the first time this has been said to me, and I know it’s said with the intention to make me feel better and reassure me that Austin isn’t so different. That he is just like any other 5 year old boy. I don’t mind this comment because it is true. Austin can be like any other 5 year old. He wants what he…
Read MoreStress Levels of Parents of Autistic Children Comparable to Combat Soldiers
If you are on any social media channels, I’m sure you’ve seen the meme that reads, ‘autism moms have stress comparable to combat soldiers.’ It’s always floating around. And it catches my eye every single time I see it. That meme comes from a study done a while back by the University of Wisconsin Madison that monitored the stress levels of a group of mothers and their autistic children. The study lasted for 8 days and reported on their daily experiences. They were interviewed at the end of each day,…
Read MoreMy Sons have Autism
Those 4 words are just words, yet hold so much meaning to me. In February of 2018, my son who was 19 months old at the time, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder and Global Development Delay. And 6 months later my older son, 9 years old at the time, was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Pragmatic Language Disorder. My now 10 year old was diagnosed with ADHD-combined type in 2014. Nobody explained to me then I’d be fighting the battle…
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