When You Count Your Blessings Do You Count Autism?

We are all too familiar with many of the struggles and negative aspects of Autism. Not only do we live these challenges every day, but we share them. Because they are the hard, the nitty gritty that we need to talk about..to educate, to make people aware and to foster understanding. My son, Stalen was diagnosed on the spectrum when he was 21 months old. He is almost 6 and non-verbal. Autism is not only a part of my son’s identity, it contributes to making him the amazing little boy…

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Our Sibling Journey Looks Different Than Theirs

My oldest daughter had a close friend growing up who’s mom was pregnant at the same time as me. The girls were around 11 at the time and both were excited to be getting baby sisters. After we each gave birth, about a month apart, we would compare how the babies were growing whenever we saw each other. I remember my daughter was much smaller than her daughter. As the months passed, her daughter crawled and then walked and formed words while mine didn’t. Mine drooled. A lot. Mine gained…

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Why Autism Awareness Matters to Me

Why is Autism awareness important? There are many reasons, but to me there is one that is most important. I am the mom to a seven-year-old little boy who happens to be autistic. Before my son, I had no idea what autism was. Sure… I had heard of it, here and there, but I couldn’t tell you what it meant. I wouldn’t have seen the signs in a stranger. When my son’s autism was discovered, everything suddenly changed. I began researching and learning everything I could. The truth is you…

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A Love Note to My Wife

Autism is hard! Hard for the diagnosed individual, the siblings, the family and on a marriage. When we said “I do” we never expected to embark on an autism journey and we definitely didn’t envision the vows “in sickness and in health” would apply to our unborn child. Autism has challenged our marriage in ways we could never imagine and it has enriched our marriage in ways nothing else could.  I could share some of the many autism moments, experiences, pitfalls, disappointments, lessons, achievements, challenges, and wins that got us…

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The Playground can be Isolating for a Special Needs Parent

If you live in a city apartment and don’t have your own backyard, the playground is THE place for kids to burn some energy and let off steam. Every other day we pack cookies, water, and a soccer ball and head to my most feared opponent. The park is packed with laughing children. Parents stand in groups and exchange the latest neighborhood gossip. Some have made themselves comfortable on carefully arranged picnic blankets, setting up a snack buffet that could feed half of the city. Others sit in the sand…

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A Letter to My Son, A Special Needs Sibling

A thank you letter to my Son… Being an older brother to a sibling with severe autism has not always been easy. It’s a job you never asked for but you took with stride. At times it was a very difficult  and that is putting mildly.  Thank you for loving your little sister wholeheartedly.  You were her light in the darkest of times when her life was filled with sensory overload, when nothing made sense to her little body and she was completely overwhelmed by our world. When she would…

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To My Incredible Husband – I Thank God For You

A life partner or soulmate is a person who accepts you for exactly who you are without the desire to change or fix you. There is a deep and unspoken respect between both partners.  Your strengths compliment theirs and you hold each other tightly during challenging times.  The healthiest relationships are rooted in open and frequent communication. Following my first marriage, it took time for me to feel comfortable in my own skin and redefine what truly makes me happy. Although I burdened myself with the assumption that I’d be a single…

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Telling the Story of a Boy with Autism

When I walked into the store, you were standing in the produce section near the fruit. The first thing I noticed about you was your jacket. I love that color blue, and it looked nice with your dark hair. I walked past you, and I almost tripped over an empty basket someone had left in the middle of the aisle. I glanced over my shoulder and I smiled. I rolled my eyes a little. “Who would leave their basket like this?” You looked up from your bag of apples, and…

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Finding Cooper’s Voice Awareness Shirts For Sale

Click below to check out our six new styles of shirts for sale! There are many options for colors and sizes. Shirts will be available until April 10 and will be delivered by Mother’s Day! Buy one for yourself or for someone in your life! <CLICK TO START SHOPPING >

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Heartbroken at the Airport-Special Needs Families Are Getting Denied at the Gate

On Saint Patrick’s Day, I got up at 3:00 a.m. had our bags packed the night before, ready for a trip with my baby girl to visit family in Montana. I filled a carry-on bag with new toys, snacks, hand sanitizer, charged headphones, and of course, our masks. That morning I woke up our two-year-old Nora, she meet me with a doe eyed look but was in good spirits. I changed her into a cute black shirt with toile on the bottom and slipped on a black hoodie paired with…

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