Posts by Kate Swenson

My son Sawyer is 10 years old. He is a younger brother and and an older brother. Sandwiched in between 3 siblings. A few days ago we took some time together. I got a babysitter for the other three and we went to the river. We got Takis and Prime and worms. A ten year olds dream. We fished for an hour. He caught a dozen and a turtle. We talked about baseball and hockey and a girl with blonde hair. We walked to dinner. We went for a boat…

He is tethered to me. This son of mine. It connects us at all times, his lifeline. As he’s aged the rope has started to reach farther. I can move throughout the house without him following me from room to room. But he knows. He always knows where I am. I can go in the front yard and visit with neighbors. He waits for me, typically on the porch or just inside the glass storm door, watching. The tether seeming to expand and contract. I can go on my nightly…

My son Cooper is 12 years old. He said his first word at age 8. It was mom. Only he said it slowly, each letter drawn out as if he was plucking them down from the sky. M. AW. M. It was the most beautiful word I had ever heard. Today he has 20 or so words. Mom. Dad. Cooper. Sawyer. Harbor. Sister. Help. More. Eat. Juice. Water. Milk. Chicken. He doesn’t say them unprompted very often. And when he does say them most people can’t understand them. But that’s…

‘I feel like a fraud.’ That’s how I started my presentation to a wonderful group of teachers and staff today. ‘I feel like a fraud because I have no idea where my son fits into the world of education. And I’m scared to say it might be nowhere.’ My name is Kate and I have four children. They are 12, 10, 4, and 2. My oldest has a diagnosis of severe, nonverbal, level 3 autism. His name is Cooper. Nothing with him is typical. It’s always been a battle to…

Last night I was just a mom. That reads funny, I know. I mean, I have four kids. I’m always ‘just’ a mom. I pack lunches and wash blankets. I kiss owies and scrub grass stains out of baseball pants. I give baths and hold hands and know all the passwords and how to fix the wifi when it stops working. With my oldest, Cooper, it’s a bit different. At age three he was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism. And well, the game changed a bit. Suddenly I became more…

We used to not be able to have lamps in our home. That sentence right there. That’s the one that people always comment on when I say it during presentations. Then they chuckle when I follow it up with how for weeks we had to eat with headlamps on. In the dark. At our kitchen table. I’m sharing this here because my son Cooper just had one of his best weekends ever. And I spent a little time last night looking at old photos and remembering the beginning of our…

Two weeks ago my autistic son went to his younger brother’s baseball game for the first time. He stayed 15 minutes. A few nights after that he went for the whole two hour game. A few nights after that we brought our youngest daughter with us. And then most recently, Spider-Man (our 4 year old) came too. Which, if you add it all up, means all six of us were at a baseball game together. It was not effortless. Not by any means. It was work. I don’t think me…