Posts by Kate Swenson

I just came from church. I went alone today. I could have brought my two younger children but honestly, I needed 60 minutes to myself to sit and think. I chuckle at what I consider to be a ‘relaxing break’ now. Anyhow I don’t often talk about church on this page. Because like politics and vaccinating and puzzle pieces and the color blue, it can anger people. And that isn’t what my mission is about. I refuse to argue about autism. Not anymore. I’m too busy making sure my son…

I have a story to share with you. A little long possibly, but worth the read. My son Cooper is 14 years old. He has a diagnosis of nonverbal/nonspeaking autism. He loves trains and swimming and asks me every single day to go to outer space with his friends, the Little Einsteins.He is in 8th grade. He communicates in a variety of ways. Some words and sounds. Gestures. A speech device. Sign language. Typing. And most recently a cell phone.He’s never quiet. He loves to take photographs. When he’s feeling…

Today is my son Sawyer’s 12th birthday. Which is a really big deal. Because according to him he’s basically 16. I am a storyteller. At least I consider myself one. I think our stories are what complete us. And telling stories about Sawyer are my favorite. And I write them down so one day, when I am old and grey, we will have them to look at. This is my favorite Sawyer story… We had arrived at Cooper’s school to pick him up for the day. It was Jamie, Sawyer,…

My son, I used to be so scared of different. Of standing out. I preferred to blend in. Not rock the boat as they say. But you kid. You changed all that. You were born to stand out. To be different. When you were little I’d get so scared. The fear would almost paralyze me. In a way you were fearless because you didn’t care what people thought. And I’ll admit, that frightened me. We’d be in a waiting room or at a park. Everyone else would be sitting. Or…

A while back we visited an arcade. It was a big adventure for our family of six. Our second son loves all things gaming. And our 3 and 6 year olds love tagging after their older brother. And Cooper, our eldest son, he is just starting to take in the world outside of our home. He loves exploring and experiencing the world on his own terms. He is fourteen years old. He loves trains and postcards with animals on them. He also has autism. He is autistic. And according to…

My son Cooper has always reached for a hand to hold when we are in the community. But not just any hand. Typically only mom or dad. He likes the comfort of us walking alongside him. Usually we lead. Or we walk side-by-side. And as he’s gotten older, he’s even started to lead more. But he’s always only an arms length away. We are his safe spot. His translator. His buffer. His armor. We help him decipher. We explain. We protect. We walk. We often refer to him as a…

This morning I was running around getting four kids ready to leave the house, even earlier than usual. We had a sensory friendly showing of Moana 2 to attend. Cooper was the most excited. He’s been counting down the days for weeks. See his two best friends we’re going too. Up and dressed and ready to go and saying…’DDD-EEE-X-TER’ every time I walked by. It was a bit chaotic to say the least. Packing a bag, a special snack and drink for Cooper, headphones, hats, coats, and gloves (it’s 4…

Hope. Gosh I hear that word a lot. Have hope. Never give up hope. All we can do is hope. If we give up hope, than what do we have left. In the world of autism, hope is a hot topic. Because for some reason, people question if I’m hoping for the right things. Hope and I have had a rocky relationship over the last few years. For years I hoped nothing was wrong with my baby. Then I hoped my toddler would catch up. And then I hoped that…

Progress over Perfection.That’s a phrase I think about a lot. In the most challenging years of our son’s life, post autism diagnosis, it felt like we were frozen in time.Or moving backwards even. But never forward.Our son was in pain, but we didn’t know why or what. He didn’t sleep or communicate. He hurt himself and us. He rarely smiled.For years it seemed like he wasn’t made for this big, confusing world. And to top it off, the world didn’t seem to want him either.But we didn’t give up on…