I approached this last Autism Awareness Month differently than I have in the past. Somehow, it’s not mine anymore…It’s hers. Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to fight for my daughter, Lizzie, every day, and I will openly share about our lives to help others understand the dire unmet needs of our community. But, experiencing autism for over fifteen years has allowed my emotions to stabilize and a different perspective to set in. This is how my Autism Awareness Day has changed over the years: It has only been…
‘Everyone has a different idea of what happiness looks like.’ Is my son happy? I think about that a lot. As do many parents of children who struggle to communicate. Who can’t show us. For a lot of years I honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. At age five my son didn’t laugh or smile much. He didn’t enjoy leaving our house. At home, he isolated himself a lot. He didn’t play or interact really. He was full of anxiety, only we didn’t know because anytime we asked…
I’m getting a tiny chuckle (with love of course) at the people panicking about social distancing. We have been social distancing for nine years. Not by choice of course. No one told us we had to do it. It more happened out of necessity. Because of autism. When someone in your family doesn’t understand the world we live in and the world doesn’t understand him or her in return…well, you stay home more often than not. Because home is safe. You learn to social isolate real fast. See, my sweet…
I decided to take a much needed nap yesterday while my baby slept. You know that old saying…sleep when the baby sleeps? I was practicing that. For the first time in ages. Because my baby, well, he is giving me a run for my money in the sleep department. I thought my older son was a bad sleeper? Ha. The newest Swenson says, ‘watch this.’ Anyhow, I slept for two glorious hours. And I woke up to the most beautiful sound. One I had never heard before. One I had only…
It’s funny how life seems to happen. And sometimes in the most bizarre ways. For nine years you social isolate, so much in fact, you almost forget how to socialize. You know you can’t go to Walmart, or candy stores or parks or even walk down the street safely. If there are crowds or lines or loud sounds it ain’t happening. So, you adjust. You figure it out. You learn to live and keep going. Then, suddenly, it seems to get easier. Not overnight. Far from it really. Instead after…
I can’t tell you the last spontaneous thing we have done as a family. I reckon it’s been eight years. Trips and outings are planned meticulously to help our kiddo be successful. But, well, when you realize you forgot his favorite paper to stim on, and you need to get out of the house so you don’t all lose your minds…you take a trip to town. (That’s what you say when you live in the country…you go to town!) You risk it. We are doing it. We couldn’t have even dared…
“He talks like a baby!” The young boy shouted excitedly to his friends. “Baby, baby, little baby!” The boy was inches from my sons face as he taunted him. His buddies all laughed. My son, just wanting to be part of the fun and play on the playground with these young boys, innocently smiled back at him. He didn’t realize he was the object of ridicule. He was simply happy that they were including him. What those boys didn’t know is that just the week before, my son said his…
My wife and I are nurses and have been at work during this pandemic. With schools closed we contemplated who would care for Grayson, our 5-year old son with autism. In our pre-Covid life, he attended school for a full day and received OT, PT, Speech, Counseling, Music, Art and Yoga Therapy in addition to the core academics. School was followed by ABA at home for 3 hours/day Monday-Friday. You guys know the drill…it’s A LOT!! We also have Nicolas our 19-year old neurotypical son who is in his 2nd…
Yesterday I was scrolling mindlessly through Instagram, as I usually do, when I saw a picture that stopped my finger mid-motion. It was a little girl I knew well. Her mom, a friend of mine. We were pregnant at the same time. We have slipped apart over the years, as we so often do. The photo was precious. The caption read, the last day of third grade. Third grade. Wow. For a second I thought, that can’t be right. I did the math. It was right. If my son was…
Hi. My name is Carrie. I have five kids, a handsome husband, and the best dog in the whole entire world. His name is Wolfie. My dog, not my husband. My husband’s name is Joe. We have four boys and one girl. Our second son, Jack, is diagnosed with autism. He is sixteen years old. He has had autism his whole entire life. I do not believe there is a cure. When I was young, I didn’t give a lot of thought to what kind of mother I might be.…
