April is Autism Awareness Month. Prior to my son’s diagnosis, I never knew this month even existed. That’s how it typically goes I guess. People don’t pay attention until it’s their life. I get it. That was me pre-Autism. Now, my whole world is an Autism Awareness Month. I have a six-year old with nonverbal, severe Autism, and I invite you to take a peek inside our secret world. Autism can be scary, isolating, beautiful, humorous, amazing and sad. I, along with many other families, live in this world. Honestly, having…
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There is a stigma around depression. A really, really ugly one. And I think there’s especially a stigma around mothers who have depression. If you’re depressed, you’re weak. Broken. You are medicated. You cry a lot. You sleep a lot. This isn’t true. At least not for me. I have a wonderful life. Two beautiful children. Three wild dogs. A wonderful and supportive partner. A beautiful home. I’m not weak. I am strong. I am freakishly independent. And I am not broken…at least not completely. I am not medicated. And on…
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Have you ever wondered that? I used to all the time. I would be at a particularly low point in our Autism journey and I would ask that question to my mom or a friend or a doctor. And no one would tell me the truth. I just needed to hear if it was going to get easier or get harder. I needed an honest answer. The problem was I was asking the wrong people. I’m not surprised I get asked this question every day by parents of newly diagnosed…
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I shared a video on Facebook today about our first visit to a Naturopath. There was quit the response and 99% of it was positive. That’s a pretty great feeling. I am bringing my son to a Naturopath solely to work on his stomach complications. We have reach a dead end with traditional GI doctors. My son has not had an in-medicated poop in over 4 years. My kid is 6. That is messed up. I am hoping this Naturopath can work with us on diet modifications. I am hoping he…
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The number one question I receive as an Autism mom is what benefits do I get for my son and how did I obtain them. Cooper receives Medical Assistance through the state. This is also known as Medicaid. I will gladly tell you what I know about the program. He also receives a few other services but I will save those for a different post. First, you need to find out what your state offers for benefits. Please understand that every state is different. Here is the link to the Federal…
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There were two huge things I needed in the beginning of my Autism mom journey. I needed someone to tell me what to do and I needed someone to validate me. I kept seeking out a friend or a mom or a doctor that could understand what I was going through, validate how hard it was and tell me what direction to take. I never found it. There were times when I’d joke that I wasn’t qualified to make these huge, life changing decisions for another person. I wasn’t an…
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I will openly admit that the hardest part of the Autism mom journey for me was missing out on milestones, typical parts of childhood development and overall special moments with my son. I dreamt of first words and teaching him to ride a bike and our first camping trip. I didn’t get most of them and if I did they were usually really upsetting for all of us. And at my lowest, saddest times, typically after an event like the first day of kindergarten or his birthday, I even felt…
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I want to talk about Mommy Guilt. It’s a real thing. And on top of that I want to layer on Special Needs Parenting Guilt. The stakes are way higher. Every decision or lack of decision is huge. Should I try one more therapy? Should I visit one more doctor? How much is enough? I feel it every single day. And I want to let you in on a little secret…No one is harder on me than me. I love my kid more than anything and the worry that I’m…
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I called you today, friend. You knew today was the day. The day of the appointment. You told me that whatever the outcome I should call right away, or at least text. You said you would be right over. Like the true friend that you are you said I could cry and drink wine and we could either talk about my stress and fear or just sit and do nothing. Either way you would listen. I want to thank you for that. I needed it. Just knowing that you care…
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I would like to introduce you to Jess, a 29-year-old woman with Autism and cortical blindness. Much like many of my favorite people, Jess came into my life in the virtual way. I stumbled upon her through Instagram. And I fell in love with this vivacious, funny, southern Belle. I asked her mother, Val, who blogs at Autistic Interpretations to write a post for Finding Cooper’s Voice. I hope that you all are as intrigued by Jess as I am. My name is Val, and I am the mother of…
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