My son Logan has been in public school since the beginning of his autism diagnosis. Something I wasn’t always sure of doing with a special needs child. Because the truth is that sending your nonverbal child to public school is terrifying. I’ve read the stories. I’ve seen the news. I feared for sending my beautiful boy to a place that may not protect him. It weighed so heavily on me. I was so afraid he wouldn’t be understood. That they wouldn’t be compassionate or patient with him. That they wouldn’t…
A letter to my son Cooper: My son, you matter. I feel the need to say that today. Loudly. To all of these people who read about you. Who love you and want to learn about you. Not to remind myself. Or you. Because I know you are amazing. I know that you work harder than anyone I know to do the things that most people take for granted. In the beginning, when you were diagnosed with autism, I was told all the things you would never do. The list…
If you are the parent to a child who receives special education services, have you started to prepare their back to school transition plan? My son will be entering third grade in just a few short weeks! Every day we talk about the first day of school, the number on the calendar, seeing his friends again for recess and his favorite: gym class! Heading back to school is a huge transition for our kids. Some are off to new buildings, some have new teams, some are eager to go back…
This photo. I know it looks so ordinary. Two kids. Tweens actually. A silly younger brother photobombing. It’s anything but ordinary. It’s extraordinary really. My son is 12 years old. He was diagnosed with nonspeaking autism at age 3. And I’ve wondered from the very beginning if he’d ever have a friend. Her name is Peyton. They met at school. Her diagnosis doesn’t matter to him. Or us. She does all the talking. She holds his hand a lot. He kisses her on the forehead. She tells him what to…
To the mother with her adult son at Thomas the Train: You had the oldest child here. I’m guessing he was 25. Your son was tall. He was a man. He even towered over you. I saw him immediately when you arrived. He was practically levitating he was so excited. It was like he had an aura around him. His joy. It radiated. He ran in. Loud. Arms a moving. He ran right up to Thomas and started chatting to himself. Fingers stimming. Head down. Twisting back and forth like…
My sweet boy, I used to get so upset when people stared at you. Angry. Defensive even. You’d be flapping your hands. Or making happy noises. Communicating nonverbally. The only way you knew how. One second you’d be on the floor and the next running only to drop to the ground, roll, laugh and pat the ground. Or you’d be frustrated by the world. Telling me with sounds, not words, what was wrong. I’d look around. Make eye contact with a stranger or two. And look away. I’d think in…
Sometimes something small will remind me how far we both have come on this journey. My autistic daughter loves getting a mani/pedi. She comes with me to every appointment. She looks forward to it and she loves going on IG looking at nail colours for her upcoming visit. It wasn’t always this way. In fact, my daughter used to struggle with outings. There were stretches of time we didn’t/couldn’t leave our home. Salons are loud. They are always full of people with music playing tools running and all of that…
Our family has settled into life with autism. We know that when we go on an outing we need to be prepared for all scenarios. Honestly it has become second nature. It is how we operate. We accept it. Last night I was watching a TV show. It was featuring a family of four who were preparing to move ‘off the grid’ in Alaska. Their oldest child was maybe seven or eight. Their youngest was around two (a year younger than Lexi). As I was watching this family with their…
Nobody ever told me that when I brought children into this world that there was a possibility that I may have a “forever child”. Of course, all three of my children are forever mine. However, one will forever be with me until I can no longer care for her on my own. Nobody ever told me I would teach my child to talk and that I would hear those words come from her early. I would see small gestures come from her tiny hands to accompany those words…only to have…
Cooper, Last night you were upstairs with your brother. It was long past your bedtime…which for Sawyer isn’t strange. That kid would stay up all night long. But not you typically. You have an internal alarm that tells you when it’s 9 pm and it’s game over. Up to bed you go with 7 blankets and a pile of treasures so high it takes you two trips up the stairs. But last night was different from some reason. I heard your sounds first. Laughing. Squeals. Little screams. Hums. Giggles. You…
