The comment said…It’s always about the special needs kids. You parents are always whining for them to get everything.” That comment was from a while back and it was in response to a post about how children with special needs/disabilities were forgotten during covid. A bold statement yes, but also true. It was made be a lady. One the same age as me. One with kids. She felt that everything is just handed to kids in special education. The statement has been in my head for a week now. Running…
I read a post this morning from the amazing Jillian Benfield about IEP Wounds. I believe everyone should read it. And I believe that words come into our lives at the exact moments we need to read them and feel them. I felt the tears start to fall this morning while I simultaneously nodded along with her words. I’m not going to rewrite what she wrote because she said it perfectly. But here is what I want to tell you. After yesterday, I, me, my husband, our son, we have…
Often, to me, it feels like raising children can be likened to playing a long game. Solid parenting seems to be an exhausting process of doing “all the right things” and then having hope that we will see the fruits of our many labored years down the road. Sure, there are hints along the path that we’re heading in the right direction. Although, it will be decades before we really know if all of the encouragement, guiding, talking, showing, loving and repeating things ad nauseam (“hands are not for hitting!”)…
Dear Sully, I hope you get to experience what it’s like to have a true friend. I hope you get to experience what it’s like to fall in love and be loved in return unconditionally. I hope we get to attend your wedding someday and be those proud parents of the groom. I hope we get to stand in the hospital room and hold our beautiful grandbabies who have a huge heart and are extremely intelligent just like you. I hope you get to experience what it’s like to live…
Dad here. Big Dude is a perpetual three-year-old but many times we see him mature and show a different side of himself that makes Mom and me scratch our heads and ask rhetorically, “Where did that come from?” One such ritual is Big Dude’s insistence that I am fully dressed for the day from the moment we greet each other. Big Dude picks out my shirt. There are several that are his favorites. He chooses my trousers, shoes, and socks. If I am standing he will often push me gently…
5 Key Things Autism Siblings Wish Parents Did Differently. Note: Autism siblings in this article refer to: – neurotypical siblings, autistic siblings, neurodivergent siblings AND those that are undiagnosed but “treated” as neurotypical In 2016 I hit my rock bottom. Even though I lived in my dream city, London, I was completely burned out. My own mother didn’t recognize me, I was battling with sudden panic attacks, anxiety and depression. Little I knew it was a blessing in disguise. This was a pivotal moment for me to start diving deep…
What is it like raising a child with autism? It’s everything at once. It’s glimmers of hope. It’s heartbreaking. It’s celebrating the big and little wins. It’s grieving what you thought would be but isn’t. It’s loving your child as they are with your entire being. It’s sometimes yearning for ‘normalcy’. It’s elation. It’s despair. It’s utter exhaustion beyond imagination. It’s gratitude. It’s loneliness. It’s inspiring. It’s crying yourself to sleep for fear about the future when we’re gone. It’s love. It’s sometimes no progress and lots of regression. It’s coming…
I stood alone on a dark bridge on a warm summer night. I listened to the creek below as it attempted to drown out the sound of my children and their cousin, playing several yards away. We were at an unfamiliar park for a small family gathering. I left my two kids with my husband and some family to walk across the park and get some alone time, a rarity for any mother. As I wandered, I came across the bridge surrounded by tall trees, which blocked out any street…
About a year ago, my daughter was invited to her first school birthday party since the pandemic. It was a relief but my heart also skipped a beat. I had feared not being invited for so long and kept hoping if it did happen she wouldn’t notice. I was nervous but she wanted to go. She was in second grade and still in a general education class at the time. This was going to be a party filled with typical kids and their parents. I was on edge the entire…
To those little ones–those brave little Children–whose shadows stretch longer and higher than the wisest & oldest grown-ups— To those little ones that take my daughter’s hand–wait patiently and without knowing— never give up— on her. Your hearts are bigger and brighter than the biggest apple on the tree. To those little ones who turn my daughter’s head In the right direction– Who lift her chin to make sure that she too gets to see the greatness of your Tower– and how good you did! and to those who see…
