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What Having A Child With Autism Has Taught Me
When my son was first diagnosed on the spectrum I immediately dove into research. That’s the kind of mom I was. I wanted to be educated. I wanted to help my son in every way possible. Of course I took a few days to be really sad. I’m not scared to admit that. The diagnosis, although not unexpected, hit me like a ton of bricks. I remember I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I didn’t know what to do, how to act, or where…
Read MoreInvisible No More: Day 30 of 30
April is Autism Awareness Month and my Invisible No More Project. Autism, like many other disabilities, is an Invisible Disability. I have shared the pictures and stories of 29 beautiful children with the intention of inspiring you and providing hope. The isolation that parents of disabled children feel can be suffocating. I feel it often as well. You are not alone. Other parents are experiencing the same things. Today is day 30 of 30. Here is my son’s story. The Beginning Cooper was diagnosed with ASD at age three. As…
Read MoreFirst Steps After Your Autism Diagnosis
After I received Cooper’s diagnosis of Autism I expected things to change overnight. I thought for sure we’d immediately start treatment or medicine or something and we’d begin to fix him. My child was sick. Let’s fix it now. We had an answer. We knew the source. Now we fix it. But that’s not how autism works. It’s not a disease. There is no curing it. There is no solution. There is managing it. There is navigating it. And it is straight up trial and error. If you’ve met one…
Read MoreA Good Reminder
When Cooper wakes up in the middle of the night and comes to my bed he touches my face. He usually rubs my forehead and lays his hand on my cheek. It is so gentle that sometimes it takes me a second to register he is even there. Although he struggles with social cues, emotions, showing love, controlling his anger, etc., he is hands down the sweetest child I have ever met. I can’t even summarize his innocence with words. I don’t know how people could give up. It’s just…
Read MoreWhy Did I Stop Writing….
I get so many emails from people wondering where I am. Emails wondering if Cooper is ok. If I am ok? People that genuinely care about Cooper and his development reach out to me on a daily basis. These emails and messages warm my heart. And I am so thankful for them. It reminds me that Cooper’s journey is helping others. That is amazing. I can remember the blogs that got me through. I would read them from start to finish in a night while drinking a bottle or two…
Read MoreA Photo a Week Challenge: Joy
Joy. What gives you pure joy? For me, it’s my kids, my husband and my dogs. Yes, they make me feel like a constant passenger on the bi-polar express but that’s not important right now. Nancy Merrill Photography asks ‘share a photo that expresses joy.’ I LOVE THIS IDEA! And I had fun searching for one as well. This picture is Cooper’s personality in a nutshell. A combination between pure joy and pure emotion. We are at Lake Superior throwing rocks into the big lake. Cooper’s favorite activity of all time.…
Read MoreLoving the Liebster Award.
A huge THANK YOU to my fellow blogger, Time Out (Raising Chilldren) for the Liebster award nomination. I am loving these awards because they are way for us to all get to know each other. Plus, I LOVE that I get to share my favorite blogs with my fellow readers. So lucky Liebster’s have to do the following: Thank the blogger who nominated you. Answer the 11 questions given to you. Nominate 11 other blogs with less than 500 followers. Post 11 questions for your nominees to answer. Tag your nominees &…
Read MoreBlog of the Year Award 2013
Hi All, So I am super new to this whole world of personal blogging. I have managed a finance blog, Sense and Centsibility, for a few years now and this is a whole different game. I love that I can be so honest about my journey as Cooper’s mom and give/take support from other moms. It’s been amazing. I am so excited to say that a fellow blogger, Running After Ale, honored me with this blog award! This award was created by The Thought Palette. From this blog you can find…
Read MorePlease Let This Be Our Year
This is a hard post to write but I need to do it. I need to know there are other moms out there who feel like I do. I love my son. I love every single thing about him. He is my life. But there are moments when I would give anything for him to change. Having a child who doesn’t talk is really, really lonely. There are no ‘mama’s or I love you’s.’ There are no ‘why’s or ‘I do its.’ The car ride home from daycare is the…
Read MoreRaising a Child With Needs and Your Marriage
Having a baby changes your whole life. Time changes. The days are long. I used to say, “Cooper gets us up at the crack of dawn and doesn’t quit until he collapses at bedtime.” Before we had Cooper, our marriage was very strong. We wanted a baby so badly and got pregnant easily. When you are pregnant, and even before, you picture what life with this baby is going to be like. My husband went to college on a baseball scholarship and I played sports as well so I pictured…
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