Autism
They Have A Story to Tell Too
I have three sons. Most of you know Cooper. He has two younger brothers. A lot of folks ask about them. They want to know why I don’t share them more. Some are asking sincerely. Some equate photos on Facebook to love. Letting me know that I love my other two children less than Cooper. I don’t feel that’s true but what do I know I guess. I’m not expert in parenting, that’s for sure. Sawyer is 7 and Harbor is 2. They are both exhausting and amazing at the…
Read MoreOur Favorite Time of the Year
These three picked out the absolute best tree at the tree farm today. It was an experience I tell you. As it typically is with these three. The baby found mud. Then we lost him for a second. He was hiding. Sawyer wanted every tree. Cooper didn’t care what tree…he just needed ‘A’ tree in the back of truck. Jamie didn’t swear or yell once! No one threatened to call Santa! And after we went for doughnuts. But they were out of sprinkle doughnuts so it was quite a negotiation…
Read MoreThankful
‘Along my journey I have learned that the more thankful I am, the more I have to be thankful for.’ Today I was…Woke up at before 6 am by a ‘Mama…wake up!’ Shot in the neck and the butt and everywhere else by Nerf Guns. Negotiated one zillion times over how many days it is until Cooper’s birthday. Cleaned every surface area of my house a dozen times. Wiped pee off the toilet seat every time I had to use it. (Life with boys!) Broke up fights. Kissed boo-boos. Got…
Read MoreA Reward for Cooper
Yesterday, Cooper’s dad and I took him to the paper store. He picked it as his reward for having an amazing week at school. Parents outside our world probably don’t know that understanding rewards and incentives and motivation is a huge deal. Something we hope and pray for! Cooper didn’t understand any of it until this year. Age 9. That also meant he was pretty hard to spoil. But not anymore. Something clicked and he is now independently able to pick where and what he wants to work for. Last…
Read MoreDora the Pirate
I’d love to bring you a smile today. Because over here we are grinning from ear to ear. A week or so ago, my son Cooper took an interest in Dora the Explorer. But not just any Dora. Because she has always been his favorite. He wanted to dress like Pirate Dora. He wanted her hat, jacket, backpack and black boots. He wanted to board a pirate ship and search for mermaid rock. He wanted a pet monkey named Boots. He wanted whatever the pig characters were too. He asked…
Read MoreWhat Are Your Expectations?
I remember my very first autism workshop about 3 years ago like it was yesterday. Sitting in a room filled with other autism moms and dads, I didn’t know what to expect. Not knowing, that day would be one of the most important days of my life. Being surrounded by people who had the same questions, same worries, same fears, it gave me the opportunity to openly discuss autism for the first time, and made me realize that we’re not alone on this autism journey. The first question directed at…
Read MoreThank You For Including My Son
Disclaimer: Due to privacy concerns, names have been changed to protect the identity of minors. There’s a little girl in my son Nicholas’s class. I’ll call her “E.” Nicholas and E just met this year in Kindergarten. They like to play outside together. They like to sit by each other in school. They even like to hold hands. You may think this is a typical friendship story. A cute little love story. You may think you’ve already heard this story before. But this is different. This is a story of…
Read MoreWill Getting A Diagnosis Be Harder Because She’s a Girl?
I have been watching my daughter over the past couple of months, as many of us who have multiple children do, after an autism diagnosis. It is evident at this point, that she has a significant speech delay in expressive language, the words she can speak, and her receptive language, the words she understands. I have been tallying…does she make eye contact, does she point? We cannot gauge her social interactions with children her age as she has been home since March. This second time around, I have been watching…
Read MoreHe’s My Brother
These two had it out last night. Like brothers have been known to do. It was over an iPad. There was a truck involved too. Lots of screaming and wrestling. They were eventually separated. One was put in the bath and told me the whole story, nonverbally of course. He asked for hugs and kisses as his alligator tears filled the tub. The other one, the tough guy, he didn’t need a hug or a kiss. But he did tell, and by that I mean yell, his side of the…
Read MoreThe Beauty of Repetition
How many times have you watched that now? Like many 12 year olds, my daughter struggled to wake on a dark wet morning for school. To ‘soften’ the early start I said that after breakfast and getting dressed she could watch something for ten minutes before school. I knew exactly what she would watch and I was right. She watched the same episode of her current favourite programme for the 23rd time. As I walked her to school she asked if I had remembered her book. Due to current restrictions…
Read More