Guest Post
What 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 MorePublic Schools Accused of Defrauding Special Education Students During Pandemic Nationwide
Our lives are often broken up by dates that mark significant events that change us. Our wedding dates, the birthdays of our children, the death of a family member we loved and cherished.. And for parents in 2020, there are various dates throughout the second week of March that will stay with them forever. For us, March 11th 2020 is the day our world stopped. My husband began working from home, my small business was forced onto a virtual platform, and so were our therapies for our six year old…
Read MoreOnce Again, The New Normal Didn’t Have Room For Us
Normal. Such a funny thing. When I say our life is not, I’ll hear back “Who is really normal?” or “What is normal?” I get everyone is different but when it comes down it, there is such a thing as normal. In some ways we are normal, but in many ways not and haven’t been even before I knew it. I never wanted my kids to be like everyone else. I want them to march to the beat of their own drums. Howl at the moon. Sing when they feel…
Read MoreShielding Them From the Dark
As the parents of a daughter with significant special needs, my husband and I have always tried to shield our two sons from some of the darker realities of Lizzy’s issues. Still, we remain as open as possible so they can feel close and connected with her and her care. If that sounds as if it might be impossible to accomplish, it is. Four years ago, I realized what a fool’s errand it was. Our oldest, Tom, was 17, and was mowing the lawn. Joe and Lizzy were also in…
Read MoreIt’s My Story to Tell
Don’t tell me it’s not severe When it’s MY story to tell. Don’t tell me it’s not severe When I daily live a version of hell Don’t tell me it’s not severe When all you got is something to sell Don’t tell me it’s not severe When there are holes where he fell Don’t tell me it’s not severe When the curve dips low on the Herrnstein bell Maybe the word is harsh? Or profound or extreme? Critical or grave? Or perhaps just plain mean? Do those options please you?…
Read MoreA Letter to the Mama Who Gets It
How would it feel to meet someone who knew every part of your story, before you told them? How would it feel to meet someone who lived your story, when all along you thought you were the only one? How would it feel to meet an old friend, for the very first time? You and I, we are the same. We learned early on that the journey of a special needs parent wouldbe a lonely one. We each have wonderful friends that choose to loveour children. We have families that…
Read MoreHow You Found Your Smile Again-A Letter to Jack, My Autistic Son
It’s been seven months since the world stopped. You were so sad in the beginning. You didn’t want to get out of bed, and you didn’t want to play. But the most shocking thing was this: you didn’t want to watch movies. Do you remember that? It was the first time this has ever happened. The sweetest thing in your world seemed sticky and irritating. It was confusing for you, and for all of us. Miss Janell would probably call it “topsy-turvy.” This kind of thing happened to a lot…
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 MoreMy story as a Grandparent of a Child with Autism
When your kids get older and become adults you start to think about what their life will be like. You start asking yourself questions like “who they will marry?”, “how many kids will they have?”, and “did you do a good enough job raising them?” At least these are the thoughts that I had run through my mind as my children began growing up. I had all these thoughts of what their spouse would be like, and how their wedding would be, and if they would always need me or…
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