Guest Post
Autism Saved My Son’s Life
I first met my son when he was 11. It was in a group session I had been invited to as a teacher because I would be getting the kids the following year. It was a chance to meet everyone and for the group to get to know me. I was immediately drawn to one student because he certainly had a lot to say! I quickly learned that he was in foster care and that he had a twin brother who was also in group with us. One talked, one…
Read MoreMom, What Happens When You Are Gone?
My daughter Isla is 11 years old and has a unique subset of autism that has broken me and put me back together in ways I never could have dreamed. You always assume you will have so much to teach your children and then God giggles a little bit and sends you your greatest teacher in the form of a 7lb 14oz bundle of curls who will eventually be diagnosed with something that is forever. Interestingly enough I have recently been reflecting on the lessons that motherhood has taught me…
Read MoreLetting Go of the Things Beyond our Control
We all know mothers can be portrayed as being a bit dramatic. I am not saying I agree with that, but I do think moms, particularly new moms, put an enormous amount of pressure on themselves to raise perfect children. Something that is completely unattainable, especially when you are a new mom trying to figure out why your child is so different than all your friends’ kids. This was me 4 years ago, and I, of course, tried to come up with a way to “solve” these differences. What is…
Read MoreTell Your Story
Last week I read an article about a police officer and his fiancé who left their 8-year old son with autism to freeze to death overnight in a garage. I felt the familiar bubble of rage and sickness in my throat. Alone in my office, I shook my head. I flashed back to my son at eight years old, when he asked everyone the color of their shampoo. He ate cinnamon toast for breakfast every morning except Wednesday. Every Wednesday, he had waffles. At nine, my son went to summer…
Read MoreThe End of ‘Wait and See’
“A diagnosis is not a prognosis,” a wise doctor once said to me, as I was deep in a panic about what Flynn’s life would be like. Over time, it became my mantra and it comforted me as we were transferred from specialist to specialist. “A diagnosis is not a prognosis,” I would repeat to myself often. After countless appointments and tests, I grew comfortable with the labels being thrown onto the table and gained medical knowledge, preparing myself for the day that we got the answers we were looking…
Read MoreDear Autism, Happy 3rd Birthday
Dear Autism, Happy third birthday. While it may have taken you 9-12 months to come around, when you finally reared your head, you made your point. You have brought us so much joy, and so much pain over these last three years. We cried when the doctor sat us in the chair in her office and said, “It’s autism.” Your dad and I held hands, separated by a small table housing a box of much needed tissues, and we stared not at each other, but directly at the doctor as…
Read MoreWhat I Don’t Say
Autism is complex with many different angles and moving parts…as are those on the spectrum. All uniquely beautiful in their own way. My husband and I had a tough conversation today about all the parts we do not tell our friends and family…..the hard stuff. It is not my story to tell. It is his. My son’s. Sometimes I do have to share. To his teachers, to family and sometimes to friends. I never want to share that stuff. The raging meltdowns. Sometimes over something as small as a toy…
Read MoreThe Spiral Staircase
Questions filled my mind and I was unable to hear what the doctor was saying. I was sitting in her office listening to all she had to say about my three boys. The journey started what seemed like ages ago. I had been fighting to get to this very moment, but I wasn’t expecting this. It all started in 2017 with our youngest son Sawyer. We finally got a Pediatrician to listen to us and hear our concerns. We had no idea where the first referral would lead us. The…
Read MoreTo The Mom…
To the mom with bags under her eyes from getting up hours before school to take her son to his appointments To the mom sitting by her baby girl in the hospital bed yet again while she fights for her life To the single mom on food stamps who hasn’t worked in years because the calls from school are too frequent To the mom who is still caring for her son well into her old age who prays someone will take over when she’s gone To the mom who had…
Read MoreGetting Diagnosed with Autism as an Adult
For my entire life, I’ve watched the world through a porthole. Disconnected, alone. Before my son Charlie was even two, he was diagnosed with autism. At that moment, I entered a world I thought I knew nothing about. I didn’t know that it had actually been my life too—for as long as I even had memories. The story began to reveal itself to me during a talk with my mom. She said that Charlie couldn’t be autistic because he and I were the exact same way at that age. Except…
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