Guest Post
How Therapy Allowed me to Breathe Again
To our amazing ABA team, I wanted to take this time to explain our level of appreciation for you. I have spent the last year of my life feeling like I could not exhale. Since Dominic was about 20 months old and I suspected he was on the spectrum, I had obsessively immersed myself in researching ways to help build language, both expressive and receptive. I read about 20 books and shed many so tears worrying about my son’s future. He had no words. He was getting angry and frustrated,…
Read MoreDancing in the Moonlight
A little girl maybe 4 walked up to me at the park today and asked me to push her on the swings. I said to ask her Mommy if that was ok first and she turned to me and said…you know when you fall down you just have to try a new way. She walked off but I doubt she saw me sitting on the swing with tears rolling down my cheeks. This was the most profound thing that has ever happened to me in all my 33 years. How…
Read MoreReality Bites
I have 3 beautiful children. Ethan 13 and Gavin 9, have been diagnosed with Level III Autism, without intellectual impairment. My youngest Moira, 3, is just lacking that official stamp. Gavin showed textbook signs, lining up cars in perfect rows, total organization, sensory overload, late speech, I think I was ready for him, but I never quite put the pieces together with Ethan. Looking back I should have seen something. All the signs were there, but as a first time Mom you think, you’re overreacting. He NEVER wanted to be…
Read MoreUnderstanding Self Injurious Behavior
To the autism families that are just learning about Self Injurious Behavior (SIB): I know you’re scared. I know you’re sad. I know you’re mad. I know you’re confused, so confused. Guess what, that’s ok and you’re not alone. We began our journey of SIB on August 14, 2016 my son was 4 years old. My son Deegan was diagnosed with Autism clinically (ADOS) at 22 months old, on September 18, 2013. We began to see “signs” when he was just 13 months old and he began early intervention, speech,…
Read MoreThe Woman who Understands my Son
I am so BEYOND thankful for SO many teachers and therapists for my 7 year old son Mason. It’s hard to choose just one to honor. My husband, Zach and I, have 2 sons with special needs. We love to swim, visit parks, and watch Mickey/PJ Masks. Mason is 7 with moderate autism and has low verbal abilities. Jonas is 3 1/2 with pervasive developmental delays and will be assessed for autism soon. While I think our boys are the sweetest, funniest boys ever, they have a lot of challenges…
Read MoreWhen My Life Was Flipped Upside Down by a Dual Diagnosis
The other day my life was flipped upside down. We were on our way home from the video EEG and the impact of a dual diagnosis struck me to my core. It was a Friday afternoon. Derek was driving. I was watching all the cars out the window. My mind was reviewing the information we had learned and coming up with a new list of to-do’s. When, suddenly, it dawned on me. This is our life. Appointments, tests, seizures, medical fears, disruptive behaviors, therapies, financial burdens, hospital stays, unrelenting exhaustion…
Read MoreThis Year I Wish…
To my son Prestley, In 2019 I would like… To feel less guilt I have an overwhelming sense of guilt. I feel guilty because Prestley doesn’t play – is he happy? Does he know how loved he is? I feel guilty about my other children. We don’t go out altogether, we don’t do many fun things – do they resent their brother? The guilt of medicating Prestley with melatonin – so he can sleep. So we can all sleep. So much guilt swarms my mind. Daily. To find others in…
Read MoreTo my Partner in Life
My name is Amber and I am hard of hearing and an autism mother. I want to thank my husband, the man who is always fighting for awareness of our autistic son. This is going on year 3 since I found out about the autism diagnosis of my son, Jason. I remember being in the room the diagnosis day and just was feeling all mixed emotions. I was speechless going through the whole evaluation with my son. I just wanted to go home and cuddle my son and be done…
Read MoreDear Friends and Family, It’s Been a While
Dear Friends & Family, A few months ago, I felt a small cyst in my right breast and still haven’t been able to see a doctor. This brought on a harsh reality for me as a mother of a child with special needs: I don’t have time to be sick, to go to my own appointments, or to die. I never thought about that until today. I don’t have time to get depressed or get my own therapy. I’m so busy holding it together for my daughter that it has…
Read MoreNo One Talks About Group Homes
I have this recurring dream. I don’t have it very often, but I have it enough to recognize it through the years. In it, I’m alone in a vast ocean. The sea has picked up and I’m treading water with my head barely above the waterline. The waves occasionally crash over me and I come up gasping for air. There is no thought involved in this, I just tread water automatically with a tinge of desperation, struggling to keep my head or sometimes even just my mouth above water so…
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