3 Halloween Safety tips for Kids with Autism

Picture it: It is October 31st. Your neighborhood is alive with the buzz of kids trick-or-treating from house-to-house. You are walking hand-in-hand with your child, who is looking cuter than ever in their over-the-top costume. But instead of excitement as a parent, you feel something quite different: Fear. Anxiety. Worry. Why? Because as a parent of a child with autism, trick-or-treating brings with it much more than fun. It brings with it the need to protect your child at all costs. Protect them from overstimulation. From people who misunderstand their…

Read More

4 Tips for a Successful Transition Back to School

Transitioning back to school can be scary for all kids. For kids with autism it can feel downright terrifying. Especially after just settling into summer. Here are 4 tips I use to prepare my autistic son for back to school and to make the transition as simple as possible. Visit the School: Drive to your child’s school. Park in the parking lot. Walk around outside. Visit the playground. Get your child used to seeing the building. We have been visiting Cooper’s school daily for nearly a week now to prepare…

Read More

Let Their Voices Ring: Empowering Your Child to Communicate

Everyone deserves to be heard. Especially your child. Their thoughts call for respect. And to be able to communicate those thoughts is a fundamental human right. The beauty about communication is that it looks different for everyone. For some, it means verbally speaking; for others, making music. But for those with autism, “speaking” one’s mind takes a form perhaps more beautifully unique than any other. How, then, do we celebrate this in a way that empowers kids with autism to influentially express themselves? With this question in mind, I want…

Read More

My Journey Living with Autism

Hey everybody! My name is Liz. I’m 26 years old and I have autism. Imagine being trapped in a maze, mouth duct taped and unable to talk. Each step in your life feels like you are living in a video game and you have to pass levels to eventually find your voice.  This has been my experience since I was diagnosed with autism at age two. Many of my developmental skills were delayed.  I didn’t speak until I was six and I wasn’t potty trained until age eight.  At birth…

Read More

Nonverbal High Schooler Makes History By Giving Speech with Assistive Technology

Before I had a son with nonverbal autism, I naively thought ‘everyone talks.’ I grew up in a world where I didn’t know anyone who was nonverbal. Or honestly, that it was even possible. I remember the first time a therapist said, ‘you need to consider a world where your son doesn’t speak.’ That sentence. It shattered me. As a mom, to an absolutely beautiful 3 year old, how could it not? Flash forward to today. I’ve learned that communication is so much more than spoken words. It can be…

Read More

Teaching Autistic Children to Read

We had our son Cooper’s ITP meeting on Thursday and this mama found out that her smart kid can spell hundreds of words. He’s even moved on from three letter words to four-five letter words. I about died of shock when he spelled green and blue. Looking back, I didn’t know if this would ever happen. And no one would look into their crystal ball and tell me if it was a possibility. If I could give advice to myself a year ago I would say don’t ever give up.…

Read More

Let Your Child Show You The Way

As a young child, my son Cody was always full of energy and often became dysregulated and would have meltdowns and tantrums for hours at a time. I remember sitting against his bedroom wall just watching him during one of these meltdowns to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. There was really nothing I could do. I just made sure he was safe. Those were very hard times in our journey. I didn’t know what he needed and felt so helpless. I can say I look back and I now…

Read More

My Autistic Son Learning to Spell

Two months ago I knew that my son knew all of his letters. I knew he loved the alphabet with a passion. But I didn’t know what else to do with it. He struggled to pay attention. To focus. To sit and learn. He showed no desire to read or write. But, and there is always a but in our world, I started imagining a world where he could type to me and have a conversation through text. What would he say to me if he could? And before I…

Read More

How to Borrow a Speech Device in your State

My son Cooper received his speech device when he was four years old. At the time I was overwhelmed by it. Not only did I feel the emotional strains of it I felt like getting one was such a huge commitment. Would it work? Should we try it? Will he even use it? I just didn’t know. I didn’t know how much energy I should put into advocating for a device either. I’ve felt this same way with many assistive technology devices. I wanted to try before buying. I recently…

Read More

A Video Update from Cooper and Sawyer

Hi all! I haven’t done a video in a few days! Cooper has a lot to tell you! And it’s just as adorable as you can imagine. Because I know you are going to ask, Cooper’s speech device is an iPad loaded with proloquo2go. He’s had it for three years but only really started using it fluently in the last six months. You can also hear that Cooper is still very vocal. He loves communicating in his own way. We are always working on sounds and modeling in our house.…

Read More