Posts Tagged ‘autism blog’
Bringing a New Baby into a Special Needs Household
Making the decision to have another baby is a huge decision no matter what your situation. When you find out you are expecting a baby, you are flooded with excitement, joy, concerns, fear and so many other emotions! It can be a time of great worry for some people, but when you are a parent of a child with additional needs, it brings a whole new level of worry to it. It wasn’t long before the birth of our second son that most of the problems Master W was experiencing,…
Read MoreMedical Cannabis Update-Week Three
I promised I would give a weekly update on our journey with medical cannabis for our severely autistic son. We are 21 days in! In Minnesota, medical cannabis was legalized for autism in July 2018. The program is regulated by the state of Minnesota. You can read more HERE about how we got started. Want to know if medical cannabis is legal for autism in your state? Click HERE. After getting a prescription from his doctor and jumping through all the hoops, we started him on the lowest dose possible.…
Read MoreAfter the Diagnosis
It has taken me almost a year to write this. On February 16, 2017 my life changed. Keegan got his diagnosis of severe (level 3) autism. I had known in my heart for over six months that it was autism, but prayed that it wouldn’t be, and that the early intervention would start working. I had prayed that his symptoms would go away, but when they didn’t…I had hoped for a diagnosis of mild. Looking at his symptoms I knew it would be more than mild, but I kept telling…
Read MoreLetting Out The Breath You’ve Been Holding For So Long
‘The best feeling is watching things finally fall into place after watching them fall apart for so long.’ The beginning was so hard. Before the autism diagnosis. The unknown. The hating myself for suspecting something was wrong. The watching all of his peers and even younger kids pass him by. The exhaustion. Never sleeping. Wondering why my baby was different. The fighting with my husband because I saw something he refused to see. The hoping it was anything but autism. Late bloomer. Boys will be boys. Holding my breath. Waiting.…
Read MoreThe People You Meet Along the Way
When I first received the news that my son had autism over three years ago, my mind instantly started making a list of the potential challenges that awaited us in the future. Will he ever talk? Will he ever be potty-trained? Will he need to be in a special classroom with other disabled children? Negative or difficult scenarios would keep me up at night, and I’d toss and turn thinking about how I was going to help him face each one. Fast-forward three years later, and ironically, many of those…
Read MoreMedical Cannabis Update-Week Two
I promised I would give a weekly update on our journey with medical cannabis for our severely autistic son. We are 14 days in! In Minnesota, medical cannabis was legalized for autism in July 2018. The program is regulated by the state of Minnesota. You can read more HERE about how we got started. Want to know if medical cannabis is legal for autism in your state? Click HERE. After getting a prescription from his doctor and jumping through all the hoops, we started him on the lowest dose possible.…
Read MoreThank You Influential Teacher
Dear Influential Teacher, I know what it’s like to live in a bubble of the typical. A typical day, a typical child, a typical life. I know what it’s like to go through the year, losing the will to invest in the kids we have trouble connecting with…those who aren’t self-motivated, involved, and actively engaged in the lesson…those who don’t see us giving our all, lesson after lesson, paper cuts, ink stains, broken copy machines, fire drills, back talk, and all. I know what it’s like to overlook those who…
Read MoreThe Decision To Have More Children
I had always dreamed of having many children. For the longest time my magic number was six. As I grew older, the number changed but I still wanted at least three kids. And my husband felt the same way. We married young and spent our first few years just having fun. We wanted to wait a few years before we started our family. A few years into our marriage we were surprised with my pregnancy. But we were so happy. We were finally living our dream of having a family.…
Read MoreLove Will Always Conquer the Grief
I had a dream a few weeks ago that I’ve never had, and have thought about ever since. You woke up and sat at the end of the kitchen table with me while I was drinking my coffee. I asked you how you slept and you answered me. You asked me to make you breakfast, and we sat and talked without an iPad screen between us. You told me about your friends at school and how you think the little blonde girl in your class from last year likes you…
Read MoreWhen Grief Affects Every Aspect of your Life
I was swallowed into the autism pit and it almost destroyed every relationship in my life. I became so caught up in my grief that I began to become bitter towards my friends and their children’s growth. Seeing their accomplishments devastated me. I would become resentful listening to them ‘complain’ about running their kids around or how many activities they were in., etc. I would snap at them saying, ‘at least you aren’t spending your Saturday’s in therapy.’ I stopped answering the phone and they eventually stopped calling. It drove…
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