Posts Tagged ‘autism blog’
I Can’t Expect You to Understand Autism
I am always in situations where I am around people I don’t know. Or at least don’t know well. I work outside my home. I am a member of a few boards. Involved in clubs. I try to have a social life when I can. My five year old and I attend church. He is also getting more involved in events every day. Soccer, groups, play dates. When I am in many of these public situations my mind will wander to Cooper. It always does. I tend to observe a…
Read MoreReleasing MY Own Doubts and Fears
I stood there sobbing as Ethan stared at me, wondering what was wrong. “Mom why are you crying?” I couldn’t answer. The tears just rolled down my face as the illumination of another glimmer of possibility, of hope, burst through the room like a ray of sunshine bursting through the clouds. “Mom what’s wrong? You’re making me uncomfortable,” Ethan said in his funny quirky, humorous way. I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. He always knows just what to say to make me laugh and smile. I’m not only…
Read MoreBreaking My Silence After My Viral Video
It’s time for me to break my silence. I recently had a video go viral. It was originally shared by Today Show. When all was said and done the video has nearly 20 million views. You can see it here. First, welcome to all of my new followers. Nearly 20,000 of you on Facebook and thousands more visited this website and found me on Instagram. I am so happy to have you here. I want you to know this a tight community where we celebrate the unique joys and struggles…
Read MoreThe Moment No One Talks About in Special Needs Parenting
Remember that time The Today Show created and shared a video about me? I sure do. My world was turned upside down. When all was said and done the video was viewed nearly 20 million times between two different Today sites. Thousands and thousands of comments and reactions. Mostly positive. Some negative. Which is to be expected I guess when you are reaching that volume of people. So many encouraging and positive messages though. I’m still shocked and surprised about the backlash. I’ve decided to be more private with my…
Read MoreMy Girl Found in the Creek
It could have ended with me on the news as the grieving mother. It didn’t…but it could have. And sometimes the “could have” is painful too. Whoo-hoo! I was out of town on a girls’ weekend where I could finally relax and not think about autism. The second night, I called my husband, Greg, to see how things were going. He sounded a little down, but that was to be expected since he was in charge of chasing our three young kids around for a few days. “Ha!” I selfishly…
Read MoreI Can’t Turn Off The Worry
In my recent viral video, backlash came over several topics. One that surprised me the most was the anger over me describing how having an autistic child has affected my mental health. How the worry over his safety and his future has changed everything. I had no idea that would anger people. It’s a normal conversation topic whenever I get together with other moms who have children with special needs. We talk about the stress, anxiety, migraines, ulcers. We complain about how our sleep is affected. Our sanity. We joke…
Read MoreDone Trying to Fit Into ‘Normal’
My ‘aha moment’ developed over a series of very confusing, embarrassing, bizarre, and frustrating events. But, I know that there was an undeniable moment in time, where I saw without a doubt, that there was something about my son very different from other kids his age. Something very different from my older son. The difference wasn’t a spoiled child. It wasn’t a lack of discipline. It wasn’t just the toddler stage. This difference was beginning to infiltrate every moment of every day and every night. Looking back, I could say…
Read MoreWhat Will Autism Look Like For My Son As He Gets Older
When my son Cody was diagnosed at the early age of 17 months, he was a quirky little guy with high energy but somewhat aloof and not really “autistic” looking, I guess. As Cody grew older his disability was much more evident and it’s been hard. I remember thinking I felt like I had to explain why Cody was acting in a certain way or almost apologizing for him being too loud or disruptive. When Cody was little and having a meltdown he just looked like he was a young…
Read MoreOur First Steps on a Journey that Continues Today
People often ask me if I knew my son had autism when he was an infant. The answer is no. There were, however, all these little clues that he was different from his brother. Little to no eye contact, not responding to his name, and not smiling when myself or someone else would smile at him. But, they were all just out of my awareness and the complete picture of what we would face in the coming months was not yet clear. I started to question things near Finn’s first…
Read MoreThe Start of the Long Road to Acceptance
Today, I watched my four year old Florence at one of her school performances. As I stood watching her dance and sing – coyly beaming at me every now and then – I felt that old familiar feeling rise. It’s bittersweet. See as I watch my girl perform I cannot help think of my son. Connor is three. He was diagnosed just before his third birthday with ASC. Connor has the type of autism that you cannot miss. You know the loud, in your face and challenging type. Introverted he…
Read More