Did You Know?

Right now, someone is playing charades, A child, wide-eyed, his voice upward inflected, A voice, but not words, His every desire affected. Did you know every word, Out of every girl and boy, Is not a given, it’s a gift, It’s a little piece of joy? Have you heard the screams ringing in your ears? A longing, disguised in sound. The weight of his need to be known, Bringing his whole body to the ground. Have you felt your frustration tremor just under your love, And wondered when the ground…

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My Transformation as a Mother

My “best” moment in regards to my daughter’s autism actually came on the heels of my worst. It had been a stressful week. My mother was in town visiting. I was kinda-sorta halfheartedly still trying to potty train. Kira was sitting on the toilet. I knew she had to pee but she was holding it. She started to fuss and threw her head back, hitting it on the toilet lid. When she self-injures, which is rarely, it triggers something in me—immense frustration; almost rage. I snatched her off the toilet and…

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Looking Back, Looking Forward (VIDEO)

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! As promised, here is a video with Jamie, my partner in crime, and an appearance by Cooper. This video would have been up earlier but Sawyer needed an apple cut a certain way, the baby needed to eat and Cooper needed to dance. Essentially, life happened. In this video we discuss why we share our lives, how it impacts us and the kiddos, our 2018 accomplishments and goals for Cooper in 2019. I want to thank every single one of our supporters for being with…

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Our Lives Look Different Than Most

In the world of special needs parenting, the hard moments seem to be adding up the older my son gets. And they actually seem to be getting harder too, and more defining. This past summer there was one of these particularly moments, one that forever changed me. One that truly made me realize not only how autism affects Noah…but us, as a family. We made plans to go to an indoor jungle gym—the perfect place for kids right? We actually had celebrated Noah’s first birthday party there. But he wasn’t…

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I’m Thankful for My Son’s Para

My name is Corinne and I am the proud mom of an 11 year old boy named Dante, AKA…Mini. He was diagnosed low functioning and non verbal at the age of three. We have had many paras over the years but none who compare to our Ms. Jennifer. Ms. Jennifer came to us when mini was seven and the immediate bond between them was amazing! She was able to get him to do things we were told he would never be able to do. She is the most kind and…

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Perfect After Autism

I found myself sitting on a bench nursing Harbor at a store today on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. We were out grabbing a few last minute things. A train magazine for Cooper. A sweatshirt for Sawyer. My bench happened to be right in front of the line to see Santa Claus. I had the perfect view of the big guy in red. And all the kids that were so excited to see him. Little girls in fancy dresses with bows in the their hair. Little…

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And Another Makes Two

Four months after I found out I was pregnant with my daughter J, I began to have concerns about my son PB’s development. He wasn’t answering to his name, he avoided eye contact, and his speech wasn’t where it should have been. After doing some of my own research, the same thing kept popping up. Autism. I fought hard not to accept that. There was no way my son had autism. I just couldn’t fathom that. But several referrals, early intervention appointments, speech therapy appointments, occupational therapy appointments, and an…

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She is Perfect

Our little girl sat and looked at our dog whilst laughing and moved in a way I had never seen her move before. That was the moment I knew. We had suspected from the age of two that our little girl could be on the spectrum but she was still young and needed more time. I hadn’t felt sadness about it until that moment. Tears rolled down my cheeks. They were tears of sadness because I knew things would be more difficult for her and it wasn’t her fault. Was…

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Telling My Daughter her Brother has Autism

My daughter was six when my son was born. We spoke about what it would be like when the baby was born We talked about how things might change for a short time and that it doesn’t change how much I love her and that my time may be a little bit unfairly split for a while as babies need a lot of attention. He came along and she was in love with him. From the moment she got in the car from school she always asked how he’d been…

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To the Woman who Brought Life Back to Me

I am honoring my son’s teacher at New Connections Autism Academy, Mrs. Lisa Meeter. I want to say that this woman and this school brought life back to my child and me. After three years of fighting the public school my son went to…numerous send homes, expulsions, calls, meetings, times I almost lost my job because I had to leave my classroom to go pick up my child, this woman and the school he now attends has brought hope and happiness to our little family. She has open communication with…

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