Posts Tagged ‘autism in girls’
Because She is Mine…A Father’s Autism Story
I will never be nominated for “Father of the Year” by any autism association. In fact, by most measures, I am completely inadequate as a father for the special needs my daughter, Lizzie, requires. Patience, understanding and sympathy are not my strong suit. I often come home from work tired and sometimes a little irritable. I worry about the money we have spent on therapy over the last several years. I worry that the decisions of which therapies to use are the right ones. And I worry way too much…
Read MoreSkeletons in my Closet
I am so much older and so much wiser these days. And yes, so much more thin and worn out than when our eighteen year old daughter Jazz was given that autism diagnosis at age three. In those early days, I swallowed every book, watched every documentary, attended every autism-related conference in order to get a handle on this thing life had thrown my way. I was puzzled by the old moms I encountered and their silence. As a newbie to autism, I was naïve perhaps as to what changes…
Read MoreI Should have Known
As a parent of a child with autism, or in my case two children, I’m sure most of us have had plenty of hard moments. This was my very first hard moment, and also the hardest one. I’m a mom of twin girls born in June of 2014. Let’s call them L and T. They were born 11 weeks early and we stayed in the NICU for six weeks. Dramatic yes, but we had a good outcome. No damage on any organs, scans looked good and so on. I was…
Read MoreMany Sunny Days Ahead…
I don’t want to get out of bed today. It’s going to be another dreary, cloud filled day. My room is dark and there is not an ounce of light peeking through the cracks of my window shade. I am so tired but I know in a few short minutes that I will be needed. I am going to hear my daughter Sunny screaming for me. It’s going to be another hard day of therapy sessions, begging to get her to eat something and begging her not to hurt herself.…
Read MoreAutism and Puberty: Our Own Perfect Storm
Puberty has started to rear its head in our home again. We’ve already gotten a taste of it with our 14-year-old son, but now we have a 12-year-old girl in the throes of it; a 12-year-old girl who also happens to have autism. We are only about six months in, and I have already come to the conclusion that autism and puberty go together like oil and water. It’s hard enough for a typical kid to understand all the changes going on within them. Life becomes an emotional whirlwind as…
Read MoreI’m not Sorry
Many times I have heard and read about how parents of children on the autism spectrum absolutely hate it when someone who has just learned his/her child has autism says, “I´m sorry”. I don´t feel the same way. I´m actually grateful when someone has a polite or sympathetic comment to make when they learn my 5 year old daughter has autism. Some people don´t know what to say and instead of being quiet they say things like, “I saw Rain man”, “she can talk, she´s not autistic”, “she looks so…
Read MoreThe Child Before the Diagnosis
We were standing on our patio and a plane flew close above us. It was loud and very easy to spot. “Look guys, a plane!” My 20 month old son followed my finger and he pointed too and smiled, “Ah, plann,” he said. I smiled with him. It looked nice against the crisp sky with everything around us covered in snow. I looked over at my daughter who had her back to us and was smiling too. She was still looking opposite us into the sky searching for a plane.…
Read More6 Things I’m Letting Go of this Year
Our past year has been a pretty good one but as a parent of a child with additional needs, it is sometimes all consuming trying to create the perfect world for your child. We need to… Make sure all different ways of learning are being explored when our child has trouble following a regular curriculum. Make sure we are doing all the right therapy that will give them the best chance to progress. Help them make regular friendships that they are unable to do on their own. Scaffold each part…
Read MoreWelcome to Autism Island
When we walked out of the doctor’s office that morning, it felt like we had walked off of a plane at an unexpected layover on foreign soil. The world looked differed here. The air felt heavy and my husband seemed fine…like he knew where we were. Maybe because he’s been here before with his son. But this time, there was no connecting flight back to our old lives. It feels like we just stayed here and started our new lives, so welcome to Autism Island and wherever your journey may…
Read MoreThis Life of Autism
Dear Chloe Elizabeth, From the time I was old enough to dream about what I wanted to be when I “grew up,” I dreamt about being a mommy. A year after your Daddy and I married, we knew that starting our family was going to harder than what people made it seem. After two years of fertility treatments, many doctors appointments, medications, needles, tears, and prayers we stopped trying. We were broken. Mentally, physically, financially, and spiritually. A few months later the desire we had for a family was still…
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