Posts Tagged ‘Autism Spectrum’
I Hear You, I See You, You Are Strong
I hear you. I see you. During the pandemic my son with Autism has really regressed. Oppositional Defiance Disorder has come to live in our home and it in itself, can break you down. From the second my feet hit the floor I am on high alert every second of the day. I don’t shower without another adult to watch him, I can’t use the restroom unless he is with me and you NEVER turn your back. I did that for three seconds last week and it ended in a…
Read MoreA Perfect World For My Son
I think a lot about the things that make this kid happy. And bring him joy. Because for a lot of years, the list was pretty small. It’s gotten bigger though, thankfully. If I was to build a world for him, one that was entirely for him…what would it look like? Well, it would be full of color. Bright reds and blues and yellows. Our clothes would all be bright too. Our houses and the objects inside as well. Music would always be playing. Happy, fun, LOUD music. We would…
Read MoreMaking New Friends in the New Normal
Now that all the kids are going back to school, your child may notice that another child in their class, the hallway, at lunchtime or at recess is different than them. Your child may come home and ask you or tell you about the differences. Perhaps they will mention their physical characteristics, their special chair, orthopedics, or their different behaviors. Maybe the child refuses to wear a mask or even seems scared or excited by people in them. Maybe they will notice that another child flaps their arms or squeals…
Read MoreRaising a Future Advocate
Dear fellow momma at my sons therapy center, Today, you may have heard my oldest ask, “who’s that yelling?” I thought we covered autism, but I was so focused on explaining her brother’s autism, I forgot to go into detail about the whole spectrum. I took this as a teaching moment, but you weren’t in the car with us. There’s no way you would know this. My daughter is the sweetest, most compassionate kid I know. She’s also naturally very curious. Her question stemmed from curiosity. But we talked about…
Read MoreThe Box of Kleenex on the Table
On the 24th of August, my husband and I sat hand in hand to finish a year long diagnostic journey to understand why our son Romeo lives in such silence. I could feel Gerardo’s fingers stroke my knuckles as the words spilled from the specialists mouth. As they sat and explained therapies, research, support groups…my mind wandered to the Kleenex box on the table. My child wasn’t sick, his life wasn’t in danger and the world didn’t stop turning. Romeo didn’t stop being Romeo. We just had a name for…
Read MoreThe Forgotten Side of the Spectrum
Severe Autism… I did a brief radio interview recently explaining our version of autism. I discussed the isolation, the lack of help and support, and the lack of understanding and acceptance for severe autism. Tim Nicholls, who is the policy manager for the national autistic society, responded to my radio interview yesterday. I’ve listened to his response. I want to talk about this part that he said below… “It doesn’t need to be something that is always holding them back, with the right support, depending on their needs, children with…
Read MoreMy Son makes Fun of the Autistic Kid in Class
I know bullying happens. I am not naïve to that. But what I didn’t know is that sometimes parents think it is funny too. They promote it. They laugh about it. They condone it. And they even brag about it over a cup of coffee. I was sitting with a few co-workers the other day having a cup of coffee and we were sharing stories about our kids. We were laughing about the drama around little girls and the laid back personalities of little boys. I was hearing about dance and…
Read MoreMy Son is What? Artistic?
The journey called fatherhood is one that is naturally fraught with many twists and turns. There are no concrete directions that you receive at the beginning, but there is at the same time information and advice coming at you from multiple directions and sources. You hope and pray that everything is going to take care of itself as you work frantically to provide the framework necessary for normal growth and development of your child. Why wouldn’t this occur normally, right? Many of the behaviors I am seeing in my son…
Read MoreWhen Do We Give Up?
I gave up yesterday. The details really don’t matter I guess. All that matters is I was pushed to that place where I didn’t recognize myself. I’m fighting with Cooper’s school and for the first time I saw that they are looking at him as a number and not a child. All the horror stories I’ve read about schools and special needs kids happened. I spent hours talking to people that have never met Cooper….nor do they really care about his best interest. Cooper is a special child with special…
Read MoreEye Contact and Autism
When you google signs of autism…or talk to someone about autism….you typically hear the same signs. Lack of eye contact. Lack of affection. Withdrawn behaviors. Social delays. Cognitive delays. Playing with toys in odd manners. And the list goes on. When I used to ‘think’ about autism I would think of a really withdrawn child. I would think of a kiddo that didn’t hug or give love. And that wasn’t Cooper. So I told myself it wasn’t autism. I would lay in bed at night and mentally tick of the things he did…
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