Posts Tagged ‘autism’
Dreading Church
I dread going to church. I have not always felt this way. I was a born and raised a church girl. My childhood was delightfully filled with potlucks and pews. I loved church. I grew up and married a man who also loved church. We had two babies and took them to church. When our first daughter, Alaina was three she was diagnosed with autism. We sat in the office of the psychologist on a Wednesday. Our known world was falling apart, but we discovered that church was still there.…
Read MoreLiving With a Child Who Has Anxiety
New Video! I know, it’s been a while. I want to talk about living with a child who has anxiety, rigidity and unsafe behaviors. What that feels like for the parents. And how it controls everything. Imagine having a person in your home who’s hyper focused on unsafe behaviors. Who doesn’t understand social norms. Who can’t hit reset when you tell them to stop. Their behaviors are relentless. They don’t take a break. They are hyper-focused. They want to escape from your home. If you turn your back for a…
Read MoreThe Silence Can Be Deafening
There are times when the silence is deafening. When the lack of speech and two-way conversation fills up a car so loudly you feel like screaming. Seven years. Almost eight. Think of all the conversations we should have had. All the questions he should have asked me. I should know his favorite color. And animal. He should be talking my ear off. And asking me nonstop questions. It should be one more drink of water before bed. Or one more story. I should be praying for quiet. For just one…
Read MoreAdjusting to Having a Child in Residential Treatment
This is a follow up post to ‘Let’s Talk About Residential Treatment.’ Margaret shares their families experience with making the agonizing decision to place their son in Residential Treatment. I never thought residential would be easy. It’s a whole different kind of roller coaster or maybe the power tower. The up. The down. Surprisingly, I find myself enjoying the “easy” parts. The day to day with just the two other boys, going to my sons baseball games, going out to eat and running errands. I can tell my body and…
Read MoreThe Day I Will Never Forget
It was a beautiful Wednesday June 7, 2017 day. Extremely sunny and warm. Our son Kash was in a great mood. My husband and I were not. We were on edge that day. We were headed to get Kash’s evaluation to see if he was on the autism spectrum. Adam was trying his best to cheer me up, but in the end I couldn’t cheer up. No parent ever wants to go through wondering if your child could be on the spectrum. We arrived and got him all checked in.…
Read MoreAre You Going To Try For A Girl?
‘Are you going to try for a girl after this one?’ I have been getting that question almost daily lately. I get it. People wonder when they find out that you are having your third boy. And in no way am I offended. I am a big enough person to admit it. I would love a daughter. Of course. My mind immediately goes to pink tu-tu’s, gymnastics, prom, and being the mother-of-the-bride. My world right now is mud, dirt, Nerf Guns, Legos and poop. Yes, poop. It’s wonderful and amazing.…
Read MoreWhat Would Cooper Want?
We met with Cooper’s social worker yesterday for another 6-month evaluation. If you follow our journey, you are probably noticing the uptick in medical appointments and evaluations. It seems to always work like that in our world. It is all or nothing. We will have a few quiet months and then boom. It feels like every day there is something. Evaluations are inevitable when you have a child with needs. We meet every three months for one area, every six months for another and bigger, more meaningful evaluations are yearly.…
Read MoreTeaching Autistic Children to Read
We had our son Cooper’s ITP meeting on Thursday and this mama found out that her smart kid can spell hundreds of words. He’s even moved on from three letter words to four-five letter words. I about died of shock when he spelled green and blue. Looking back, I didn’t know if this would ever happen. And no one would look into their crystal ball and tell me if it was a possibility. If I could give advice to myself a year ago I would say don’t ever give up.…
Read MoreI am His Person and He is Mine
My son Cooper is always with me. Always in the same room. Always near me. We move throughout the house together. He’s my little shadow. Never doing what I’m doing. Just always near. He sits outside the bathroom door. He waits for my shower to be over. The kid that seems to be oblivious to almost everything knows where I am at all times. When I’m gone he asks for me. He waits on the porch. Or near the door. He asks for me with his speech device…’I want mom.’…
Read MoreThe Real Confessions of Special Needs Parents
Parenting is hard. I think we can all agree on that. You are raising a tiny little human from birth to adulthood without an instruction manual and silently praying they turn out sane and happy. Now imagine if that tiny little human has a diagnosis of some sort. Autism. Cerebral Palsy. Traumatic Brain Injury. The diagnosis could be physical, emotional or neurological. It could be obvious. Or maybe it’s invisible to the outside world. Scary right. You aren’t a doctor. Or a therapist or a physiologist. There is no instruction…
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