Posts Tagged ‘autism’
An Open Letter to the Friend I Pushed Away
I am sitting here thinking about our relationship and about how much I love you. And how I rarely see you. We joke that it’s because life is so busy. We are in our thirties and have jobs and babies. We are in that stage of life I guess. We are always saying that this is the month that we will finally find the time to get together. And when this month passes we will laugh via text and joke about how someday soon we will have more time. One…
Read MoreA Day In Cooper’s Life: Autism in Pictures
I am very vocal about the stress that goes hand and hand with being an autism parent. It’s a topic that isn’t always talked about. I want to change that. Autism is hard. Unbelievably hard. I have post-traumatic stress from it. For one it’s often extremely loud. For me it’s Cooper’s screeches mixed in with the constant sounds coming from his devices. And my little guy loves it LOUD. Really LOUD. I’ve tried covering the speakers with tape. He rips it off. I’ve tried headphones. He refuses to wear them.…
Read MoreAcceptance: A Video Blog
Sharing on a tough topic this morning. I’ve been scared to share this video blog because it’s very real and raw but I know that other parents need to hear these words. It’s OK to be sad. It’s OK to admit that it’s hard. And it’s OK to grieve all the things you won’t do as a special needs parent. You are human. https://www.facebook.com/findingcoopersvoice/videos/792431380899325/
Read MoreSensory Balloons
Sawyer and I spent the morning making sensory balloons for Cooper. HE LOVES THEM SO MUCH. I totally recommend making these if you have a kiddo that likes to hold objects. They are super squishy. Cooper will carry these around until I eventually have to throw them in the garbage and make new ones. And making them really entertained Sawyer too. Of course I let him make a huge mess because it bought me 20 minutes to write this blog. Winning. First, cut off a bottle. I used an old…
Read MoreFirst Steps After Your Autism Diagnosis
After I received Cooper’s diagnosis of Autism I expected things to change overnight. I thought for sure we’d immediately start treatment or medicine or something and we’d begin to fix him. My child was sick. Let’s fix it now. We had an answer. We knew the source. Now we fix it. But that’s not how autism works. It’s not a disease. There is no curing it. There is no solution. There is managing it. There is navigating it. And it is straight up trial and error. If you’ve met one…
Read MoreAnd Then He Was Six
Yesterday was Cooper’s 6th birthday. My baby is 6. How can that be? Of course I knew this day was coming. And I prepared for the emotional impact it was going to have on me. Each year brings on new challenges. New services are needed. Services end. He will be done at Fraser in January. That’s a toughie. Our family moved here for Fraser. And it changed Cooper’s life. His needs are changing too. It is very apparent that Cooper has severe autism. Or low functioning autism. When he was…
Read MoreGetting More Services
Yesterday was a tough day for me. I was dealing with so many effects of Cooper’s disability. I spent over an hour talking to the county. I have decided to move forward with trying to get more services for Cooper. And this means confessing my whole life story to a random social worker that doesn’t know me or Cooper or sometimes anything about Autism. Telling our story is a lot. It makes me feel trapped. Sad. Embarrassed. Like a whiner. Uncomfortable. I feel like I am begging at times. And…
Read MoreTo The Parent of a Newly Diagnosed Child
Hiya there friend, Your child has just been diagnosed with Autism. You heard about me from a friend of a friend. Or maybe you found me on Instagram. Or you emailed me at 1 am as you were frantically googling autism in the middle of the night. You are so confused and scared. You feel like you’ve lost control of your life. I see you. I understand what you are feeling. I was you. I am you. You are going to look to me for hope. You are going to…
Read MoreAn Autism Christmas
Christmas is supposed to be a joyful time. Pre-autism it was my favorite. I love the decorations and the food and the family. The snow. The coziness. The children opening presents. The list goes on. Christmas was my favorite. It’s different now. Just like everything post autism. There are too many expectations. I used to get sick to my stomach just thinking about it approaching. Except now I have a wild and rambunctious 3 year old who LOVES Christmas. He talks about Santa non-stop and how he is going to…
Read MoreA Letter to the Family and Friends of An Autism Parent
Dear friends and family, I am sitting here thinking about our relationship. And about how much I love you. And how I rarely see you. We joke that it’s because life is so busy. We have jobs and babies. Life is crazy. And how some day it will be better. We will have more time. One of these days we will actually get together and do something. I’m not sure if that’s entirely true though…at least not for me. We are different. We are friends. We are family. But we…
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