Posts Tagged ‘disabled adults’

I have been living the autism parenting life for 12 years now. We are in the middle. We made it through the wondering and worrying. Past the sting of the beginning. I like to say we all settled into this secret world. Me. My husband. Cooper. And his siblings. We don’t know anything different. And we couldn’t imagine Cooper being anything other than himself. We don’t whisper autism. We share it. Loudly. Proudly. And with conviction. He is Cooper. Something happened though. Something I knew would come one day. I…

Something that autism has gifted our family is that it has opened our eyes to another world. We get to see the lives of many people affected by disabilities. When we are at a sporting event, camp, or conference for my son filled with children and adults of all different abilities, I see more love and acceptance than anywhere else. I love that both my children are surrounded by it. They have seen the beauty in differences from the beginning. At the same time, I have one foot in the…

Today, I watched you slip away. It happened bit by bit, piece by piece. Slow at first. Then all at once. The elephant in the room got you. The one that steals you from me now and again. The one I refuse to lose you too completely. Anxiety. You have it. Not me. I am just the mother. I am anxiety adjacent. I belong to a boy with anxiety. I see it coming. I feel it and hear it. Other people have no idea. But I do. At 4 am…

My son Cody was diagnosed with severe autism at 17 months. As a parent I had no idea what that even meant. I knew no one on the spectrum. I remember sitting in a sterile office while getting our diagnosis watching my little boy wander around the room opening and closing drawers, trying to leave the room while the doctor sat calmly stating what my son’s future would be. Bleak at best. Place him, he said. You’re both young. Place him? We want him with us. We planned for him.…

Nearly every parent worries about their child’s future. When it comes to my eight year old autistic son I worry on a heightened level.  Recently, on a podcast I co-host, Table for Five No Reservations, we have interviewed parents of disabled adults and some disabled individuals themselves. All with different levels of need and in different areas. In some ways it gave me hope about the future but in many others it scared me.  A blatant recurring theme hit me. Opportunities and resources astoundingly decrease when people like my son…