Posts Tagged ‘isolation’
New Video: Finding Balance Outside of your Home
In this video I discuss how fantastic my son is doing right now. He is happy, healthy, and thriving in every area. Every day continues to be the best and happiest day of his life. Our family feels calm and relaxed. It’s been an amazing few months. But, we also realized that Cooper has literally only been going to and from therapy and to visit families houses. That is it. Otherwise, he is home. We want and need him to be able to have successful outings outside of our home.…
Read MoreDivide and Conquer: A Way of Life for our family
This morning Sawyer had a family breakfast at his preschool. When we initially saw the invite we knew that if both Jamie and I wanted to attend we’d have to make arrangements for someone to watch Cooper and bring him to school. At this time, he is unable to attend an event such as this. It’s our reality. He doesn’t sit or participate. He isn’t safe. And it would make the experience not enjoyable for Sawyer. And that’s not fair. When I think about our family, one of my greatest…
Read MoreMaking the Brave Choices
In the very early days of Mark’s autism diagnosis, I found myself in a little, darkened observation room, perched in front of a two-way mirror watching Mark during his special group speech program alongside other parents, who I would learn later were at the exact same spot on their journey. One of these parents has become a dear friend of mine, and as she put it when we first began chatting, she had unpacked her bags in the land of grief. She grieved what could have, should have, and what…
Read MoreLost in the Woods
This post was shared anonymously and is about all the children and families that struggle with the daily life of Autism, Special Needs, and Mental Health issues. This is the view from my personal window. I Can See It I could see it all so clearly, like a movie playing in front of me. A curious child. A clever child. An autistic child. He is crawling out of bed in the middle of the night. He never has slept much. It was a pretty spring day earlier, and he wanted…
Read MoreAutism, Isolation and Inclusion
I want to talk about a topic near and dear to my heart and very real in our autism world…isolation. I remember it started when my son was very young. Back in those days though, we thought he was just a challenging toddler. Autism wasn’t even in our vocabulary yet. We’d joke that he couldn’t sit still or about how busy he was and dream about the days when we could actually leave the house again. We thought by age 4 and 5 he would for sure be able to…
Read MoreThe Emotions That Accompany Special Needs Parenting
One of the main reasons I started blogging about my life with an autistic child was to help other parents learn to talk about the emotions that go into raising a child with a lifelong disability. I knew what I was feeling and I knew I couldn’t be alone. Yet, it felt that way. The Roller Coaster If you are anything like me the whole thing feels like a rollercoaster. In the beginning you would’ve done anything for your child to not be on the spectrum. Maybe you were in denial.…
Read More