Posts Tagged ‘mother and son’

I often say that my son’s diagnosis of autism touches every aspect of his life. From small things to big things. Even something as simple as riding the bus. See, I worry a lot. About everything. Especially when he’s not with me. When the bus pulled in the driveway after his first day of school this year, I was waiting as the big doors opened. My first question…’how did he do?’ See, as a mom of a kid who has struggled in the past, and still does at times, I…

My oldest son was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism at age 3. In so many ways it felt like it changed everything. Big things and little things. Would he ever be able to talk? Would he make friends? Would he learn to drive a car? Go to prom? Have a job? Would he ever live independently? Goodness I worried. And wondered. About everything really. His story had no clear answers. He’s fourteen now. A teenager. A freshman at our local high school. So many parts are as I predicted they…

Autism has been in the news a lot the last few days. More than I’ve ever seen in my fourteen years of being a mama to a child with severe nonverbal autism. I thought it’s what I wanted. To be seen. To be understood. To finally have people take notice of this complicated, mysterious, magical life alongside autism. I was wrong. Reading and hearing about my son’s disability, mostly being shared by people who don’t live it, has been unsettling. So much fighting. A lot of us verses them. Finger…

After my son was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism at age three, I was told all of the things he would most likely never do. Speak. Read. Write. Live independently and so on. As if the people around us, the ones there to help us, knew his future. It felt crushing. It was as if his story had already been written. And there was nothing I could do. Well, there ain’t no determination like the determination a mother has when she is told what her baby won’t do. Mark my…

I knew it was coming – the day my daughter Rosie would leapfrog her older autistic brother. Leapfrogging is when a younger sibling surpasses an older one in areas like emotional, functional, or verbal development.This summer, I enjoyed watching my 6-year-old daughter learn to do so many new skills.Tying her shoes.Taking a shower.Doing her makeup.Styling her hair.It has been so fun. Having a little girl is everything I dreamed it would be.Sass. Spunk. Cuddles. Laughter. Tickles. Frilly Dresses. Random fashion shows.As she speeds through all these milestones, it catches me…

I caught myself staring at this picture of Cooper today. Look how small he was. It brings tears to my eyes every time I see it. The way he was holding my face. He was 18 months old. That tiny, angelic, little boy had turned my whole world completely upside down and inside out from day one. I was exhausted when this picture was taken. I hadn’t slept through the night in 18 months. I was at an all time low weight. I had huge dark circles under my eyes.…

Back to school hits so differently when your child has a disability. I could pretend it doesn’t. I could trick myself but what’s the point. Who does that help? Honesty helps. Feeling helps. I stood in a store tonight picking out a few new shirts and shorts for my incoming freshman. As I stood there, I watched a gaggle of boys run through the section. They talked about school tomorrow. Who was driving who. I noticed their hair. What they were wearing. And how they talked. They were wearing shirts…

You see a little boy that is naughty and throwing a tantrum. I see a little boy who is trying so hard to cope with all the changes around him that it has sent him into a full-blown meltdown, something that is out of his control, and yet you are judging him and my parenting as you walk past us. You see a little boy who doesn’t listen to his mummy. I see a little boy who cannot get through the day without ear defenders because he cannot cope at…