Posts Tagged ‘nonverbal autism’
Let Your Child Show You The Way
As a young child, my son Cody was always full of energy and often became dysregulated and would have meltdowns and tantrums for hours at a time. I remember sitting against his bedroom wall just watching him during one of these meltdowns to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. There was really nothing I could do. I just made sure he was safe. Those were very hard times in our journey. I didn’t know what he needed and felt so helpless. I can say I look back and I now…
Read MoreMy Daughter; Living Her Own Life
Tess came into our life in March 1999. She is part of a big family that lived in Africa. In 1999, Tess’s mum and dad were killed. The circumstances are not important. What is important is that in the blink of an eye, Tess lost her mum and dad and, after coming to live with us in England a few months later, her home, school, friends and country. Her world. Tess was 12 at the time. The loss was doubly confusing because she wasn’t able to comprehend what had happened.…
Read MoreTo The Person Who Saved Me
I want to take you back a year ago. To a different me. When it was a much darker time. Where I was the mom who is spending more days crying than not. A mom who felt hopeless. Who looked at her son, and wanted to do everything within herself to help him, but didn’t know how. Who didn’t want to anything, anymore. A person who was depressed. I typed in the google search, ‘therapists near me.’ So many options came up. I’d look their profiles over, and they all…
Read MoreAfter Thoughts…
As a parent, we have hopes and dreams for our children. I would lay in bed, watching my daughter sleep and smile just picturing the woman she would one day become. I saw an independent career woman, an amazing mother, a loving wife—I saw her living life to the fullest—enjoying every moment. Autism changed those dreams overnight. When Kya received her autism diagnosis, a flood of emotions washed over me that my mind and body could simply not handle. As the fog slowly began to clear, I was tasked to understand…
Read MoreWhat is Normal?
When I became pregnant with my first child in 2007, I had no idea the journey I was about to embark on. I felt that I would be like every other mother I knew and have that ‘normal family’. It didn’t turn out that way and honestly, I could have never imagined the hurdles that we would have to go through over the last 11 years. My daughter was born in 2008, health and happy. For the first two years everything was perfect. One day, I noticed a small tremor…
Read MoreNew Video: Moving and Cyber Bullying
Hello friends! I am so excited to do a quick video this morning. I’m going to cover two topics. Moving and Slander/Cyber Bullying. Both topics are equally interesting and I recommend you watch through the whole video. As many of you know, our family is moving once again. Many of you have asked questions about how Cooper handles moving and how we prepare him for a positive transition. This is Cooper’s fifth move. He is surprisingly resilient and handles the transitions very well. As his parents, we also do everything…
Read MoreWe Don’t Need to Decide What is Worse
My ah-ha moment really has nothing to do with my son or his autism. But more about how moms in the special needs world view and treat each other. About three years ago, I met one of the most important people in my life. My close friend Carrie. She has a little guy who is 4 ½ and has nonverbal autism. My autistic 6 ½ year old is verbal. So, they are basically opposites. Carries lives pretty far from me, so we don’t get to see each other often. But…
Read MoreEmbracing their Differences
I have two absolutely amazing little boys. One is 7 and one is 5. They are both blonde. They are both happy. They are both silly. I gave birth to them both. They are two years apart. And that is where their similarities end. My boys are like night and day. Personalities, likes, dislikes, fears, hopes, dreams, etc. All different. And that’s okay to say out loud. I’m not afraid of differences. Not anymore. In the beginning yes. I’m human. And differences can be scary. But time helped all that.…
Read MoreTraveling with Severe Autism
We just got back from a 3-day trip to Washington, DC. To say that I was dreading this trip would be an understatement. Plane rides, security checks, hotels, crosswalks, crowds, the unknown – all of this is so overwhelming for our family. You see, we have three amazing kids, but Drew, our 13-year-old son, has severe autism. He is non-verbal and really doesn’t like to venture very far outside of his routine and typical home/school/therapy environments. Or does he? This trip literally started off with a disaster of the epic…
Read MoreWould I Skip the Hard Chapters?
This morning Jamie, Sawyer and I went to church to celebrate Easter. Typically, it’s just Sawyer and I because someone has to stay home with Cooper. But since it’s a special day, I wanted Jamie to join us. As usual I felt the sting of leaving Cooper behind with his aunt as we left for church. Today, he even halfheartedly grabbed his shoes to come with us. What I wouldn’t give to do something as a family of four. Just once. I’m pretty sure that most people think we only…
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