Posts Tagged ‘self injuring behavior’
I’ll Try Harder to be Better
I haven’t been the best wife, daughter, friend, mom to you and…I’m sorry. You see, today my son’s therapist mentioned she noticed him biting his hand. ‘Self injuring’ was the exact term she used, and he did it five times within their three hour session. She told me to ‘keep an eye on it’ and to notify her if ‘the behaviors worsened’. That’s been on my mind all afternoon. Retracing every step leading up to every ‘behavior’. Wondering what could have set him off… Wondering what we could do differently tomorrow…
Read MoreNothing is Normal About Today
I spent this Thanksgiving in Baltimore, split from those I love. Instead I spent it with my son and with families that feel the same aching, haunting pain that I do. We sit as strangers, yet we know each others stories better than our own relatives. For at today’s table, we are reminded of that, as our chairs remain vacant at the homes we have left behind. As life continues stirring around us with no one really understanding what we feel. Expect these strangers I celebrate with today; they do,…
Read MoreMedical Cannabis and Autism
When our son was diagnosed with autism a little over four years ago, I thought we would immediately start helping him. I assumed, so naively, that getting the diagnosis was all we needed to help him. I was wrong. For years we paved our own path. No one told us what to do. We couldn’t find any other children like our son. Our son had severe anxiety and rigidity. He self-injured. He had no understanding of safety or danger. He had chronic ear infections and extreme GI issues. He didn’t…
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