Posts Tagged ‘special needs blog’
The World Needs Your Story
Here are 12 of the now nearly 100 members of Finding Cooper’s Voice Blog Squad. Daily they inspire, advocate, educate, and give hope to others going through the special needs life. Each of them has started either a blog and/or social media channels to help advocate. It has been amazing watching each of them grow and help others simply by sharing their story. Have a blog or social channels that’s focused on advocacy? Come join us! Here’s how: 1. Join Coop’s Troops: https://www.facebook.com/becomesupporter/772295979579532/ 2. Join Coop’s Troop Blog Squad Remember,…
Read MoreNo Expectations Allows Me To Be A Better Parent
And here I sit again, in my car, crying. This seems to be the place I cry the most. After IEP meetings. After doctor’s appointments. After birthday parties. I usually know when I’m going to end up crying. You see, I’m always prepared. I don’t usually have a choice in that matter. I call it prepared grief. I can see it coming weeks in advance. We have done enough IEP meetings, doctor’s evaluations, and birthday parties that just don’t go the way we planned. This still doesn’t mean that it…
Read MoreWhat Is Versus What Should Have Been
There is an emotion that lives inside me now that I can’t really describe. It’s a mix of heartache, anxiety, helplessness and a feeling of being overwhelmed. There is actually a term for it. It’s called “Chronic Sorrow”. I feel sometimes like I live a double life. One with my older girls and friends being myself and another in this adaptive world we have created for our daughter Isla. Even when I am away from autism…I still feel like I live it. There is no escape and I have changed. I…
Read MoreDiagnosis Day
1 in 189 girls are diagnosed with autism. Today, my girl officially became the 1. I pictured her soaring in with a superwoman cape and “saving” all the other little girls from this fate. But as we know, it’s not a choice like that. I’ve never worked so hard for a piece of paper I didn’t ever want. The piece of paper saying my daughter has a chronic disability for which she can never be cured took nearly a year of constant phone calls, evaluations to submit, i’s to be…
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 MoreThought battle – Winning Smile
Its been a long time since I wrote. Something happened yesterday that I wanted to bring back to my thinking pad. This has been a place of thinking and talking whenever I have an ‘aha’ moment or whenever I have to work through something. For the first time, we let our son V participate in choir. He loves music, listens to something all the time, Alexa is his new best friend, and he also has a decent voice. Choir had around 70 kids and we were doubtful but the program director agreed…
Read MoreDone Trying to Fit Into ‘Normal’
My ‘aha moment’ developed over a series of very confusing, embarrassing, bizarre, and frustrating events. But, I know that there was an undeniable moment in time, where I saw without a doubt, that there was something about my son very different from other kids his age. Something very different from my older son. The difference wasn’t a spoiled child. It wasn’t a lack of discipline. It wasn’t just the toddler stage. This difference was beginning to infiltrate every moment of every day and every night. Looking back, I could say…
Read MoreWhat Will Autism Look Like For My Son As He Gets Older
When my son Cody was diagnosed at the early age of 17 months, he was a quirky little guy with high energy but somewhat aloof and not really “autistic” looking, I guess. As Cody grew older his disability was much more evident and it’s been hard. I remember thinking I felt like I had to explain why Cody was acting in a certain way or almost apologizing for him being too loud or disruptive. When Cody was little and having a meltdown he just looked like he was a young…
Read MoreThe Proverbial Straw
There are four sides to autism. At least that’s the way I see it. There is Cooper. He has autism. Then there is me and his dad and his brother and family. We have different expectations and emotions about Cooper. There is the rest of the world and how they perceive Cooper. There are teachers and aids and therapists and insurance companies. Doctors, financial aid workers. You name it. Cooper has it. And then there is the business side. Yesterday, while working an 8 hour day, I answered 4 phone…
Read MoreTrick-Or-Treating
I gave Cooper a sign for Halloween. It was simple. It said Trick-or-Treat. I gave it to him because he looks so much like a typical child and people don’t know how to react when he does things. They get nervous. I get nervous. And then Cooper gets nervous. By giving Cooper a sign I removed the guesswork and answered the questions that people have. ‘Is there something off with that child?’ We’ve all been there. You’ve all wondered it. Let’s be honest. You see a kiddo or even an…
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