Posts Tagged ‘Special Needs Parenting’
When All Else Fails, Ask For Help
Helpless. Desperate. Inadequate. These words describe how I feel as the mother of a child with limited verbal abilities who is inexplicably wasting away before my eyes, refusing to eat and unable to tell me why. Evie is my five-year-old daughter on the Autism spectrum, and she’s been thriving in Kindergarten this year, making progress in many areas despite the mess Covid has made of things. How is it possible that a problem like this can pop up so suddenly and coexist among all these milestones we’re meeting? We’ve put…
Read MoreWhat Does it Mean to be Grateful?
What does it mean to be grateful? I think gratitude can look different for each individual person. We all want a happy life. Some people may be grateful for a good job and financial stability. Others may be grateful to be a stay at home parent, raising and watching their children thrive and grow. Gratitude is a powerful human emotion. In its simplest form, gratitude refers to a “state of thankfulness” or a “state of being grateful.” Thanking others, thanking ourselves, gratitude in any form can enlighten the mind and…
Read MoreMamas who are in the Grief Stage; it is okay
Why would you feel grief over autism? Your child is alive. They are healthy, even happy most of the time. It could be so much worse they say. I have said those words to myself as well as had others say them to me. It does little to bring you comfort in the darkest corner of your mind. All it really does is make you feel guilty and believe me we feel an insurmountable amount of guilt already. The guilt can be even worse than the grief. I could tell you…
Read MoreI Wanted to Tell Her It Would Be Okay
It was a warm sunny day in the middle of June. We were, and still are in the midst of a pandemic. We live in southwest Florida so the June days can become unbearable at times. I was almost 7 months pregnant with a very crazy 1-year old little girl. My husband and I decided to take her to the pool to cool off and have her burn off some of her energy. We live in a little community, filled predominantly with retirees. We are one of a few families…
Read MoreAge is Literally Just a Number
Today I find myself decluttering. It usually makes me feel quite a bit better…when I’m in one of those random funks. But if nothing else, today’s chore left me feeling more gloomy than anything. I first tackled the hall closets, our makeshift office in the spare bedroom, and then turned my attention to Beckett’s room. Truth be told, there isn’t much going on in our son’s room..to declutter, or otherwise. Of course, he has a sturdy, nice bed, complete with ladder and slide. There are various decorative pieces on his…
Read MoreCan You Feel My Vibe?
My son, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), was also diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). As part of his profile, he has a heightened sensitivity to light, sound and the energy of his environment. To navigate loud places, or areas that have unexpected sounds, has been challenging. We found bright lights could be over stimulating, making movie theatres, fairs and arcades unpredictable. He would become so revved up, literally bouncing from one thing to another, and his impulse control was non-existent. He also became disregulated by itchy…
Read MoreI am a Forever Mother
All five of my kids have really peculiar teeth. Which is kind of ironic, seeing as my husband is a dentist. Missing laterals, crowding, odd bite patterns—we’ve got it all. My son Jack has what is called a class three underbite, which means his lower jaw comes out much further than it should. He’ll probably need to have a lot of teeth pulled. And there is a surgery to correct the whole thing. It is big and long and complicated, with a very difficult recovery. We could never put him…
Read MoreIt Feels Like the Walls are Closing In
Does anyone else feel like they are standing in a room screaming at the top of their lungs but no one is listening. Or cares. Because I do. Distance learning is really hard. Trying to work with three kids and a husband is really hard. Never being alone is hard. Self care is hard. Motivation is hard. Trying to be happy all the time is hard. Trying to stay busy without leaving the house is hard. Finding Christmas cheer is hard. When everything shut down in March for us I…
Read MoreA War With Hope
My son Cooper has taught me so much about timing over the years. And how we don’t have a set time limit to accomplish things. When he was diagnosed we heard a lot of things. We heard game over. We heard prepare for the worst. We heard he would never talk, or make a friend or ride a bike. We were told he would never live independently or have any type of self care. After kindergarten we were told he would never be able to attend a public school. And…
Read MoreThe Special Needs Sibling Shield
Today we ventured to Walmart for a few things. Eggs. Milk. Nerf gun bullets. And 2 pieces of paper. The essentials. Obviously. Outings as a family are still relatively new for us. And while they are far from perfect, they are real. See, we have a kid who is just learning about waiting and buying and walking and all the parts of the world. While our son Cooper is making amazing progress at stores and by amazing I mean huge leaps and bounds…so much of it is still hard for…
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