Posts Tagged ‘Special Needs Parenting’
Meeting Maya
I’m a mother of three amazing humans. But as a divorced mom it wasn’t always easy. I’m proud to send them out into the world and know that they will experience all of its wonders. I worked hard on being what they needed. As the story goes, I was living my life for them…the time put in was well worth it. And believe me twenty years goes by very slowly yet they grow so fast. All my babies have flown the nest. I guess it’s bittersweet my new found freedom.…
Read MoreThe Unique Beauty in Him
This morning we were running late. I couldn’t get Sawyer out of bed. Harbor needed to be fed. And Cooper had somehow found a pile of hidden construction paper in the pantry and was spreading it all over the floor. He wanted me to draw him trains. That’s his new thing. He finds pictures of trains in magazines and has people draw them for him. While yes, it is adorable most of the time, it’s not quite so cute when you are running late for school. He will stand in…
Read MoreFinding the Magic in Christmas Again
Christmas is supposed to be magical. When I was young, I spent hours dreaming about the wonderful gifts waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning. My wish list was long, and my hopes were high. I even convinced myself that an old man with a big, fat belly flew around the whole world in one night to give every good little boy and girl a present. I couldn’t sleep the night before, and I was giddy with anticipation for the morning to come! Somehow as I got older the…
Read MoreHow the Autism Changed Christmas
I took my Christmas tree down on December 10th. Yes, you read that correctly. On a day when the slowpokes haven’t even put theirs up yet, I was taking mine down. I took down the glittery balls. I took down the ribbons. I took down the lights. I stuffed them all in a big tote and dragged it to the basement with hot tears in my eyes. Autism has taken a lot from my family. One of the biggest things it has taken from me personally, is certainty. It took…
Read MoreAnd Another Makes Two
Four months after I found out I was pregnant with my daughter J, I began to have concerns about my son PB’s development. He wasn’t answering to his name, he avoided eye contact, and his speech wasn’t where it should have been. After doing some of my own research, the same thing kept popping up. Autism. I fought hard not to accept that. There was no way my son had autism. I just couldn’t fathom that. But several referrals, early intervention appointments, speech therapy appointments, occupational therapy appointments, and an…
Read MoreShe is Perfect
Our little girl sat and looked at our dog whilst laughing and moved in a way I had never seen her move before. That was the moment I knew. We had suspected from the age of two that our little girl could be on the spectrum but she was still young and needed more time. I hadn’t felt sadness about it until that moment. Tears rolled down my cheeks. They were tears of sadness because I knew things would be more difficult for her and it wasn’t her fault. Was…
Read MoreOur Week in Seven Photos
Taking photos of my beautiful boys and crazy, wild life is one of my favorite things to do. Part of me wishes I would have became a photographer. Photos show our life in a way that my written words never could. One thing that I struggle the most with is that fact that Cooper simply can’t go places with our family. He doesn’t enjoy it. He gets WAY too much anxiety. He doesn’t understand that he is supposed to sit. Or wait. He gets nervous. And wild. So, we made…
Read MoreTo the Woman who Brought Life Back to Me
I am honoring my son’s teacher at New Connections Autism Academy, Mrs. Lisa Meeter. I want to say that this woman and this school brought life back to my child and me. After three years of fighting the public school my son went to…numerous send homes, expulsions, calls, meetings, times I almost lost my job because I had to leave my classroom to go pick up my child, this woman and the school he now attends has brought hope and happiness to our little family. She has open communication with…
Read MoreI See You Momma
I see you, momma, giving your all. Staying up into the wee hours, researching symptoms and indicators, both hoping and dreading a possible diagnosis. I see you, all alone, as your mommy gut screams something is wrong, to the disbelief of your husband and family…listing all the “absences” and “lack” of symptoms, hoping the silent missing parts will prove to others there is, indeed, a problem. I see the world you’re living in. Where bell curves taunt and intimidate and are rendered useless for you. Where, diagnosis or no diagnosis,…
Read MoreAt the Crossroads of Anxiety and Acceptance
Today, our son’s anxiety won. I say that because his anxiety is like it’s own force. It’s a thing. It’s always present. Always lurking under the surface. It always wins. It shuts him down and takes over. We were supposed to take our family to a hotel to celebrate Christmas with our extended family. We made the huge, ginormous mistake of telling Cooper three days before. We needed him to try a swimsuit on to make sure it would fit. We messed up. Not him. He couldn’t handle the anticipation.…
Read More