Posts Tagged ‘Therapy’
Why Isn’t Therapy Talked About More?
Why isn’t therapy talked about more? Why is it that therapy looks like a bad thing? Because it isn’t. Therapy is for people who can’t just figure it out, right? Who can’t just get over things. Who can’t handle life. Right? Absolutely wrong. In my opinion, I think everyone could benefit from at least one therapy session. Why? Therapists aren’t just there to hear you talk about your life (although that is so healing), they are there to give you tools to succeed! To process your emotions! To remind you…
Read MoreLet Me Be A Fly On The Wall
I often catch myself thinking, if only I was a fly on the wall. I’ve uttered those words to your therapists after they share the celebrated moments of your morning. Moments you have worked so hard for. Harder than most. Moments like when you said ’swing’ for the first time. Tried a strawberry. Waved hello to another child. Pointed to the object when asked, “Where is the…?” Hugged a stuffed animal. Moments I thought I would witness first. Moments I thought would happen with me. Precious child of mine, I…
Read MoreThe Goal is Independence
Why do parents like me care so much about therapy? I’ve read some crazy reasons as to why. I’ve heard we are tying to make our kids not autistic. That ones bizarre. I’ve heard we are trying to change them. Suppress them. Even torture them. Equally ridiculous. None of those are true. Not for me at least. I take my son to therapy, day after day, when I should be working or watching my other son play hockey or cleaning my house, for one simple reason. I fight for insurance…
Read MoreI’m Thankful For Our Therapists
We’ve been doing therapy since my son Nicholas was 6 months old. He was behind from the very beginning, and wasn’t hitting his milestones at all. He was oversensitive to everything, would arch his back a lot, and needed help with most things. It was recommended by his pediatrician that he start seeing an occupational therapist (OT). Those were some hard therapy days. Nicholas was uncomfortable and cried a lot. We worked on tummy time, sitting, feeding, and fine motor skills with little success. Because of his sensitivity his OT…
Read MoreInclude Us, Too
When you talk about your children and how you are feeling relieved because they just met their milestone after all. When you talk about how, “easy” your new baby is and how great of a big sister their sibling is. When you gossip about so-and-so whose son might be delayed. When you talk about those things knowing that I have a disabled child… Right in front of me…. As if I do not exist… As if my child does not exist… You NEVER ask about her. None of you. When…
Read MoreA Letter From Your Therapist
It’s okay to ask for help. It doesn’t make you a bad parent, you’re not doing anything wrong. No one could have ever prepared you for this: there’s no quick-study guide on parenthood, let alone parenthood for ASD. You’re not supposed to have all the answers right out the gate. It’s okay to have baby steps that take months to achieve. It’s okay to feel like things may never change. It’s okay to have hope that everything will change. It’s okay to feel guilty…for a little while. It’s okay to feel…
Read MoreAs Long As He’s Healthy
While at a recent doctor appointment I was chatting with a young, pregnant woman. I congratulated her and asked her if she knew the sex of the baby. She said she didn’t know and didn’t have a preference, “as long as the baby is healthy.” I smiled and nodded but inside I thought about how this phrase has a new meaning to me since my daughter’s autism diagnosis seven years ago. When someone uses that phrase, I feel sadness in my heart. I think to myself, will she accept and…
Read MoreMany Sunny Days Ahead…
I don’t want to get out of bed today. It’s going to be another dreary, cloud filled day. My room is dark and there is not an ounce of light peeking through the cracks of my window shade. I am so tired but I know in a few short minutes that I will be needed. I am going to hear my daughter Sunny screaming for me. It’s going to be another hard day of therapy sessions, begging to get her to eat something and begging her not to hurt herself.…
Read MoreHow Can You Hate Everything?
“It’s not humanly possible that you hate everything Cooper. Unless, you aren’t human and you were sent to this earth to make me insane. Then, I guess yes, it might be possible.” Then I looked deep into his eyes to see if maybe he was indeed an alien. Nope. No sign. This is something I said to Cooper yesterday on the way home from his first occupational Therapy appointment. Let me remind you that this place is amazing and the therapist is an angel. An actual angel. She had the…
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