Posts Tagged ‘village’
Join Coop’s Troops
When my son’s was diagnosed with autism at age 3, neither my husband nor I knew a child with autism. My husband and I were alone. We would say all the time…where are the families like ours? The ones who can’t leave the house? Where are the kids like Cooper? Where are the siblings like Sawyer? I searched for 8 years and never found them. So I created it. I would love to invite you to join Coop’s Troops, an online subscription group for parents of children and adults with…
Read MoreJoin Coop’s Troops!
A year ago in January I was going through, once again, some pretty brutal bullying online. I had written a post about jealousy in the special needs world. I had said that sometimes I get jealous of 8 year old boys with blonde hair and hazel eyes who can speak and ask questions and talk my year off about Star Wars. I said that I can be fine, feet planted fully in acceptance, invincible really, living in my special needs bubble…and then…out of nowhere, I’ll see the other side. Eight…
Read MoreFive Years…Thank You Village
When my son was born I kept hearing the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child”. I never understood it until my son was diagnosed with autism. When we finally heard the words, “Your son has autism spectrum disorder” from the doctor, I had to text my family because I knew I couldn’t get through a conversation without bursting into tears. Even though we knew he had it, it isn’t real until you hear it from the doctor. The next day my parents came over and the first…
Read MoreI am so Thankful for my Cheer Squad
Special needs parenting is rough. I’m not gonna sugar coat it anymore. It is the single most hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. The first two years were pretty typical, I always looked to my friends for mom advice. Diaper cream, sippy cups etc. The last three have been hard. I don’t have anyone to ask for advice anymore. It’s just us. My husband, our pre-verbal ASD son and me. We make a great team and my son is the MVP. He is tough, smart and even though…
Read MoreAin’t Nobody Got Time for Drama when You’re an Autism Mama
When I received a private message today from a sweet autism mama, my heart sank. She was leaving her support group because of drama between her and some moms in the group who had been her best friends. I knew this decision didn’t come lightly. I knew her eyes were bloodshot from nights wasted worrying about the right thing to do, wondering how this situation got so far out of control, and feeling betrayed by the very people who were her lifelines for so many years in early autism. Her…
Read MoreJoin Coop’s Troop, Our Online Community
A few years ago I decided to start a Facebook page for my blog, Finding Cooper’s Voice. I started it so I could have a place to share all of my autism related posts, and not overwhelm my friends. In less than two years, I have nearly 500,000 followers. It’s amazing. Some days I’m still surprised by the amazing response. I’ve built a community that I am proud of and love. But, with hope and support comes negativity and bullying. I guess that is the nature of social media. So,…
Read MoreWe Want You Here
We. Want. You. Here. Four words, 13 letters. Those four words are words that I just recently realized have a huge impact, not just on the recipient, but on the person saying them. As a family, we spent years adapting to autism. We started with Early Intervention when he was 18 months, moved into a public pre-school program when my tiny nonverbal child was just three and could barely walk up and down stairs. We walked circles with his baby brother around Children’s Hospital three days a week for two…
Read MoreThose Keyboard Warriors Though
One of my dear friends is going through some cyber bullying. She is a blogger. She is amazing. She talks and writes about injustices, her family, her life and her son Amos. Who not only happens to be the cutest child ever, but also has autism. She shared some screen shots with me this morning and I instantly started to sweat. I’ve been there. It will literally take your breath away and feel like you have been sucker punched the first time someone comes at you online. And the second…
Read MoreTo the Women who Heard Me
“He qualifies for the full day program.” It was like being smacked with a brick. How on earth could I put my little boy, who said nothing, into the care of complete strangers and trust that he will be taken care of the way I take care of him. When my son was 2 years and 8 months old he went to a preschool screening and I was faced with another harsh reality, that he was still so behind. He qualified for all day preschool and would be starting there…
Read MoreThey Say it Takes a Village
They say that it takes a village to raise a child. I have wondered where you get this village. When my son was first diagnosed with autism I did not want to tell anyone. I knew that he would beat the odds and recover from autism. Maybe it was ignorance, denial, or wishful thinking. I thought that if I worked with him hard enough, provided him enough ABA therapy, changed his diet, gave him supplements he would return to the little boy that he had been before his regression. But…
Read More