“Momma, I need you to turn off the air conditioner,” my son said as we drove to his appointment. “OK, but why?” I asked, thinking about the 95 degree heat that was sure to make us a sweaty mess, in about three minutes, without the air on. “Because I am eating something crunchy,” he answered,…
Every once in a while, I am reminded of the obvious – My son has autism. It may seem strange, but I honestly forget sometimes. In the beginning, it was impossible to forget. It was the first thing I thought of when I opened my eyes in the morning. “He has autism.” It would drone…
I spend a lot of time thinking about how best to help my children learn. Hands-on activities, incorporating movement, accommodating sensory needs – all of this has become just a regular part of my helping them learn. Struggling with the sound of your pencil on the paper? Let’s type instead. Haven’t been able to memorize…
“I think you might be losing sight of the fact that he has an autism spectrum diagnosis. That’s not going away. We need to talk about adjusting your expectations.” This is what the behavioral pediatrician told me in our appointment last week. She said it in response to me telling her all the things we…
There are a few moments in my life that cannot be undone. The ones that stick with me, stand out…the ones that no matter how much time passes, I can still remember vividly, what I wore, her voice, what he looked like, how I felt. There are a handful of these moments that I carry…
This is what it’s really like when your child has meltdowns every day. Some things are just tough to write about. I want to write about them. I know that I should. But with some topics, I have trouble saying what I want to say. Bear with me on this one. I am not sure…
It’s been more than seven years now, since my son was diagnosed with autism. It seems like yesterday. It seems like a lifetime ago. 1. A lack of sleep makes everything seem worse than it actually is. 2. It is possible for one person to talk for four hours straight about snakes, or aquariums,…
The day after we received my son’s diagnosis, I didn’t blow dry my hair. I just put it back in a bun and thought, “Well,I’d better get used to this. The sound of the dryer is always going to bother him, so I might as well give up on looking presentable.” (Clearly I am not…
“You have to stop hitting your head on the walls. If you do, they are going to make us move,” I said, crying, trying to help my son calm down, desperate and not knowing what to do. He was eight, and having meltdowns every night after school. We had already received complaints from our neighbor…
I heard the boys snickering and turned to see what was going on. My son was awkwardly trying to catch water balloons, as several boys threw them at him. It was the end of school party on the last day of second grade. The teacher was there along with several room moms. No one seemed…
When I think about dying, I worry. Not for me, not at all. I tell my friends all the time, “When I die, I will be with Jesus. I’m good. Worry about my husband and the boys.” I worry because our plan for long-term care, especially now that my son’s autoimmune diagnosis will require it,…
When I first started sharing our family’s journey six years ago, I wrote about one diagnosis – autism. It was overwhelming and I needed support. I needed other moms. I needed a real life example of what to do and how to help. Since then, I have found all of that and more, mostly right…
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