Balancing the needs of siblings and special needs is really, really difficult. This is what I’ve learned. We spend a lot of time with my oldest son. We spend a lot of time talking – trying to help him calm down, help him socially navigate tough situations, discussing his topic of interest. We spend a…
I have a close friend who lives just down the street. She sees more of our day to day stuff than any other person outside my husband and me. She brings wine or food or both. She doesn’t flinch when I have to leave her sitting on the couch for the 14th time to go help…
Lately, there has been no escape from the endless lists. Of symptoms Of medications Of side effects Of doctors appointments Of helpful books to read Of therapists to see Of other people who have struggled with the same differences and grew up to be perfectly amazing Of diagnoses Of educational options Of future possibilities for…
I can’t tell you how many times I have been accused of spoiling my child with special needs, both online and in person. My baby was four weeks old. He hadn’t slept for more than a 45 minute stretch in his short lifetime. I was bleary eyed, depressed, and terrified. I knew, deep down inside,…
Scary blood test results. My ten year old son in a hospital bed, crying to go home. Signing off on expensive treatments that may or may not be covered by our insurance. Staying in a hotel room, alone, the rest of my family miles away and struggling to do life without me. It was one…
The day I ordered my son’s wheelchair was not a good one. Just pressing the “ship now” button made my heart hurt. After years of autism therapies and anxiety medications. After years of doctor’s appointments and educational evaluations. After years of learning everything possible about his sensory system and urgent need for tactile input. After…
So…my husband and I had big plans for this post. It was going to be amazing, and you were going to love it. We were going to do a running conversation that both of us have in our heads throughout the day, and give you a glimpse of how we approach this life so differently…
I hung up the phone and felt a familiar sense of dread. “We have a diagnosis. It explains everything and I am so sorry it took us all so long to figure it out for him,” the doctor had said. I could hear my son in the other room and tried to talk myself calm. …
Last week, I shared my experience with behavior charts. The shame, the anxiety and perhaps, most frustrating of all, the fact that they really don’t work. Time and time again, it has been shown that children having the most issues will not only not be helped by a behavior chart, it often actually causes an increase…
I stumbled across an old journal last week. It was for the year 2010 when my oldest son was six and my youngest, three. I read through it and smiled at all the cute sayings and sweet moments, grateful I had taken the time to record them. (I had completely forgotten that my little guy…
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…
It’s been a while since I have shared anything about my family’s experience with church. It’s been a while because we are still in a season of trying to figure it all out. Right now, we do what we can. We go when and where we can. We do the best we can. I know…
End of content
End of content