It’s hard to explain Brian’s language capabilities to people who don’t know him or know autism. You can’t hold a conversation with him very often and he usually can’t answer most questions. The professionals label him “functionally nonverbal”, as he has a huge vocabulary of words but he doesn’t communicate with them. However, he […]
This week my son got a hold of a huge bottle of hair spray. And I mean HUGE. Mama is trying to grow out her bangs so hair spray has become a necessity. He sprayed it all over the bathroom until it was empty. It was a wonderful thing to come home to a sticky, hard […]
As it goes with these ugly truth posts, I wrote this in an emotional fever. Not even going back to edit it. And then it sat in my drafts, me too scared to hit “Publish”, too scared to really share the emotions that go with this gig. Me going back and rereading it over and over again- can I share this? Can I put myself out there? And then I always get that nagging thought- “You are not alone. There’s so many families out there in this same exact position. 1 in freaking 45 families according to the newest data. Other people need to know they are not alone too. That’s why you started blogging.” So here it is. Straight from my diary.
Today was a terrible, no-good autism day. I had my emotional breakdown this morning so I’m not going to relive it and write about it. Plus, I’ve done that before. But, I did leave work early to be home with my boy, as he did not seem to be in a place to be able […]
Last night, Brian had a Code Red meltdown in the middle of the middle school lobby. Lots of people saw it. They probably saw a Mom looking incredibly cool under a ton of pressure. A mom that stayed quiet and calm and who helped him work through it. And after I got asked the inevitable, […]
Last night, on my facebook page I shared an image that read: “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.” How many times have you been told that, in some form or another, as a special needs parents? Probably countless of times. It sounds so good and so true but I […]
School mornings continue to be crazy at my home, as I imagine they are at yours. Both my boys begin school at 7 in the morning, which I still can’t seem to wrap my brain around. Considering my youngest just started consistently sleeping through the night LAST YEAR at TEN YEARS OLD, I am just […]
Brian started his first day of school on Monday. First day of school with new staff, new programming, and a new school. We did all the pre-school work such as visits to the classroom, working with the new staff during ESY (Extended School Year) to acclimate to them, updating my “Brian Manual” that I pass […]
In the field of special needs and occupational therapy we hear the term, “learned helplessness” a lot. Learned helplessness happens when parents or caregivers assume that their child can not be successful at something so they help them, because they love them and they care for them and they want life to be easy for […]
A couple of weeks ago, my little family of four ventured out for a day-long expedition to Reid State Park. Like any outing, we do a lot of planning and preparing to ensure to the best of our abilities that Brian will have a fantastic time. Because, we all find it easier to have a fantastic […]
