I’ll admit I’ve always hoped that Eric would “blend in” to the crowd; conform to publicly acceptable behaviors. It’s taken me many, many years to be OK with his noises and quirky movements that are an extension of his communication abilities. Last week in BJ’s…we both had a breakthrough. As I was packing up the ...
Brothers and sisters, we are losing. We can argue about the reasons why (reality vs. perception); we can argue about the biased media; unreasonable expectations; poor self-promotion. But, the brutal truth is many special needs individuals and families are afraid to call us when they need help. They are afraid we will hurt them. They ...
My 20 Rules for the New Autism Blogger (or anyone thinking about becoming one): 1) Don’t chase “Likes”. You’ll end up sacrificing your core principles. 2) Know where you stand on tough issues, even if it’s in the middle. 3) Eventually, you’ll piss off 50% of your audience. If you have remained true to Rules ...
I know I’m fighting an uphill battle. The things I’ve read in recent days– the anger and bitterness I have heard– leave little room for optimism. I’m going to try anyway. I understand the fear. I understand the anger. My biggest fear is that my son will soon meet a police officer who will misunderstand ...
It’s been 9 days since it happened. Somehow the emotional scars seem to heal quicker than the physical scars. We left the local aquarium because Eric started screaming really loud. After sitting in the car seeing if he would settle down enough for us to go back in, I decided to head home – and ...
I ran my first marathon about a month ago. Twenty (freaking) six point two miles through the heart of Philadelphia. It was everything they said it would be. The thing that sticks with me was the spectators: Thousands upon thousands of friends and family and strangers lining the streets of the city to watch and ...
This past weekend, we hauled all the Christmas decorations down from the attic. To be honest, I dread doing it every year. I wasn’t always like that- but somehow along the way, I’ve lost my Christmas magic. Our daughter was so excited to do it, that we took advantage of the long holiday weekend and ...
It was your typical Sunday. Eric had “a plan.” Daddy was going to take him to the local zoo to visit his favorite seals (they are really sea lions – but don’t correct him, or he’ll yell at you LOL). Daddy has some experience under his belt and logged onto their website and immediately a ...
(Note: this specialist decided to remove Eric’s sock and shoe and rub his leg/foot while we were talking #awkward #appreciatedtheattempt) It’s been almost 9 years since we received a diagnosis. We have tried lots of different treatments to lessen the burden of some of Eric’s symptoms. Most have been focused around GI and feeding issues, ...
Here is where I am on this journey: Would I take away his anxiety? Yes.Would I heal his gut issues that give him pain and discomfort? Yes.Would I give anything to have a full and “typical” conversation with my son? Anything.Would I silence the quirky noises that draw stares from the uneducated? Maybe.Would I take ...
