I am thankful for my husband Steve. We’ve had an amazing journey thus far. November 27th will be our families Autism anniversary. The day one of our twin boys, Maverick, was diagnosed. At the time of Maverick’s diagnosis, we were living in central Washington. A peaceful, rural area, filled with apple orchards and wineries. A beautiful place to raise a family, just maybe not our family. Acquiring services in an underserved area is difficult. Maverick was receiving early intervention services through a local organization. It consisted of two speech therapy…
Read More
DEAR AUTISM, I have had this letter in my heart addressed to you for some time now. I’m ready to tell you how I really feel. Almost three years ago to the day, you hit this family like a run-away train veering off track. We were simply trying to understand how to be parents, trying to figure out how to balance life, money, work and a relationship as husband/wife. We were slowly getting the hang of what being a family was all about. Then you came knocking at OUR door….…
Read More
I am honoring my mother, the ultimate autism Grammie, Hughena Gear. I am thankful for her for so many reasons. If you look at the definition of thinking outside the box, she defines it. There is not one thing she will not do for her grandchildren. Our eldest son Emmett was diagnosed with autism almost three years ago, he is now six. Mum has been there every step of the way. They relate, she sees things how he does sometimes, stuff that we may not able to see right away.…
Read More
To the person who judged me, How could you say it’s my fault my child has Autism? How could you go so low. When I am already at my lowest. You have no idea the struggles we have went through. You have no idea all the hurdles we’ve had to jump. All the sleepless nights. All the meltdowns. All the frustration. Being so emotional because your child doesn’t speak, and you have no idea what is wrong. All the doctors and therapy appointments. Feeling so isolated. Wanting to cry 24/7.…
Read More
When my son was diagnosed with autism at age three, I was initially devastated. I think that’s normal for a parent. The word was big and scary. It made me feel out of control. It made me feel helpless. I knew nothing about autism. Or where to begin. Or even what the future held. I felt that way for at least a year. But once the dust settled, I dove in. My kid was awesome. He was adorable and smart. He just needed more time. More help. Autism didn’t change…
Read More
A few nights ago we attempted to take Cooper trick-or-treating. We prepared. We planned. We encouraged and motivated. We set realistic expectations. We tried. We failed. And Jamie and I found ourselves sitting on our porch thinking about forever. Thinking about the next fifty years of autism. We aren’t new to this. We’ve been doing it for seven years. We live realistic hope better than anyone I know. And yet, we were there again. Looking at forever. Saying the worries out loud that only a parent of a severely disabled…
Read More
I am so very thankful for the Mentor Ohio Fire Department, especially firefighter Jerry Craddock, and the Willoughby Ohio Fire Department, especially firefighters Ricky Stuart and Mark Leisure. We are so thankful for them because with their help we have started a special needs safety program that meets one time per month at both the Mentor and Willoughby locations to help teach kids of all ages with special needs about fire and other safety issues! We started with firefighter Jerry at the Mentor location. He has been so great with…
Read More
When I was 18 weeks pregnant with my oldest child I started researching daycare centers. I visited a few and while they were all beautiful, in new buildings with state of the art facilities and big corporate names attached, I always felt like I was being sold something, and not like they genuinely cared about being with my child for so many hours each week. Then I visited Little Hands Academy (LHA), which didn’t even come up on my GPS as I was trying to visit it for the first…
Read More
Any parent who has sent their child off to school knows how emotional that first day can be. So many thoughts run through your head leading up to that big day. Will they find their way to their classroom okay? Will they know where to go to the bathroom? Will they make friends to play with at recess? What if they miss the bus to come home? When you have a child with autism, those thought turns in to fears, and they seem to quadruple in quantity. You have likely…
Read More
This past week my son Brayden was child of the week. I had an opportunity to go into his classroom and talk with the class about Autism. We talked about Brayden and how he loves to swim, jump on trampolines, play in the sand, and swing just like they do. We talked about ways that we all cope if we are frightened, scared, or sad, and what that may look like for Brayden. The kids had an opportunity to try on his ear phones, weighted vest, blanket, and body sock.…
Read More