(Editor’s Note: This article was provided by Lauren Abate and is part of Cooper’s ‘I’m Thankful For You’ Campaign.) This November I would like to nominate Tom Tipton who owns and operates the We Rock the Spectrum kids gym in Fenton, MO! Tom may not even realize the impact he has had on my family’s lives. He is one of those people that is just genuinely good. Hudson’s Story My son, Hudson, is 31 months old. He has always been a little delayed in meeting his milestones. It just took…
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My son Cooper has stripped beds since he was two years old. This means that he will remove the blankets, pillows, top sheet, bottom sheet, mattress pad and even the mattress. This also means that every single day of the week I make three beds from mattress up. Mine, Coopers and Sawyers. I want to tell you that of all the ‘behaviors’ that my son exhibits…bed stripping is the worst in my book.The behavior is exhausting and frustrating. I know he is doing it for sensory input. I understand that.…
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I typically look at goals and progress in relation to my son’s autism in one of two ways. There is how far we’ve come and how far we have to go. Cooper is almost seven and I believe he is thriving. When he was first diagnosed we had no idea what the future held. Autism was and still can be a mystery. Add in words like nonverbal and medically complex and it’s even more confusing. We don’t have a crystal ball to tell us what his future holds but I…
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This November I want to honor the therapists, teachers, doctors, friends, children, spouses, ABA Centers, and family members that make a difference in your family’s life. This could range from the friend who sat with your child while you showered (for the first time in weeks!) to the doctor who finally listened to you. Or, the grandparent that took your other child to the park so they could get a break from their sibling’s disability to the therapist who puts in hour after hour teaching, modeling and praising your child.…
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Hi there friend, My name is Kate. I am Cooper’s mom. First, thank you so much for watching my video and commenting. A view is a view! When you leave comments, it reassures me that people are watching. So, again, thank you! I love getting my message out there. When I first started doing videos, I remember thinking, ‘no one is going to watch a video of me talking about autism.’ Then, before I knew it, I had two videos go viral and my videos were everywhere. Crazy, right? I…
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When my son was first diagnosed with autism I had a million and one questions. I thought that getting his diagnosis would be the hardest thing we would ever had to go through. I believed once we got that we would immediately get services in place and start to help Cooper. I thought it would all be uphill from there. I was wrong. We left the appointment and that was that. It was up to me as his mom to find the ‘right’ services for him, find the right doctors,…
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I remember thinking the following thoughts: Once we clean up his diet, start supplements, remove the junk, lessen his sugar intake, remove gluten and dairy, and increase his water he will start doing better. Then, this will be fine. Once we start ABA and find the perfect combination of therapy he will start doing better. Then, this will be fine. Once we get him potty trained and fix his constipation he will feel better. Then, this will be fine. Once we get him communicating with his speech device he…
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COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. – For Kate and Jamie Swenson, raising 6-year-old Cooper can mean guessing games at snack time, perpetual train videos on the tablet, and bedtimes that sometimes seem to never come. “He screams one to two hours a night. When you hear me say one-two hours, you probably think I’m exaggerating. I’m not exaggerating,” Kate said. Cooper is severely autistic and is non-verbal. And his parents seem to take it in stride. “People are so afraid of the word Autism. And it really shouldn’t be so scary,” Kate…
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This morning my autistic son crawled into bed with me at 1 AM. This is very, very rare for Cooper. One year ago, yes, he was a terrible sleeper. He would wake up a dozen times a night and start his days at 3 AM. But, not anymore. My kid is a sleeper now. My first thought…he is in pain. As Cooper’s mom, I’ve learned that when behaviors change in a child on the spectrum, finding the reasons why can feel like trying to find a needle in a haystack.…
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Dear friends and family outside of autism world, I want to thank you for loving my son. And no, this isn’t another letter about my little superhero Cooper. It’s a letter about my other son. My son Sawyer. He is my wild, adventurous, exhausting, never-stop-talking, little angel. The one who doesn’t understand autism and all of its constraints. The one who doesn’t understand why it feels like our world revolves around his brother. I Want To Thank You I simply want to thank you for loving him and for stepping…
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