A few Simple Ways to Support Autistic Individuals and Their Families

April is Autism Awareness/Acceptance month. Here are a few simple ways to support autistic individuals and their families: 6. Reach out – Whether it to be a friend or family member or neighbor who lives down the street. Reach out. Say hi. Get to know them. And even if right now you say you don’t know anyone who has a child on the spectrum, you do. Family member, friend, neighbor, co-worker, school peer. We are out here. Get to know us. Ask questions. 5. Invite – I don’t know why…

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A Love Letter to My Neurotypical Wife

Angela, my precious wife, friend, partner, and soulmate, I sit here, looking back over our life, together, having known you for literally half of my own lifetime. I am in awe. I remember your head poking out of the window of that van, and your goofy, funny, amazing, beautiful smile, the day we met. You waved to me, as your ride was parking. I felt a kind of burst, in that moment. I knew I could do this. I knew I could meet you and your companion, and I would…

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My Hopes Are Not Wrong

I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately. And the right amount to have. Which is a funny thing to think about really. Because, how can one have the wrong amount of hope? My son has autism. And somehow, no matter where I am on the ‘hope for his future’ spectrum, I seem to have the wrong amount for some people. If I hope for words, I am told I should really be hoping for communication. If I hope for independent living, I am told that I’m not accepting reality.…

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Bad Timing

Want to hear about bad timing? My nephew, my little sister’s first child was born around 4 am on August 7, 2014. At 10 am that morning I was told that my 10 week old fetus had no heartbeat. The next day, my 31st birthday would be spent physically ridding my body of the baby I had prayed for…for a year.  I have a photo of me holding my beautiful nephew Jackson that day. I genuinely felt such happiness for my sister and brother in law but in the picture…

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Coping with Autism

I’m an optimist at heart.  I really am. So, when I got the diagnosis of autism for my daughter  I remained hopeful.  She was two then. I had actually known she had autism since she was 10 months. At 10 months Antoinette never looked at me when I made a sound.  She never made eye contact.  She never cried. Crying is a form of communication.  She  wasn’t communicating. I watched my daughter and thought to myself “she’s a genius, that’s what this is.”  I told myself that daily. Three years…

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Without Autism…

This weekend my son Cooper is spending time with his grandparents. He is getting spoiled, doted on, and loved in that special way only grandparents can do. We needed this break. We just welcomed a new baby into our world. Our five year old Sawyer needed a break. Mom and dad needed it. Cooper needed it. Within 30 minutes of dad dropping him off, I let out the breath I had been holding. The breath I have to hold when I have Cooper. The breath I often don’t know I…

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Demanding a Seat at the Table

When my son was diagnosed with autism, I remember this almost immediate pressure to become part of the club. To advocate. To take a stance for or against something. And this mama wanted nothing to do with any of it. My son was three years old. We were still trying to wrap our heads around autism and figure out what worked for him. We didn’t know what was wrong with the system. We were just surviving. Our lives were hard. Our days were long followed by even longer nights. And…

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Dreading Church

I dread going to church. I have not always felt this way. I was a born and raised a church girl. My childhood was delightfully filled with potlucks and pews. I loved church. I grew up and married a man who also loved church. We had two babies and took them to church. When our first daughter, Alaina was three she was diagnosed with autism. We sat in the office of the psychologist on a Wednesday. Our known world was falling apart, but we discovered that church was still there.…

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Let Your Child Show You The Way

As a young child, my son Cody was always full of energy and often became dysregulated and would have meltdowns and tantrums for hours at a time. I remember sitting against his bedroom wall just watching him during one of these meltdowns to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. There was really nothing I could do. I just made sure he was safe. Those were very hard times in our journey. I didn’t know what he needed and felt so helpless. I can say I look back and I now…

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My Journey As An Autism Mom-Video

There were two huge things I needed in the beginning of my Autism mom journey. I needed someone to tell me what to do and I needed someone to validate me. I kept seeking out a friend or a mom or a doctor that could understand what I was going through, validate how hard it was and tell me what direction to take. I never found it. There were times when I’d joke that I wasn’t qualified to make these huge, life changing decisions for another person. I wasn’t an…

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