Posts Tagged ‘This is autism’
What Autism Really is…
In honor of Autism Awareness Month, I asked my supporters to answer a question. I asked them to describe how the world views autism…and then what autism is to them and to their kids. The result is absolutely amazing. I promise you the last ten seconds will have you in tears. https://www.facebook.com/findingcoopersvoice/videos/575387466275729/ Want to learn more about becoming a supporter? Click HERE. Interested in writing for Finding Cooper’s Voice? LEARN MORE Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of…
Read MoreThe Moment It Hits You
Today, the girls and I made plans to enjoy a nice lunch outside at the Old Mill with Jack while Cam and Daddy went for haircuts. In addition to The Old Mill being my daughter Olivia’s favorite place on earth, we thought Jack would enjoy watching and feeding the ducks while we ate. I prepared as I normally do – with toys I know Jack loves, water, snacks, my phone at easy access in case I needed to put on a show, etc – the works. We are used to…
Read More10 Truths I Know About My Son’s Autism and Sleep
The number one question I am most commonly asked is…does your autistic son sleep? And if he does, give us your secrets. The questions pour into my inbox during all hours of the night. I’ll look at the time stamp and see 3 and 4 am. I’ll read the words of desperate parents wondering if they are going to survive the sleep deprivation. The answer is yes. He sleeps now. But he didn’t for nearly six years. And, most importantly, I understand. Sleep deprivation or irregular sleep is really hard.…
Read MoreConfessions of a Special Needs Parent
Parenting is hard. I think we can all agree on that. You are raising a tiny little human from birth to adulthood without an instruction manual and silently praying they turn out sane and happy. Now imagine if that tiny little human has a diagnosis of some sort. Autism. Cerebral Palsy. Traumatic Brain Injury. The diagnosis could be physical, emotional or neurological. It could be obvious. Or maybe it’s invisible to the outside world. Scary right. You aren’t a doctor. Or a therapist or a physiologist. There is no instruction…
Read MoreDiaper Options for a 6 Year Old
Hey all, One question I am continuously asked is what kind of diapers we use for Cooper. He is a big boy weighing in at 60 lbs. He currently wears a size 7 diaper. Cooper’s diapers are covered by his Medical Assistance. As far as I understand, and this may vary by state, a child with an autism diagnosis who is covered under medical assistance gets free diapers after the age of four. That’s what I was told. We had to figure this out for ourselves. Meaning a fellow parent…
Read MoreA Day In Cooper’s Life: Autism in Pictures
I am very vocal about the stress that goes hand and hand with being an autism parent. It’s a topic that isn’t always talked about. I want to change that. Autism is hard. Unbelievably hard. I have post-traumatic stress from it. For one it’s often extremely loud. For me it’s Cooper’s screeches mixed in with the constant sounds coming from his devices. And my little guy loves it LOUD. Really LOUD. I’ve tried covering the speakers with tape. He rips it off. I’ve tried headphones. He refuses to wear them.…
Read More9 Big Mistakes Parents of Autistic Kids Can Avoid
I often think of my son’s autism as a journey. A journey with many, many steep mountains. And holes and cliffs. And of course it’s slippery. The hills have jagged rocks and most of the time I feel like I am hanging on for dear life. There is no safety harness or map. I typically don’t know if I am even going in the right direction. And perhaps at times I am going backwards. It’s just me against this damn mountain. And it feels like there is more bad weather…
Read MoreSensory Balloons
Sawyer and I spent the morning making sensory balloons for Cooper. HE LOVES THEM SO MUCH. I totally recommend making these if you have a kiddo that likes to hold objects. They are super squishy. Cooper will carry these around until I eventually have to throw them in the garbage and make new ones. And making them really entertained Sawyer too. Of course I let him make a huge mess because it bought me 20 minutes to write this blog. Winning. First, cut off a bottle. I used an old…
Read MoreI Can Say He’s Severely Autistic. But No One Else Can
Yesterday, we had a meeting with Cooper’s social worker. I am aggressively going for more services or as the state calls it…emergency services. It took me precisely three strongly worded emails and two phone calls (One where I sounded a bit crazy) to get a social worker in my home to evaluate Cooper. Not too bad. There is help out there. I need it. And I am demanding it. As I prepared for the in-home evaluation I typed up a list of Cooper behaviors. Let me note that the county…
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