When my girls started school, I didn’t have a lot of fears about it. Both Emily and Caitlyn were social butterflies who had shown me that they would thrive and flourish in a school environment, and I was mostly worried about things like making sure they had the “cool” backpacks, lunchboxes, and clothes; I didn’t…
I had a conversation last night with a woman I met on Reddit in a group for special needs parents. Her child was recently diagnosed with autism, and she was freaking out. I felt for her; I remember how overwhelmed I felt when I first realized Sawyer was probably on the spectrum. I reached out…
“Am I autistic?” I knew there would be a day when Sawyer would realize he was different than other kids. I have thought many times over the years about how I would explain autism to Sawyer, and what that meant for him, but I never thought it would come so early in his life. I…
Yesterday, Sawyer did something he’s never done before- he went into the grocery store and bought a soda all by himself. We live in a very small town, where everyone pretty much knows everybody else. We have one grocery store, and it’s fairly small, so when Sawyer asked if he could go in and get…
“The siblings of special needs children are quite special. Absolutely accepting and totally loving, from birth, someone who is different mentally, and has a different way of seeing the world, is a wonderful trait.”- Sally Phillips I am often struck with gratitude for the three amazing children God has given me. Each one of them…
A meltdown is different from a tantrum, even though to those who don't have a special needs child it looks very similar.
Facebook Memories can be wonderful, but it can also break your heart. It’s one of the features that leads me to keep my account there, though, because I love being reminded of funny things my kids did or said, or precious memories with family members and friends who are now gone. Today’s Facebook Memories posts…
Sawyer is different, and he realizes this- but that’s one of the main reasons we decided to create this blog. He wants people to understand him, and he aches to have a best friend he can have playdates and sleepovers with. So we will tell his story, and explain what autism is and what it…
My son Sawyer has told me a few times over the last few months that I should start a blog and write about him. He said “You can tell them about autism, and how I do funny things sometimes”. The first couple of times he mentioned it, I kind of laughed it off, but the…
