There are a couple of sayings we hear as special needs parents. One is “God only gives special children to special parents.” Another is “It takes a special parent to raise a special child.” Best of all is the simple “I could never do what you are doing! You are a super mom!” Now, I […]
Tag: autism
Wanna Come Over?
A big part of your social network comes from hanging out at each other’s houses. Unfortunately, this is a challenge for our family. We find ourselves staying home most of the time due to it just being easier on everyone. Early on, we weren’t talking too much about exactly what living with Autism meant so […]
Changing Expectations
Let’s talk about how expectations affect our reactions to scenarios and people in life. Modifying your expectations can do wonders for your mood and outlook on life. Expectations play a huge role in our Autism world so I’d like to walk you through our transformation. We will start at the beginning.. Autism parents have a […]
All kids do that…
Please don’t compare me to a family with “typical” kids. I don’t care if there are 4 kids in that family or 19 and counting. I am still going to argue until I am blue in the face that raising a child with special needs (no matter how severe) is a COMPLETELY different experience and […]
It’s Showtime!
Let’s talk watching movies…. Well, I use the term “watching” rather loosely. As with all things, Z watches movies just a little bit differently. Z rarely watches a full movie from start to finish. Instead he stops and starts it throughout the movie and might stay on a particular shot for several minutes (like, 10-30 […]
Wait for it…
They say kids with autism process things much quicker than the rest of us. They have done several studies watching brain activity. This is partly why there are issues with many of them being over-stimulated. While we may be able to focus on the task at hand (say, at a grocery store for example), they […]
The Spectrum of Autism
What is Autism? Officially it is Autism Spectrum Disorder or more commonly referred to as ASD. It’s sort of hard to explain… I will do my best and hope I don’t lose you. ASD is a spectrum disorder. This means a person can fall anywhere on this invisible line between low functioning or high functioning. […]
This helicoptor will keep flying..
I will not apologize for being a “helicopter” mama. I will not apologize for watching my boy like a hawk. I will not apologize for not paying as close attention to you when we get together because I’m actually watching my son. I will not apologize for parking in handicap so we don’t have the […]
My friend Envy..
I want to introduce you to my good friend Envy… I fight with Envy all the time. She is there when I wake up at 2am to take care of my 10 year old. I sit and think about all those parents that breathe a sigh of relief when their babies start sleeping through the […]
Stimming
Has anyone heard the term “stimming”? This is part of the autism vocabulary. Actually, everyone stims. How many of you twirl your hair, bite your nails, crack your knuckles, bounce your legs when seated? All of these actions are stimming. It is a way for us to release something (could be boredom, anxiety, anger, energy, […]
Tilted Axis 