“Are you trying desperately to understand your child’s speech? I’ve been there. It can be SOOOOO frustrating for you, and your child. So I’m going to share what I learned.”
Developmental Milestones
Our Changing World: Special Needs Children
“I don’t have any magic advice. For those of you dealing with five. Just know that those of us at 13? We’re here for you. We’ll help you through.”
Read more. . .
To Speak or Not To Speak, That Is The Question
”Because of all the time I have spent in these waiting rooms, seeing kids with various issues come in and out, talking with their parents to pass the time, I can often pick out sensory issues, physical issues, and other things a child is experiencing.” Read more…
After the Diagnosis of Autism: What Should I Do?
“What I would have done differently? I would have worried less about a lot of things.” Read more…
Facebook Is My Kids Baby Book and Other True Confessions
My kids don’t have Baby Books. (Gasp!) How could I not do this integral part of Motherhood? (I definitely should have as I have a child with Special Needs and every form I fill out wants to know when he walked, talked, or climbed.)
I had zero interest in my Baby Book information and didn’t think my kids would either. But just in case… Facebook is my kids Baby Book. I figured that I was already posting all the cute pictures and cute things they had done (or not so cute things, like the time I went into another room for just a minute and they had shaving cream all over their hair and each other…). 
Why should I make things harder for myself? There are companies out there that will take my Facebook account and print it all out in book form for me.
Facebook is also my kid’s Scrapbooks…All those art projects that no one has room for? All those school performances that we sat through that no one would choose to sit through unless they were related to the child? They are nicely preserved for any family member to see at any time on my Facebook account. Bonus! As soon as my children get Facebook accounts of their own, I can tag all the embarrassing pictures of them so their friends can see them too. This Mama has plans!
Facebook is also my Journal and Family Photo Album. All those fun family events, quotes, and stories I love or thought were hilarious are all nicely preserved there. My opinions on Politics, Education, Childrearing, and all other important subjects are there for better or worse for my posterity to view. Although it is not my Diary- That kind of venting and information is reserved for Private Messaging to my nearest and dearest friends. Thank you nearest and dearest friends!
I haven’t written and actually sent out a Christmas letter in…….? many years. Facebook is my Christmas letter. So I hope family and friends you are following me on Facebook as that is where you will find out about what we are or are not up to. And I’m not one of those people who will only post picture-perfect kids or vacations. I’m just as likely to preserve a terrible day or a terrible haircut so you can rest assured you are always getting the real us.
Why does it happen this way? I’m a Mom. I have a million things to do when I get up every day. Chronicling my life and that of my children/family happens on the fly. Whenever I feel like taking a picture (which honestly isn’t nearly enough, or crystal clear for that matter), spouting off my latest opinions, making sure I have pictures to remember that trip of a lifetime. If it doesn’t make it to Facebook… It never happened as far as history is concerned in my case. This is how I make sure that my posterity will know who I am, what I’ve done, what I’ve thought and felt. And I’m not going to feel guilty about it. Yes, my child doesn’t have a beautifully embossed baby book, and I might have to fudge some of those answers on the Child Development Questions. But what my kids do know is that I’m right here for them when they need me, I’m doing my best to keep us all alive and functioning, and I love them fiercely.
You can also view a video version of this post on YouTube.
Autism and Missing Social Cues
“D cannot read most facial expressions. He can read happiness, but if we are irritated or upset he doesn’t see it until it is extreme.”
6 Words That Will End Picky Eating
I keep seeing articles that say things like, “6 Words That Will End Picky Eating”. Sometimes they make me laugh at the naïveté of the person writing them. Sometimes they make me mad. Because for about a second I buy into it and think what am I doing wrong?
I think after seeing these articles, “Are you kidding me? Have you met an Autistic child?” There are no magic 6 words that will cure picky eating. Some kids with Autism will actually starve themselves rather than eat a food that doesn’t smell, taste, feel or look right. They literally end up in the hospital with feeding tubes. Remember when your 3-year-old wouldn’t eat their snack because it broke and it was no longer whole? Try that with a 10-year-old who is 100 lbs and only has 3-6 foods they will eat, which is actually pretty common with children with Autism. With a lot of work, heartache, bribing, and tears, you can add more items to their diet but 6 words ain’t going to cut it.
Maybe it’s different with children without special needs. But it doesn’t seem so in all my years of working with children. It may not be as difficult as it is for a child with Autism or Sensory Issues, to get them to eat something new or different but 6 words aren’t going to cut it.
A New Era of School For Us
Written Tuesday September 5th.
Tonight my anxiety levels are high. My oldest starts middle school tomorrow. In the best of circumstances middle school can be full of daunting experiences. My little boy has Autism so it’s hardly the most ideal circumstances. 
I spent a lot of time researching schools. We have the option in Washington state to “choice” our children into any public school we want so I took full advantage of the oppurtunity. I choiced him into a K-8 school as I felt strongly the smaller environment would be better for him. A week before school starts I get a phone call saying they had made a lot of changes to their program and the physical space. Now there would be 60 kids in the room at one time… So much for my small environment. After talking things over with them, we’re going to give it a try. Hopefully this works.
All new school, all new type of schedule. New expectations for this child that doesn’t deal well with change and transitions. We just figured out Elementary school!
My heart goes with both of my children tomorrow as they start back to school. May they find true friends and truely learn to love learning. But my anxiety also will be joining my son’s path down this new territory.
The Autism Poop Stories
This is FAR more than you ever wanted to know about “Poop and Autism”. 😉 By sharing this I hope other families realize they aren’t alone in this struggle.
Paperwork and The Ridiculousness Of It…
You wonder as you fill out these forms, should I mark yes because he does walk, but he falls down all the time; or, he does talk, but you can’t understand what he is trying to say? You second guess yourself all the way through. We fill out these forms ALL THE TIME…
