Tag: autism
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Grief
Grief. Not in the way of losing a person, but in losing sight of what you thought would happen. When we were first faced with his diagnosis I was completely numb to it. Reading through checklists in attempt to rule each box out. There was no way that could be my child. I took my […]
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System Failure
I will never say, think, let anyone believe, that my child, any child, is broken. His brain chemistry is complicated, yes. Broken, heck no. Does he misbehave? All the time. Lose control of his feelings? Daily. Well, hourly to be more precise. I’m the first one to realize this. That being said, there are some […]
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Instinct
I learned about F’s existence on my twentieth birthday. I was newly married, still in college, and completely unprepared. Nick and I have been blessed to have a strong connection from the start and I’ve never once regretted marrying young. In fact, there is a lot I think about in retrospect that led me to […]
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5 Ways to Change a Bad Sensory Day
Every parent understands the mysteriously frustrating “bad day” that pops up from time to time. With F and his sensory processing struggles, sometimes we get thrown for a major loop when he wakes up sensitive to EVERYTHING. Yogurt touches his hand, meltdown. His brother bothers him, meltdown. It takes a few extra seconds to get […]
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Standing Up
I am convinced that God gives us our children for so many reasons. He gives them to us to love, care for, raise up, and advocate for them. Every child deserves this from their parents. I am also convinced that our children are given to us to strengthen who we are as people. The single […]
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Trial & Error
There are unspoken battles in raising a child with special needs. The more predictable notion of carting my children to a bajillion therapy appointments (and yes we have spent hours with F at therapy), and the quieter battle with self proclaimed supplements and diets. F has a medication that helps him fairly well. That is, […]
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The Fight
The silent battle in raising a child with special needs. The fuel that makes our stomachs churn and our hearts break. We know our babies more than anyone else. We know how they smelled as a newborn, what their sloppy toddler kisses felt like. We know how their infant body felt warm pressed against ours […]
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A Flashing Blue Shirt
I peeked at the camera monitoring F’s preschool classroom. Lively children danced from center to center, exchanging words and toys. Children were focused as they interacted with planned activities alongside their peers and teachers. I searched the screen for the bright blue shirt that I dressed F in that morning. Not a sight of that […]