Autism really is a big spectrum. Every person who has autism are completely different from the next. When you’ve met one person with autism, then you’ve met one person with autism. There’s so many different ways that autism affects people. I remember the first time I really understood what autism was for my son Nicholas. […]
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Nicholas has always been really oversensitive to loud noises, strong smells and to anything wet on his hands or the feeling of sand and grass on his skin. He can’t handle certain food textures in his mouth or water during bath time. He’s scared of the vacuum and doesn’t like tags on his clothes. But […]
When I was eight months old, I had open heart surgery to repair my pulmonary valve that was only 2mm wide open. As a result, sometimes I have shortness of breath. I could possibly have another surgery in the future to replace the valve. Other than that I have no other medical conditions. Thirty years […]
One of the most important things I learned after my son Nicholas’s autism diagnosis is that developmental delay and Autism are two seperate things. They don’t coincide. His autism gets in the way of his development. Nicholas has always been behind with his milestones. He didn’t sit completely on his own until he was 22 […]
Daniel has been in therapy since he was 3 months old. He was born with multiple physical disabilities that led to a 4-week stay in the NICU. Once he came home, we immediately set him up for services. He started the Early Invention (EI) program with the hope that it would help him catch up […]
When I was 16 weeks into my second pregnancy, I found out my baby was going to be born with clubfoot. Clubfoot is when one or both feet are turned inward or outward. The affected foot is usually smaller than the other. Treatment is usually successful through a combination of casting, stretching, and taping. This […]
This morning we had Nicholas’s annual IEP meeting at his school. An IEP is an Individualized Education Plan, a document for students in special education that’s designed to meet their educational needs. It’s created by a team (parents, teachers, therapists, etc.) and is reviewed yearly to talk about strengths, weaknesses, and goals. Nicholas has had […]
There have only been a handful of times where I’ve been completely shocked during my kid’s doctor appointments. It’s one of those eye-opening appointments where everything I thought about a certain diagnosis totally changes. A little over two years ago, my son Nicholas saw a neurologist for the first time. Nicholas was born five weeks […]
I have two kids that rely on a feeding tube for nutrition due to the same diagnosis of silent aspiration. My son Nicholas was diagnosed when he was 2 weeks old, while my daughter Grace at 5 days old. Silent aspiration is when fluid enters the lungs after swallowing; silent meaning they didn’t cough to […]
Sometimes it’s really hard for our family to go places outside of the home. Whether it’s going to church, a park, a holiday get-together, or some other event, it’s difficult for my husband Steve and I to juggle our three kids 3 years old and under. We’ve probably only been to a restaurant as a […]