When I found out my third baby was going to be a girl, I was really excited. I had two boys already and was curious how adding a little girl into the mix was going to be. I thought, and hoped, maybe my girl won’t have as many challenges that my boys had. I had […]
Tag: autism
Autism can be hard to understand especially for a toddler. All my son wants is just a relationship with his older brother, who up until a few months ago wanted nothing to do with him. Two boys with completely different personalities: Nicholas who is laid back, keeps to himself, quiet (most of the time), and […]
My son Nicholas will always have Autism. It won’t end when he turns 18 years old. It does not stop for anything. Autism is hard. It’s complex and unpredictable. It’s hard for our family to go anywhere. We almost always need help. My husband Steve and I take shifts when it comes to mealtime, because […]
It’s been one year since Nicholas was diagnosed with Autism and a rare genetic mutation called ZNF462. Autism was something we expected, the genetic mutation was not. Both diagnoses left me scared with different emotions, however I also felt a sense of relief. We had answers and could now get him the help he needed. […]
One of the most difficult things about having a child with special needs is knowing what to say when people say hurtful comments. I used to prepare myself with the perfect comebacks if such a situation would arise. However, when that time came, I was speechless. One of the most unthoughtful comments that was said […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]