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 […]
Tag: 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Something I want to start doing this year and really need to do for my own health is using respite services to take a break and do something for myself. Respite allows caregivers time away from their duties while someone else comes in to care for your loved one. Breaks are important for any parent […]
One of our goals this year is trying not to be so hard on our kids. We want to be aware of their potential of being able to do things on their own and add more positive reinforcement into our family life. We often expect too much from our son Daniel. He’s 2 years old, […]
One of the things I want to work on this year is our busyness as a family. This includes therapy sessions, doctor appointments, and meetings with various service coordinators. After everything with the kids, there’s not a lot of time to be with our family. It’s easy to get sucked into all the therapy that […]
This year was big for my family. There were exciting times when important milestones were met such as walking and talking. Our family grew by one more when our daughter Grace was born in February. There were also hard times like when half our family was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation. Whether it was […]