Real-life stories written by people affected by autism (mom, dad, grandparent, sibling) or someone who is on the spectrum sharing personal accounts, happy moments, fears, etc.
A mother shares the meaning of developing a strong body and mind for herself and for her children. For the last six months, I’ve been working diligently on my body. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you focus only on one thing: yourself. It’s something I have been neglecting for almost thirteen years. Since
A special needs advocate shares her story about how learning about a different kind of PDA changed her life forever. Gwen can’t have autism. She makes eye contact with people. She engages with others. She loves to role-play and even pretends to be her favorite movie character. Repetitive body movements? There are none. Sure, there
The reality of navigating summer with special needs can be complicated. One mom reflects on her struggle with the classic summer dream. The children’s laughter flying through the summer breeze, the smell of cookouts, the crusty, salted, sandy skin from a day on the beach- all the senses activated like a symphony of sounds. The
A mother openly shares her feelings about public meltdowns. This past weekend with my four-year-old daughter was a total success—not one tantrum or meltdown. No public displays of anger, no taking swats at other children. I am cautiously optimistic that perhaps this behavior is behind us; or so I’ve said many times before, only to
An autistic advocate shares advice for how people on the spectrum can cope with losing a parent, drawing from her own experience following her mother’s passing. I am writing this to show how handling the death of a parent makes a difference. I am letting autistic individuals know they can weather the storm. It is
A mother’s account of the benefits of disclosing her son’s diagnosis and overcoming the fear of stigma often associated with autism. On all accounts, when someone looks at my nine-year-old son, the first thought they have is not that he is neurodivergent. If they attempt a conversation with him long enough, they may notice he
A special letter from a mom to other parents of autistic children, to remind them they are not alone. To the parent in the grocery store Dear parent in the grocery store, I see you. I see you when your baby, toddler, or child is acting up, being loud, and throwing fits. I see and
A determined mother shares her frustrations as she fights for her daughter’s right to earn her college degree. Life with Maggie, before college algebra, was one of remarkable focus and perseverance, because she is on the autism spectrum. Maggie is a mixed media artist from Gulfport, Mississippi, who uses the power of creativity to bring
Find out how a determined mom helped her book-loving son with autism learn to write. My son, Antariksh, is on the autism spectrum and was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy at the age of four. He is one of my twins. After birth all his milestones were late—in fact, very late, since the children were
Hello, I’m Karla and my partner is John. We’re the parents of Johnson Harris-Herbert, aka ‘bouba’, aged 12, Kale Harris-Herbert, aka ‘woo’, aged 10, and our little girl Indiana Harris-Herbert, aka ‘boo-lash’, aged six. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Kale who has asperger’s got together a pop band with his younger sister and older brother, turning
If you researched the definition for the word “superhero,” you would find many explanations ranging from fictional to non-fictional characters. My personal definition would include the non-fictional characters. My husband would top that list for many reasons, but the two superheroes I would like to share with you today are my two sons. My son
Punch cornflour, and you’ll bruise yourself. If you jump on it, it’ll take your weight. Stand still, and you sink. Run your fingers through it gently, it wraps around you like liquid. Like my cornflour boy, the more force you apply, the more resistance you meet. To find its softness and fluidity, move slowly, go
When a child is diagnosed with autism, parents often feel a wide range of emotions from relief to despair and everything in between. These are all normal. Learning your child will struggle his/her entire life to do things most people take for granted is not only frightening, but heartbreaking. As parents, we want to see
I am not just a mom; I am an autism mom. Of my three children, two of them have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of them also has a mild intellectual disability. All my children are adults now, but my two with ASD continue to live with me. My life experiences have thus led me
How many locks can one household hold? The answer for my household would take too many fingers and toes! I can say now after spending years working with locks of all sorts that I used to underestimate a lock’s ability. I would look at the basic use of a lock and my mind would stop
Suppose there are two women, one named Sally and one named Anne. Sally puts a rock in a basket of hers and goes off somewhere else, leaving the basket. While she’s gone, Anne opens her basket, takes the rock out and puts it in her own box. In this presentation, it’s very clear Sally did
Raising a child on the spectrum is not easy. It comes with higher demands of care and time than other children. Believe me, I know! I have four children ranging in ages from eight to 17. My youngest daughter has PDD, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a moderate form of Autism. She is higher functioning and very
Bravery is one of the most powerful qualities you can instill in your child with autism. The moment you hear that your child has autism, you want to be brave, and you want your child to be brave enough to power through obstacles, too. Developing bravery in your child with autism is easier said than
A parent’s love is a special love. It is not about approval or accomplishment. It is about unconditional support and concern. It’s a love born in joy, nurtured during adversity and reconfirmed on a daily and hourly basis. It’s a love bound up in anxiety and expectation. Often worry and concern can creep in as
It seems that we as parents of complex children are judged at every turn. But there is no judgment more supreme or detrimental as a letter from Children and Youth Services—a letter detailing you are under investigation by the government because someone in the world, as an outsider looking in, has viewed your parenting in
Netflix released Season Two of Atypical in September 2018, and soon there will be Season Three. I really hope this TV series will continue for many more seasons. I have been following it since the first season and I believe that there are social dimensions that should not be absorbed by the comical element of
All parents schedule their kid’s departure from their home to be around the age of 18 years. I often joke that my twins have an 18-year contract in my house and then they get the boot. So it is hard to put into words how that deadline got moved up by 12 years for my
Girls With Autism Flying Under the Radar proclaims one headline. For many years, it’s been accepted the wisdom that there’s an approximately 4:1 ratio of autistic men to autistic women. Recently, self-advocates, scientists, and clinicians have challenged this long-accepted ratio. They claim autism presents differently in girls. As a male on the autism spectrum, I
Friday night was pizza night. This tradition began when Dylan was in middle school and the increased social pressures and new academic pressures conspired to totally “unglue” him. By Friday, he was an exhausted wreck, and frankly, so was I. Middle school is difficult for most children. It was close to unbearable for Dylan. It
There is a steady slowdown of cars in front of us on our way to a swim meet. My son, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at an early age, starts to show his agitation. Anxiety violently announces itself in the form of rapid-fire questions. “Why are we stopping?” “How long is this
Growing up, I always knew he was different, different from other people around us. But I still could never understand why, why him? When we went out in public, people would just stare at us for such long periods of time it was almost uncomfortable—it was as though they were judging us and him just
In my experience, people with autism always have things that are priorities to them. Priorities can mean many different things. It could be a highly specific topic of conversation they wish to discuss, a tangible item that is particularly important to them, or maybe it’s an activity they wish to engage in without interruption. People
Blessings? Most people would not use that word when they think of autism. I probably wouldn’t have either until I had a child on the spectrum, but it is true. When my daughter was a toddler, I was always so impressed by how smart she was. She could line things up by colors and shapes
As a parent of a child diagnosed on the autism spectrum, I can certainly relate to those instant pangs of fear one immediately begins to digest when the word “autistic” is thrown at you. Will he ever be able to hold down a job? Will he ever be able to find his soul mate and
Aaron was not happy. Wednesday night was youth activity night, and since Leia was away at an all-girls camping trip, it was just him. The boys were meeting at Nate’s house for a pool party which meant being shirtless. Worse, his parents had decided they were going to walk there. Aaron didn’t mind walking, and
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