Source: Why Are You Crying? *Originally written and shared on January 28 2013 when Johnny was 5 years old and was essentially non-verbal. Why are you crying? Why are you sad? I see tears and when we have tears it means we are sad. Who made you sad? Did somebody make you sad? Did somebody…
Autism In Big Flashing Neon Letters
This is Autism Awareness Month and before we can look forward we have to take a look back. Flashback 5 years ago today Autism won. When I think about that day I was so frustrated because I was trying to desperately get our son Johnny into specialized speech therapy to get the speech going. I…
Autism Checklist ~ What You Need To Know
Awareness brings understanding and understanding brings compassion. Originally shared April 16 2012 Source: Autism Checklist ~ What You Need To Know April is Autism Awareness Month and I think its important for friends and family to know what the symptoms of Autism look like to place someone on the autism spectrum. Yes at one…
“Oh…He Is Just Special Needs”
I was sitting at a family gathering when I heard someone dear to me say, “its ok do not mind him he is just special needs.” I cringe inside because without meaning too the person has labeled Johnny and quickly made an excuse for him. Its as if two words will explain away any behaviour…
Tears For Recess
*tissue warning* Last year….. “I feel alone Mommy…..” “Mommy I am not sure I like the south yard anymore. “. Last spring, Johnny found out that after Grade 2 he would move from the little kids yard to the big kids yard. He was so exited and this would make his little sister sad and worried…
Leading Each Other Out of the Dark
“Sitting back and watching this important friendship bloom in the face of Autism is absolutely heaven.” * March 20 2014 “I never know when I am going to get the unexpected appearance of maturity or movement forward but when it happens I savour it for how special it is.” One of the best things I…
Riding The Emotional Rollercoaster of Meltdowns and Autism
I have been noticing that many people find my blog as they try to learn more about Autism and particularly about the differences between meltdowns and tantrums. I shared a blog post from four years ago on March 20 2013 about a moment in one day and how hard it can be: “There is…
Ballet Class to be or not to be
We need to change everything up and to also somehow get this ballet adventure back on its wheels so that we can navigate what’s happening with Johnny as well. THIS matters to him so we need to somehow make sure that it matters to all of us as a family. What’s hard sometimes is that…
After All Is A Name Important?
It bothers me that Johnny never had a say in what he should be called at school. I was told in Johnny’s Junior Kindergarten year that John was easier for him to learn to say, to spell, and for his peers to say but it won’t stick. I was very uncomfortable with this but I…
Not Seven….
What is it about certain numbers? He just doesn’t like certain numbers and if he hears them he will interrupt. At first I would just try to ignore it and hope that it would be something that would pass and not become something that would embed it self into our daily lives….
“I want to stay here” ~ Time To Go Back
“Mamma I want to stay here. Mamma I want to stay with baby. I done school.” It didn’t sound perfect but I understood what my little 4 year old boy was trying to convey to me. School was hard. Kindergarten was hard. Being non-verbal in kindergarten was hard. Being not understood at school was hard….
He’s a BAD boy
“He’s a BAD boy” the little girl in Johnny’s class says very loudly while we are all sitting around the lunch tables at the Pumpkin Patch farm. Silence. (…) Johnny is not doing these things just to be BAD. He is trying to communicate, get attention and sometimes he is stimming. It is time to…
Becoming The Big Brother
“This morning really early I heard our daughter saying “Johnny” really loud and I called out for her to back to sleep. I heard the flutter of little feet on the hard wood floor. She sleeps in a crib still. It seems that big brother wanted to play.” Originally posted on March 7 2012 Flash…
Is Your Daughter Autistic Too?
Is your daughter autistic too? Now that’s a question to wake you up pretty fast on a Wednesday morning when you drop your kids off at school (….) What about Princess? What do I teach her? What if other children ask her questions about her brother? What does she say? I feel guilty putting this…
Love Me If I Am Purple
I’ve been thinking a lot about self care, loving oneself and self esteem and I keep thinking about how if you go through life finding so many situations confusing what does that do to your perceptions of who you are? It made me think about how at times my son expresses things he doesn’t like…
Pinning Down Autism
I think sometimes it’s hard pinning down what Autism looks like. I remember when Johnny was two and he had lost the few words he could say and we were beginning to panic, our family doctor kept saying we will have to get him evaluated for speech delay in a few months but don’t panic. “Sometimes boys…
Autism & Learning ~ A Handy Reference
I discovered this online credit to Online College.org *Please share* to spread awareness and acceptance Source: Autism & Learning ~ A Handy Reference
He was there even when I was not sure he was
“I confess that there were times I was not sure if my Autistic child understood what was happening? When a child is non-verbal and isn’t acting the expected way that a child would about something, many times there is an assumption that the child is lacking the ability to understand. I was guilty of this…
What if ?
What if when parents find out that their child had Autism that they heard this: You’ve done nothing wrong. You didn’t cause this. You haven’t failed your child. You were given an instruction manual for a Ford and your child is a Ferrari. So, congratulations! Your child is NOT fundamentally different from other children. You…
The Best People….
One of the best things have happened to me and my family because of Autism is the people we have met along the way. Often my husband and I will remark at how blessed we are that we have some incredible folks in our life that instantly “get” what we go through. Since my little…
What You See Is What You Get
If you are coping are you learning? So if you are just sitting in class “attending” to the teacher which means eyes on the teacher, body facing the teacher, hands on desk, feet on floor, quiet hands, and appearing to be listening does that mean you are learning? When…
Pumpkin Patch Treasure Re-dux
Somethings never change and Johnny’s love for pumpkins other then orange still has not. Johnny might say that he doesn’t like the word different but instead of picking orange pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, he has to be on the lookout for the only green one. He is a little boy on a mission….
Pumpkin Patch Treasure ~ Look Back
Originally posted on Everything Under the Sun:
? When I picked Johnny up at school after the school kindergarten field trip to the farm, the EA told me that his backpack was extra heavy because the children were allowed to pick out a pumpkin in the patch and bring one home. Farm visit post here: http://wp.me/p1KVmo-E0…
She Ignored Me
At the beginning of October Johnny got into a last minute spot into a Social Skills Friendship building group for Autistic children 8-9 years old. Having friends is a big thing for Johnny so he was eager to do this. We thought it was important because initiating conversations with his peers seems to be…
Reading the Social Cues
“I don’t think she understands me Mommy.” That was the beginning of an unexpected conversation last night. Johnny has some friends at school that he’ll play with when he wants to play and usually most of them are girls. So immediately he had my attention when I heard this because of the fact that he was…
Speech Therapist Surprise
Today I’m speechless. A speech pathologist from the school board who has accompanied some of my son’s regular Autism SLP visit a number of times commented about how incredible he’s doing and she how she can’t get over the leap he’s made with regards to speech. I am very happy about this but at…
Hiding Autism
What if you were afraid to let anyone know that your child has Autism? What if the family doctor says: “He can speak, he can read really well, he is very smart and intelligent but just flops and has some social skill and sensory issues but otherwise no one would really know…
I Am An Actress
I am an actress. I never set out to being one. I somehow fell into it. It was a way to protect myself, my family, and most especially my son. My Autistic son who for half of his life was nonverbal. How is Johnny doing? I think that when you are a parent of…
Math Eruption
In Grade 2, Johnny was struggling and didn’t like doing his Math work at school. He did it but it took a lot of motivating. He could do Grade 2 geometry and enjoyed measurements, and he enjoyed working on predicting patterns and sequences but the concepts of addition and subtraction were not working out for him. He…
Meaningful Learning
The beginning of another school year means preparing for IEP’s again so that Johnny can have a successful year of learning. We have to think about what that will look like for Johnny and how do we advocate for his needs. As he goes through the “Grade levels” in school my…
