United in Autism blog shares stories that will bring you big picture perspective in the midst of your everyday struggles.
In the early years of Lizzie’s life, I only shared snapshots of her progress. My biggest regret is that I didn’t get the every day struggles on video. Most of our days were filled with therapy, addressing new challenges, tantrums, and more therapy. While it was happening, I don’t think my momma heart could handle sharing the real, raw, scary stuff. I needed time to process all that we were going through with Lizzie. Now, over a decade later, with Lizzie’s permission, I share it all…the good, the bad, and the ridiculously funny.
My Most Precious Moment
It’s been 525,600 minutes since a new school year began. That may be the only normal thing about this school year. Has your child progressed as far as you hoped he would? Has he reached the goals you set for him? For those who have…congratulations! For those who haven’t, please know that you are not alone. […]
Creating True Connection Through Motherhood Tribes
Loneliness can run deep when sitting on the floor with the little people you love using your body as a human jungle gym, or even while surrounded by a group of moms you call friends. My passion project is connecting moms with other moms, who are walking the same, often lonely, path with special needs […]
Dear Special Needs Momma
Dear Special Needs Momma, I know what you are going through today. I know you woke up telling yourself that no matter what happened you would stay strong. I know you looked in the mirror and promised yourself that you would focus on the good and the smiles of the other kids as they hunted […]
A Promposal 15 Years in the Making
A single act of kindness may seem isolated in the moment, but kindness often paves the way for beautiful things to happen for years to come. Sometimes this beauty may not be revealed until over a decade later. At least this was the case with my daughter, Lizzie, a boy named Sam, and kindness shown […]
The Weight of the Unknown
From the moment I heard those devastating words, “Your daughter, Lizzie, has autism,” questions loomed in the back of my mind. “Will she become a functioning adult and be able to contribute to the world?” “Would I be okay if she never left home?” I decided to find out if other parents were asking these […]
When I Encouraged Her, She Literally Began to Fly!
It wasn’t the bright white coat or cold, sterile environment that sent chills down my spine. It was the doctor’s life-changing words, “Your daughter has autism.” With that overwhelming diagnosis, the doctor might as well have handed me a to-do list as long as Santa’s scroll. Even if I worked every minute of every day, […]
Are Our Kids’ Obsessions Actually the Pursuit of Understanding?
Parenting a child with autism means always being on-guard. The common sense social rules, such as don’t run into the street or don’t jump into the water, seem to come built in with typical kids, but have to be taught one-by-one with lots of repetition to our kids with autism. And then there are the […]
Autism: The Club No Parent Wants to Be In
During my childhood, I tried every type of activity imaginable, but never seemed to find “my thing.” I tried soccer, but getting kicked in the shin wasn’t worth the lack of thrill I felt when someone else kicked a ball through the goal. I tried softball, but somehow standing in the outfield and ending up covered […]
FINALLY…I am Starting My Own Blog…AGAIN!
I was blogging before blogging was a thing. Seriously, I am not even exaggerating. I started my first blog, a video blog, in 2007. Every blog has a story, a reason it was born, and my video blog was created from the first glimpse of HOPE I had as an autism mom. As soon as […]