Finding Sanity in Motherhood
Before becoming a mother, I admittedly did not know a lot about Autism. When I thought about Autism, I pictured the very stereotypical blunt, robotic, routine driven individual. I did not understand how many of these are misconceptions about Autism. As my oldest daughter was creeping up on her second birthday it was suggested by …
National Autism Awareness Month: We Don’t Need Awareness, We Need Acceptance. Many of you, whether or not you have anyone close to you who is autistic, have heard of Autism Awareness Month in April. Really, however, we do not need to be aware of Autism. So many are aware of Autism. What is needed is …
With most neurodiverse children, like Autistic children, the Christmas season can be very overwhelming. This overwhelm can be hard for any neurotypical child or adult to understand. There are many different ways during the holidays to make sure the Autistic child in your family is not completely left out and ignored due to their differences. …
Two years ago, my daughter was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. At the time of this diagnosis, I did have some knowledge about Autism but not much. I had extensive experience working with adults with Downs Syndrome and through that experience have met many autistic adults as well through shared activities. Those shared activities were …
There are many things we’ve known, grown up knowing, and just thought were fact, that are social constructs. Our society works in a way that tells us one thing is just the way it is when, other societies do or see things differently. For instance, gender is a social construct because biologically there are not just two sexes but many genetic possibilities. What it means to be feminine, and masculine is a social construct because those definitions differ depending on the society and culture you’re in. This is true also for disability. What is considered a disability depends on society and is made true by the norms and practices of society.
After my daughter’s diagnosis there was a whole new world we were thrown into I really didn’t understand. That is the world of Autism and Neurodiversity. The world of sensory overload and meltdowns. Before becoming a mother, I was the typical naïve and judgmental person in the store. The person that did not understand why …
As a parent, when your child is first diagnosed autistic and you have no previous understanding, experience, or knowledge of it, learning and knowing where to start can be daunting. You will find all kinds of voices out there. People claiming, they have a cure for autism. People claiming vaccines caused their child’s autism; and …
As parents we all understand that parenting is a very unique experience for each person. We all also deal with other people who either don’t understand our experience or shame us for differences in parenting techniques. As a special needs parent this misunderstanding has whole new circumstances. I want to explain a little about our …
Not even a year ago my daughter was diagnosed as on the Autism Spectrum. They gave me a diagnosis with levels. As if they can quantify some measurable ability in her. Since then, and even for some time before her diagnosis, I was working on learning what I can about Autism. One thing I have …
#Back before marriage and motherhood I taught dance classes for my local Parks and Recreation department. I had grown up taking classes from the same people that were now my coworkers and boss. Teaching kids definitely has it’s challenges like I’m sure every teacher, daycare worker, and many others can attest to, but there were …