Tag: autism spectrum disorder
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Once Upon A Time…
Once upon a time, there was a 10 month old baby boy who took his first assisted steps up and down the aisle of a church during Vacation Bible School week. The hands he held were those of a sweet little girl who would grow up to be one of his favorite baby sitters, as…
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To the Staff at Horse Camp
We’re halfway through summer break, and my son finally was able to attend and enjoy a day camp this week. He and my daughter both spent the week with my parents and went to a horse camp. It was the one thing he REALLY wanted to do. They attended last summer, and talked about it…
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To the Kind Woman in the Dallas Airport
We came home last night from a week visiting my husband’s family in NJ. Travel for a kid battling anxiety and panic has the potential for disaster. He did fairly well on the way out (there is beauty in a red eye flight!), but had some really challenging moments on the way home. There were…
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Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Every once in awhile I am struck by the absolute paradox that is my son. Following the rough time he had on the 4th of July, we gave him a completely down day yesterday. He needed a day of quiet and relative solitude to recover. Toward the end of the day I asked him if he…
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To The Parent of My Son’s Friend
While our family support system is fairly vast, my son’s personal support system has shrunk as he struggles with anxiety, panic and depression. So we are exceedingly thankful for the kids who continue to make the effort to be his friend and to the parents who continue to open their homes to him. Yesterday he got a…
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Why Our Story, Isn’t Just “Our” Story
My intelligent, compassionate, musically gifted, goofy 10-year-old son has a level 1 autism spectrum disorder, and has recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and a panic disorder. As parents, we knew there was something wrong almost 2 years ago. We consulted various specialists, consented to a variety of tests and assessments, and our son has…
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Ripping Off The Bandaid
These are the lessons I have learned since deciding rip off the bandaid to share both my son’s diagnoses, and our family’s journey, with the world. A “label” isn’t always a bad thing – We spent a long time not wanting to “label” our son, and therefore were not straightforward with him, ourselves or others. This came from a…
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Hope (& Prozac) for the Journey
Last Thursday, we were here. And we were scared and lost and looking for even a glimmer of hope. Today, my husband and I were back at the psychiatrist’s office to discuss his thoughts on diagnosis and treatment. We didn’t actually find out anything we hadn’t already been told or suspected. His diagnosis was confirmation of autism spectrum…
We're All A Little Broken 