We know our teens need to become more independent. But it’s so hard to not think about everything that can go wrong. And it may hold us back from pushing our kids down the road of independence. But we must push ourselves. I shared how we prepared our son for riding public transit in a […]
As our Autistic teens move towards adulthood, we need to be constantly thinking about how we get them to a place of independence. I’m sitting on a plane as I write this, traveling with my family to visit some relatives over Spring Break. It’s been an interesting trip as we’ve navigated the airport with our […]
You’re on a flight, a child is crying 2 rows back. The child behind you is restless, kicking your chair. If you’ve ever been the parent handling one of these children, you know how tough it is. When your child has Autism, it can feel unmanageable. I have my own nightmare story but before I […]
Unified sports are not integrated sports, and I consider that to be a good thing. My son with Autism LOVES playing basketball and this program created an opportunity for him. In middle school, my son was in a public school that did a pretty good job with integrating the kids with special needs. They had […]
Most 16 year olds are either driving a car or taking public transportation. But for a teen with Autism, that’s not usually the case. Our teenager clearly wanted the independence of not having mom or dad dropping him off at school. Over the course of 2 years, we were able to get him riding public […]
Do you ever feel like your kids that are on IEPs aren’t getting enough attention or instruction in the classroom? Even if you’ve had relatively positive experiences in elementary school or middle school, you may hit a point where things get pretty tough. Math is often a subject where Autistic kids do well and may […]
Friday nights these days are all about high school football games and time spent together as a family. Is this what other families do? Or, do they just make sure their high schoolers get a ride to the game? I ask because my high schooler has Autism and we need to define what “normal” is […]
We had a birthday party for my 15 year old son today. He was giddy about having 2 friends coming over. This is the first of his parties where he has truly been engaged in terms of who was going to attend and what we were going to do. And both of the other moms […]
A friend of mine signed up her 10 year old daughter, Emma, for a one week soccer camp. But Emma hates sports. So why on earth would she do such a thing?! Somewhere along the way, between working full time, taking care of her aging parents, along with a divorce, years of being a single […]
School is officially underway. As I sat in my 2nd Curriculum Night of the week, I breathed a bit of a sigh of relief. It’s my 3rd year in both my daughter’s elementary school and my son’s middle school. I know the routine. I understand how the special ed program at the middle school is supporting […]
