Last week, I had an opportunity to take a mini vacation. My husband had to travel for work, so we arranged childcare so that I could come along with him for two nights. Two nights in a hotel: my...
Just Take A Break
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Uncategorized Archive
Caregiver Burnout
Something went wrong in the middle of spring. With little provocation, I began snapping at my loved ones. My body started dragging and my muscles ached in a way no amount of rest could cure. I had...
Mental Energy: A Precious but Finite Resource
Mental energy. Cognitive load. Emotional bandwidth. Whatever we call it, we all have a certain amount we expend each day. And when that amount is used up, we need to replenish it by doing things...
Special Siblings
Family dinner at a restaurant. Nothing out of the ordinary to most families, but we aren’t most families. We are a family whose lives were changed by an autism diagnosis over 20 years ago....
Autism is like a rose, a mixture of beauty and thorns.
Guest Post From: Kim Cummings at A Unicorn Among Horses "Autism is like a rose; a mixture of beauty and thorns." This weekend there were a lot of thorns. This weekend, we went camping at a place we...
When children with severe autism endanger their families, residential care may be the best option.
I asked Lara Garrard when she first sensed something was different with her third son, Luka. She replied, “I could tell at 6 months. He wasn’t bonding with me like his older brothers.” Lara has four...
When Profound Autism Falls Off the Cliff into the Abyss
“‘Transition Plan’ is a mockery for kids like Pabs, because no program will take him, no day programs exist that can support his profound needs.” This post is written by Alicia Mesa and was...
The Help Isn’t Coming
There will be times on this journey where you scream, cry & use colorful language. That was today. To be a fly on our wall when I am on the phone. When the screaming comes to an end. When the...
No One Answers Our Desperate Pleas for Help
“Come back to me…” I whisper as I hold my 3-year-old daughter who is once again slipping into the unknown, an unknown that I have few tools to help her navigate because the treatment options we’ve...
I Wish My Son Didn’t Have Autism
By: Eileen at The Autism Cafe Why is this even a taboo thing to say? The truth is I wish Charlie didn’t have autism. There, I said it. It’s not politically correct, but I know that many autistics,...
A Dad’s Data-Driven Quest to Solve His Son’s Sleep Issues
I’m a dad based in the UK and my 8-year-old son Thomas has severe autism and global delay. He's non-verbal, still in diapers, and attends a school dedicated to children with special needs. He's a...
Autism and Sleepless Nights on Vacation
After enduring a rough ending to the school year in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, my family needed a summer getaway. My wife and I decided to treat ourselves to a resort near the Jersey Shore...