Shortly after my daughter, Julianna, was diagnosed with Autism we were at a holiday gathering with family. At this point I was shaky at best with her autism diagnosis, and still trying to navigate what to do to help her. ​ ​ We were already shopping for our forever home at the time she was …
We just adopted a sweet black lab puppy, and let me tell you, I’ve been feeling like a mom of a newborn again. Last night I was up taking her out to go potty at 1 a.m., then again at 5:30 a.m. and I’m running on fumes. ​ But as I was walking around my …
“It’s in the MESSINESS where we find the cracks, and it’s through showing up—even when we feel like we’re falling apart—that we actually make progress.” – Michelle B. Rogers Middle school kicked off for us about three weeks ago. ​ ​ At first, I was really nervous because I know these BIG transitions can be …
A month or so ago, we brought out the Monopoly board game for the first time in a while.Julianna is super competitive and loves to win (not sure where she got that from 🤣). ​ ​ ​ When we first started playing games that required turn-taking, she wasn’t the best at it. If she was …
Regression is NOT a Reason to Quit on Your Autistic Child Read More »
My daughter started middle school last week and when I look at this picture I can’t believe this is the same girl that was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism at age 2. She had language and lost it, we had to teach her sign language, potty train with a sign. She started making sounds, …
One of the #1 skills I help parents of children with Autism master is Potty Training their kids. ​ I’ve hosted TONS of Webinars and over the last year I started asking this question: ​​“Of all the things you’ve tried to Potty Train your child with Autism, why do you think what you’ve tried hasn’t …
Julianna’s Moving Up Day is today and I can’t believe how fast the time has flown and how much she’s grown.​​She’s wrapping up 5th grade, and her 2nd year in a general education classroom with minimal support. ​ I can’t believe we are headed to Middle School but here we are! I think about our …
I recently saw a post like this in an Autism Facebook Group and it just broke my heart. ​ ​ The comments were coming fierce and fast. ​ “Awww kids are so mean” “My biggest fear for my boys…” “That is bs! The rule in my daughter’s class is, every child gets an invite or …
Don’t Just Get Mad—Get Moving: Teach Skills That Matter Read More »
Are you afraid to HOPE for your Baby on the Spectrum? Not knowing what was possible, I took my daughter with Autism from nonverbal, to sign language, to potty trained (using a sign for the potty), to making sounds, to word approximations to speaking. Today she is 11 years old, chatting up a storm, in …
The Power of HOPE for Your Child on the Spectrum! Read More »
I remember when Julianna started to change. It was shortly after her 1st birthday where I started to notice a shift in her mood. ​​ She went from a happy engaged baby who said her first word, “MAP” (She loved Dora the Explorer) at 9 months to what seemed to me as a child at …