World Autism Month Whether you prefer the puzzle piece or the infinity loop symbol, your voice matters. Whether you prefer to be called a person with autism or autistic, I respect your preference. Whether your donations go to Autism Speaks or somewhere else, thank you for supporting the autism community. Whether you’re autistic yourself, a parent, teacher, sibling, caregiver, therapist, or simply an ally, I want to hear what you have to say. World Autism Month is about sharing our unique perspectives and standing together as a community to make a difference. Let’s advocate for more support and ..read more

I  pride myself on being honest so I’m going to tell you the truth — right now, I am burnt out. Posting your life on social media is inviting people into your life, your home. Only the rooms you’ve left unlocked, but still, your home. Eight years of near-daily blogging has turned me paranoid. Before I click “post” on every text and photo, I’m inundated with thoughts of the many criticisms internet strangers are about to cast onto me and my life. …Shit, I missed that dirt under Charlie’s fingernails.…Oh god, Jude already wore this shirt once this week.…Ugh, they’re gonna have a field day w ..read more

Autism-proofing isn’t offensive Today, I’m angry. I usually do my best to be soft with my wording, even when writing about things that make my blood boil. But today, I won’t. Today, I‘m writing to you about the constant fears I live with about preventing the accidental death of my severely autistic child. A few months ago, I posted a reel with tips on how to “autism-proof” a house. Tips included things like getting a plexiglass half-wall and extra locks on doors/cabinets. I‘ve since gotten dozens of comments on why I’m a horrible person because my terminology is “disgusting” and “ableist”. I’m ..read more

This is not a paid review, I’m just genuinely thankful for how Hizentra changed my life. This is my journey to diagnosis and treatment. Hizentra for treatment of Specific Antibody Deficiency Today, I want to raise awareness about primary immune deficiency and specific antibodies deficiency. Getting diagnosed changed my life for the better. Every two weeks, I do antibodies infusions (Hizentra) at home. It’s a lifelong treatment. You may have heard of IVIG which is done at the hospital, well this is the home version of it. I infuse the medicine in the fat layer of my skin over one hour. These in ..read more

There’s been a huge increase in people trying to erase severe autism.  “Severe autism isn’t real.” “No one is more severely autistic than someone else.” “We’re all equally autistic.” As someone diagnosed with Level 1 (high-functioning) ASD who’s raising a child with Level 3 (severe) ASD, I can tell you that these statements are far from the truth.     (1) “Everyone is equally autistic” There’s a significant difference between an autistic person who has the luxury of being able to advocate for themselves on social media, me, and an autistic person who can’t communicate beyon ..read more

This is not a paid review, I’m just genuinely thankful for how Hizentra changed my life. This is my journey to diagnosis and treatment. Hizentra for treatment of Specific Antibodies Deficiency Today, I want to raise awareness about primary immune deficiency and specific antibodies deficiency. Getting diagnosed changed my life for the better. Every two weeks, I do antibodies infusions (Hizentra) at home. It’s a lifelong treatment. You may have heard of IVIG which is done at the hospital, well this is the home version of it. I infuse the medicine in the fat layer of my skin over one hour. These ..read more

This post is sponsored by SuperBill, all opinions expressed are my own. When Charlie was first diagnosed with autism in 2015, we saw a lot of specialists. There was a geneticist, a neurologist, a developmental pediatrician, and trips to the eye doctor, ENT, and GI doctor too. On top of that, there was speech therapy every day, occupational therapy, and many hours of ABA. Needless to say, these services have a cost. Often at the time, I felt like I existed solely to arrange doctor appointments, and chauffeur between them. So the last thing I wanted to do at the end of the day was fight with som ..read more

This blog post is sponsored by KiwiCo. Finding activities to do with our two children with autism can be a real challenge.  My youngest son, Jude, is 7 years old. Jude is diagnosed with Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder. He’s a creative little boy who loves math, video games, and art. He can talk for hours on end about his favorite things and loves being around people. My oldest son, Charlie, is 9 years old and was diagnosed with Level 3 (severe) autism when he was 22 months old. Charlie is a happy child who loves sensory play and physical activities. Charlie shows little interest in the t ..read more

My birth story as a third-time mom Do you know what they say about third babies? They’re the wild card. I spent a lot of time reading birth stories when I was pregnant, and I’ve always found them useful and fascinating. My turn to share Billie’s birth story as a third-time mom! From hyperemesis gravidarum to Covid My pregnancy with Billie was amazing, scary, and unpleasant. I know these feelings sound contradictory but they describe my pregnancy perfectly. It started with hyperemesis gravidarum in my first and second trimesters and ended with Covid in my third trimester. There were a lot of up ..read more

I’m not into autism inspirational stories. It’s a wonderful thing when a nonverbal autistic can eventually learn complex communication. It truly is. To live a story like this is to triumph over extraordinary difficulty. But this inspirational story is not my Charlie’s story. At nine years old now, the signs that might point to this outcome for him are just not there.  “Have you read/seen ‘The Reason I Jump’?” If I got a dollar every time someone asked me this question, I’d be rich. There is almost no discussion of the controversy surrounding the book, nor the reliability of ‘facilitated c ..read more