Advocacy & Education

Autism education, advocacy, parenting a child with Autism, and how to help break society’s misconceptions about those on the spectrum.

You’d Be So Pretty If…

I’m overweight and I’m not unique-there are over 90 million Americans that are struggling with their weight as well. With millions of us in the same boat, you’d think this journey wouldn’t have felt so isolating, but it did. I felt like I wasn’t in the same boat, but rather, I was regulated to a dark and lonely hole-filled rowboat. A rowboat that needed to hide in the shadows so no one, not even myself, could see it as it slowly sunk to the bottom. I didn’t want to be seen, because being seen meant that I would have to acknowledge it, it being the elephant in the room, aka me.

Raw

Leaving the therapists office Monday, tears still in my eyes, I was left feeling raw and vulnerable while experiencing an overwhelming amount of mom guilt. Her words crashing through my head on repeat: “You need to ask his psychologist when enough is enough and he needs committed to the children’s psych ward. It also sounds …

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“I Hate Everyone. Kill Me Now”

Disturbing Dysregulation “I hate you. I hate everyone. I want you to kill me. Someone needs to kill me. I don’t want to be alive anymore. Kill me now. What does blood taste like. I’m going to drink all my blood. You hate me you hate me you hate me. You don’t love me. Everyone …

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Motherhood Uncensored: Coping With Endometriosis

What Is Endometriosis? Endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside the uterus causing chronic, debilitating pain and menstrual irregularities. It affects around 1 in 10 individuals during their reproductive years. That is about 176 million people worldwide and counting. Because endometriosis is a full body disease, it has the …

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Celebrating Earth Day 2021

This year, we kicked off our Earth Day celebrations a bit early. We still have plans to clean up the creek behind our house tomorrow, when it’s actually Earth Day, but I wanted to go ahead and share what we’ve been doing in case you need ideas! Last year, our focus was on wind power/sustainable …

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Overcoming Ingrained Racism

If you would have asked me prior to this morning if I was racist, I would have responded with a resounding and slightly affronted “No.” I’ve been consistently educating myself and my children about the underlying racism in our country for years. I’ve gone to protests and donated my photography services to document them. I’ve …

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Skateboarding On The Spectrum

When most people think of skateboarding, their first thoughts are usually something along the lines of misfit teens, punk rock, or maybe even guys like Tony Hawk. What they don’t think about, is just how amazing skateboarding is for kids who need occupational therapy. Kids like Everett, who are on the autism spectrum. Kids like …

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I Want To Die

“I want to die. I don’t love you anymore and you’re not my friend anymore. I hate you.” These are about the last things you’d ever want to hear your child say to you, though you might expect it from an overly emotional teen. Unfortunately, I don’t have a teen and these words were screamed …

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Your Child is Autistic Because…

Without fail, multiple times a month, someone will claim Everett’s autism is caused by something outlandish. Usually, it’s the age old, well debunked, vaccine argument. Some of the things I’ve been “informed” of, pique my interest enough for a Google search, and some are just so out there that it leaves me scratching my head. …

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Living Life On The Spectrum, Homeschool Edition

Today we have a special guest post from a local Birmingham mother, Marjorie. I met Marjorie shortly before the pandemic hit and really enjoyed getting to know her. We both have 2 kiddos, the bigs are both on the spectrum and in kindergarten, while our littles are only a month apart in age. It’s nice …

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