As parents, we play a vital role in the life of our children. As special needs parents, that even more true. The reality is that in some cases, our kids will need us for as long as we can physically be here. One of my worst fears is the day that I'm no longer here to take care of my kids.  One of the things I'm doing instead of allowing that fear to take over is embrace it. I embrace that fear and let it drive me to take better care of myself.  I use that fear to motivate me into making better life decisions.  It's so incredibly easy to get lost in the everyday life of special needs parenting.  We do and do for our kids, often times at…

Autism Awareness Month doesn't have to be just for the general public. There are many things that we need to focus on, including ourselves and our health. This April, take an inventory of your own personal health and figure out small ways that you can improve upon it. One of the things I'm working in is my diet. I'm eating oatmeal and my fruit and veggie smoothies. For breakfast I have egg whites, whole grain toast with smart balance peanut butter, plain yogurt and blue berries. This site is managed via WordPress for Android, courtesy of the @SamsungMobileUS Galaxy Note 2 by @Tmobile. Please forgive any typos as autocorrect HATES me. ;-) Check out my #Autism Awareness Store to find really cool and unique #Autism Awareness Clothing and Accessories, designed…

I answered my very first question as an expert, on Dr. Oz's Sharecare website. For the record, I'm so incredibly honored to be recognized in this fashion for my work in the Autism Community and I hope that this new opportunity allows me to reach out to even more people. The question that was asked was Should Autism be cured? First off all, this is a loaded question. Answering it is akin to playing Russian Roulette. No matter how you answer, there's a bullet in every chamber that has your name written all over it. With that in mind, I wanted to share my answer and get your thoughts on the subject of  whether or not we should cure Autism.   Should Autism be cured? This is a really tough question to answer. As a…

We got report cards for the 3rd quarter in the mail today.  Elliott got straight A's once again and we are super duper proud of him.  Gavin did awesome as well,  however he dropped a full letter in most of his classes.  He went from straight A's to mostly B's. This is a concern because I don't know why this is. We aren't upset with Gavin at all but we are worried that this may be part of cognitive regression that he's experiencing.  Slipping grades across the board are definitely a cause for concern and warrant a meeting with his teachers.  To be honest, I'm really trying not to overreact because this is a huge fear of mine.  I'm so worried that Gavin is slowly slipping away. We have been…

One of the things I always encourage Autism parents to do is give their kids on the spectrum as much hands on experience as they safely and appropriately can. My kids absolutely love to help with just about anything that I happen to be doing.  Today, I was cleaning our TV trays and had to scrape something off with a putty knife.  A putty knife, at least this one, isn't sharp but still requires supervision. Anyway, Emmett wanted to help me clean the table and so I showed him how to use the putty knife safely and correctly.  He picked up on it really quick and was very proud of himself for using a tool correctly.  I should mention that the boys understand that they are never to touch Daddy's…

I'm honored and beyond humbled to announce that I have been name to the Sharecare Top 10 Autism Bloggers list. Check out the Sharecare site for more about the individuals on this list. Here is a link to the official Press Release More information below:   Methodology: Sharecare Social HealthMakers (formerly SharecareNow Online Influencers) are among the most influential people in health and wellness on the Web, literally driving "conversations on the leading edge." They address a wide range of issues within specific topic areas while demonstrating consistent impact across multiple interactive channels--such as Twitter, Facebook, video and blogs. This impact is measured through a proprietary algorithm based on more than 100 individual metrics developed and powered by WCG, the marketing-leading digital communications agency, quantifying topic relevance, syndication, presence and…