Being Jessica's Mom: Growing up on the Autistic Spectrum

Writing a blog is not something I had ever thought of doing, but I have always wanted to write.  I have always wanted to write a book, but never felt like I had anything interesting to write about…well, thanks to the miracle of giving birth, I now have an amazing story that has been 23 years in the making! My daughter’s name is Jessica and she and I have spent sometime talking about this idea to write about her story from my perspective and what I have learned being her mom.  She is all for it!  So you will get to know her through my eyes and you will get to know me as her mom, but at some point in time, Jessica is going to share her own story and what it is like to be Jessica.  I think this is so important, not just for readers (because it is so easy for us as parents to just take care of what needs to be done and make sure resources are put in place, that we are doing everything a parent needs to do, that we can easily lose sight of how our child is experiencing their world and we don’t always stop and ask them or they are not always able to communicate it), but for Jessica.  This is also an opportunity for her to share her own self-reflection as a young woman who knows that she struggles in life, but who is so smart and has so much thoughtful input about how she has experienced my parenting…the good, the bad and everything in between!