In honor of National Siblings Day and Autism Awareness month, it seems only fitting that I honor Jessica’s brother today.  I think as parents with special needs children our attention and time is often monopolized by all of the needs, behaviors, worry, school issues, appointments, etc. that siblings in the family are easily overlooked.  This… Continue reading This One Is For You Son!

The teacher’s complaints were that she had a reading comprehension problem.  This was not the case.  She was a good reader and verbally she could recite all about what she read.  The teachers complained that her writing was “all over the place”.  She had many thoughts but could not coherently organize them into a paragraph,… Continue reading VISUAL PROCESSING DISORDERS

As a therapist, I am faced with parents struggling to understand what is wrong with their child everyday.  Why is he having such extreme tantrums?  Why won’t she talk to other kids?  Why doesn’t he fit in like his sibling?  I get it, I have asked many of the same questions about Jessica.  But some… Continue reading What Is Wrong With My Daughter? (Part 1)

Jessica started her second year of college and she was very insistent that she take three core classes because she really wanted to complete her general education.  Against my better judgement, she registered for a math, english and a psychology course.  In the beginning, she did ok.  She was a good student, she liked the… Continue reading Adjusting

A new year brings new goals and new challenges for all of us.  I have been absent with my writing and Jessica’s story has lapsed because of it.  If you are just joining, I encourage you to go back and read from the beginning, as this is (up until now) a chronological accounting of my… Continue reading Happy New Year!

Jessica has had moments of what appeared to be friendships over the years, but since elementary school, this has been a life domain that she has struggled with.  Kindergarten friendships were easy because they were fostered by me as I became friends with parents and arranged playdates.  But Kindergarten was also where Jessica met her… Continue reading Friends, Aquaintances and Bullies

I finished filling out paperwork and left the hospital, there was nothing more I would do, Jess was sleeping and I wasn’t allowed to see her until the morning.  I cried all the way back to my boyfriend’s house where my son was, crawled into be and tried to sleep. The next morning I took… Continue reading Experiences Grow the Brain (part 3)