While straightening a shelf, I came across a scrapbook my mother made when the girls were toddlers. A wave of nostalgia hit me, so I opened it up. Page after page featured my joyful girls, playing and smiling for the camera. As I kept looking, a big, fat lump formed in the back of my [...]

If you are new to the world of autism, there is help for the uninitiated. Three years ago when I first heard my daughter’s diagnosis of severe autism, I felt as though an elephant dropped from the ceiling and landed on my chest. The packet of out-of-date research papers the doctor’s office handed me were [...]

Last night at my support group, one of the moms brought up a good point about the importance of friendships for children, teens, and young adults with special needs. As she has an older teen with autism, she is further down the road than I, and she has much wisdom to share. One of the [...]

One of the issues my husband and I often discuss is the well-being of our older child. With a severely autistic younger sister, my eldest spends a great deal of time in the car to and from therapy and waiting for us to take care of one of her sister’s tantrums. Plus, she often doesn’t [...]

by Jennifer Dyer I recently attended a few conferences about Sensory Processing Disorder, which affects many people on the autism spectrum. I am going to write more about this subject in the next few days, but for now I wanted to share a few websites that provide some great instructional videos, sensory toys, and other items, [...]

Ah, the holidays. Traveling and so much more … On a recent trip to visit family, my younger daughter Rachel had a wonderful time. Being severely autistic, travel often stresses Rachel and can be difficult on everyone involved. This time, though, she found a friend. My niece’s 36″ stuffed duck, to be exact. Everywhere we [...]

by Jennifer Dyer I used to look forward to the first nip in the air, the first leaves on the ground, the first browning of the cactus (I grew up in the desert), and the change from summer clothes into the heavier, darker fall wardrobe. I still appreciate all those things, except for the way jeans [...]