“[This is the story] of a woman’s devotion to the child who is both her burden and God’s singular way of smiling on her…” Jewel, Bret Lott I recall reading in Susan Senator’s book Making Peace with Autism about going through periods of crisis with your child, and how some crises can be so difficult that [...]
Archive for October, 2009
Crisis Intervention
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autism, crisis, hyperactive, landau kleffner, seizures, susan senator on October 30, 2009 | 30 Comments »
unedited
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autism, God, seizures, smile, struggle on October 29, 2009 | 16 Comments »
written a couple years ago, still true today God, I really want to know what you have to say about autism. Can’t communicate Can’t relate Learns differently, “hard to teach” Seizures in the brain, gut issues When is she hurting? Wish everyone knew what this was like for a day, for a night So [...]
Homecoming
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged army, autism, deployment, homecoming, iraq, letters from war, mark schultz, war on October 27, 2009 | 26 Comments »
I’m waiting for a call. A call to say that he has arrived safely in Kuwait. Even as he goes out, I am already thinking of his coming in. I think back to five years ago when a handful of spouses gathered in an old gymnasium in Katterbach, Germany in the dark of night. There [...]
More Extraordinary
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autism, great expectations, nonverbal, sleep, sleep disorder on October 22, 2009 | 35 Comments »
It’s 2:30 am and she’s shrieking and running circles in her room. I sit up in bed, realizing that she’s been doing it for at least a half hour. Got to get there, I think as I groggily rush down the cold hallway, before she goes to the bathroom on the floor. As I open [...]
Excuse Me
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bathroom, excuse me, potty, potty humor on October 19, 2009 | 36 Comments »
I expect my girls to be polite and mannerly. Hope, however, surprises me with her bathroom humor. I didn’t teach her any of it, so I’m always startled (and amused) by the stuff she comes up with while sitting on the potty. Like many children, she seems to think the passage of gas is [...]
Daddy’s Girls
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autism, daddy, deployment, girls, iraq, soldier on October 13, 2009 | 31 Comments »
Hope and Rhema’s all-time favorite person in the world paid them a visit this weekend. He’d been away for six weeks when he slipped in the house early Friday morning while they slept. When Rhema awakened he went to her room, scooped her into his arms and carried her down the stairs. They sat on [...]
The Autism Awareness Bandit
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged autism awareness, magnet, ribbon on October 9, 2009 | 24 Comments »
The other day Rhema casually got out of the minivan, walked around to the back, ripped off our Autism Awareness car magnet and tore it into pieces. I seriously stood there dumbfounded and disturbed. What in the world was that supposed to mean? “But… but… now our van will feel naked, Rhema! How am I [...]
Earn This
Posted in Uncategorized on October 8, 2009 | 14 Comments »
I once walked by Rhema’s little classroom and observed her teacher using edibles as a reinforcer. The motivator of choice was pretzel sticks, broken into tiny pieces. Every time Rhema gave good eye contact or imitated her teacher’s nonverbal action (clapping her hands), she was rewarded with one tiny piece of pretzel. Many of our [...]
Just Call Me Noah
Posted in Uncategorized on October 5, 2009 | 18 Comments »
Last week I turned the heat on in the house for the first time. Brandon had left instructions for me to crank the heat up high, and then “bleed” the radiators in every room. So I kicked the thermostat up to 95 degrees, put Hope in front of the TV, and set about the house [...]
