Yesterday, I found myself asking God a question I’ve asked Him more times than I can count: What is Your plan for me? I don’t ask because I doubt that He has one. In fact, I believe with my whole heart that He does. I just don’t always understand it. Yesterday, Skyler fell at his…
For 23 years, I have been learning how difficult it can be to separate an autism diagnosis from everything else. When your child is profoundly autistic, nonverbal, and unable to tell you what he is feeling, every new behavior becomes a puzzle. I’ve previously shared how Skyler’s digestive issues were dismissed for years as just…
There are many moments in this profound, nonverbal autism parenting journey that leave me completely stumped…like trying to solve a puzzle without all the pieces. Last week, Skyler attended his second group Spelling to Communicate (S2C) session. Since Skyler has only ever done S2C sessions individually, we were excited to see if he enjoyed being…
I’m currently writing the third book in my Purposeful Journey series, which is centered around autism in adulthood, and throughout the process, I’ve found myself continually reflecting on the fact that God doesn’t waste our stories – He layers them. Each of my memoirs in the trilogy were never meant to be separate stories. The…
While we are pleased with the number of services available for adults with disabilities in our new home state of CO, one that has continued to elude us throughout Skyler’s entire life is respite. Over the years we’ve met countless providers, filled out paperwork, waited on lists, and hoped each new opportunity would finally be…
Tomorrow morning, Skyler will undergo his third colonoscopy since being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2018. It’s a routine procedure designed to help his medical team determine whether his medications are working and whether his disease is finally under some control. Like every parent of a child with Crohn’s knows, the scope itself isn’t the…
My 21-year-old daughter and I were chatting the other day and one of her questions caught me off guard. She asked if I had decided on an age when her brother would move somewhere outside of our home. At first, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. The truth is, I don’t have a specific…
There are seasons in life when everything feels uncertain—when decisions carry weight and the future feels like a question mark. And then there are seasons when, somehow, everything begins to fall into place in a way that feels too intentional to be coincidence. Since making the decision last August to move to Colorado for Skyler—to…
There’s a certain kind of strength many women carry that rarely gets questioned. We push through. We power on. We ignore the signals—because someone always needs us more. A few days ago, I was admitted to the hospital for an unexpected appendectomy. For over a month, I had been dealing with pretty intense back pain….
Happy 23rd Birthday, Skyler 🥳 What a year it’s been. Just one year ago, you were facing one of the hardest transitions of your life — aging out of your autism center, leaving behind everything familiar, and stepping into months of uncertainty, with no programs, no routine, and very little connection to the world outside…