A few days ago, someone said to a friend of mine, who has an autistic son so similar to Cooper that you’d think they were brothers, that her posts about her son were negative. She was upset of course. She didn’t feel like she was being negative. She thought she was just sharing their life. And him. And in fact, she celebrates her son much like I do Coops. I told her my hunch. That people looking in ‘think’ we are being negative when we share because our kids do…

The post Celebrating the ‘Late’ Successes appeared first on Finding Cooper's Voice | Welcome to the Secret World of Autism.

Something that people may not be aware of, unless you have a family member with a disability, is how much harder our families work to “even the playing field.” The phone calls, the emails, the meetings, the appointments, the therapy, the rearranging of schedules, the accommodations, the constant fight for “fair.” It is consuming and exhausting. My name is Elissa, and I have two little girls. My oldest, Aleena, is 5 and in kindergarten. My youngest, Lexi, is 3 and is in daycare/preschool. Lexi also has autism. Though Lexi is…

The post She Is More Than a Label appeared first on Finding Cooper's Voice | Welcome to the Secret World of Autism.

I am not autistic, my son is. And I spend much of time trying to understand him so I can be a better advocate. How he thinks. How he processes. Why he likes certain things. Or doesn’t like others. And how I can help him understand this world that wasn’t really made for him. His brain often feels a bit confusing to me. Mysterious even. Intriguing at the same time. Autism. Blurring the edges a bit. Touching all of his parts. Yesterday, as we were driving together, Cooper saw a…

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