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When Normal Is the New Weird | Special Needs + Typical Parenting (Belonging Neither Here Nor There)
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity Many of us hold dual citizenship: Card-carrying creds from the world of Special Needs parenting, and membership in the “normal” world of typically developing children (“Sibs.”) We occupy both...
read moreI’ll Never Hear, “I Love You, Mommy” (Lies The Devil Tells)
As the mother of a non-verbal child with autism, I know lots of other mom-friends of children who don’t speak. We seldom discuss it. But, oh, how we all long to hear, “I love you, Mommy.” For my son, it took years of intensive speech and behavioral therapy before he could even identify me as Mommy: He paired my laminated picture with the word on a flash card. I’ll take it. One night, I...
read moreOn Motherhood, Meals & Mayhem | Mother’s Day 2014
Breakfast of Chumpions One winter morning in 1988, I ran out the door on my way to school. I was late, per usual, so I skipped breakfast. High school seniors are too cool for breakfast anyway. My mother wasn’t having it. She chased me out to my car in her pajamas, and pressed a half-eaten SKOR bar and Coke into my hand. “Must eat something!” she insisted. A Coke and a candy...
read moreThanking YOU for 2013: A Peek Behind the Curtain
Happy New Year’s Eve! Reflecting on 2013 (wrapping up Year One of the blog!) today’s post offers a peek behind the curtain: The genesis behind the blog, and my unexpected entry into writing. Unplugged, unpolished and ungrammatically correct, I’m just talkin’ to you as a friend today, to say THANK YOU… Why I started writing As many of my posts...
read moreFaith Through Disappointment – Part 3: GET PEOPLE
Four-part series, “Faith Through Disappointment” continues. Of the “Four Gets,” the first is to Get REAL: Giving ourselves permission to grieve or get angry. The second, is to Get HELP: Be willing to lean on others. We were not meant to carry our burdens alone. The third, is to Get PEOPLE: God provides help through people, whether they understand our...
read moreFaith Through Disappointment – Part 2: GET HELP
In the previous post, I began a four-part series, “Faith through Disappointment.” Of the Four Gets, the first was to Get REAL (giving ourselves permission to grieve or get angry.) The series continues with the second Get: Get HELP. ************************************************************** 2) GET HELP – Be willing to receive/ask for help Asking for help...
read moreFaith through Disappointment – Part 1: ALCF Women’s Conference 2013
On October 5, 2013, I had the privilege of speaking at my church, Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Mountain View, CA. It was an honor to be part of the teaching team for the annual Women’s Conference, composed of keynote Dr. Gloria White-Hammond, and five fellow workshop speakers: Each uniquely gifted and passionate about seeing women healed and made whole. For the 2013 theme of...
read more“Just a piece of paper” – In Honor of Autism D-Day
In honor of our D-Day. On August 20, 2004, a pediatric neurologist scribbled, “Diagnostic code 299.00. Autism,” on a prescription pad. Some pieces of paper cut far deeper than others. ********************************************************** “Just a piece of paper” A marriage certificate. Divorce papers. A Do Not Resuscitate Form. An adoption certificate....
read moreMother’s Day, Post Mortem
The Day After All fanfare is done. Restaurants recover from the busiest day of the year. Florists sweep away forlorn bouquets that weren’t pretty enough to get picked. Drugstores stash away the picked-over greeting cards. Maybe they’ll get recycled next year. For many women, it may not have been a joyous day of celebration. Perhaps no one feted them like “Queen for...
read moreUnbroken Faith

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