First it was THIS. Then it was THIS. Then THIS. Then THIS. Finally though, I think I get it. I think. Maybe it’s because I’m just a few short days away from my period….I don’t freaking know but in any case I’m over here bawling my eyes out because one week later I think I…
A Sweet Dose of Truth: Hey Girl (Special Needs Ryan Gosling) – Week 4
So recently I was lucky enough to connect with Sunday Stilwell of Adventures in Extreme Parenthood and the first thought that came to mind after I read through her blog was “Where the hell have I been?” Sunday is all kinds of cool but her Special Needs Ryan Gosling series is what puts the icing…
I told autism to SUCK IT. Yeah. I said it.
The other day, my 9-year-old son Andrew, who is severely impacted by autism, did something amazing. For the first time in his life, he read. It wasn’t a book, or a chapter, or even a sentence. It was ONE word: Harold. The name of his favorite character from his favorite show, Thomas the Train. Before…
How an iPad can give a voice to special needs children
Andrew is kicking some serious communication ass thanks to his iPad (which, if you recall, he received from a guardian angel by the name of Gary James back in August of this year). I’ve written a pretty fantabulous article about the whole darn thing for my column with OC Moms for The Orange County Register…
Parenting a non-verbal child can suck sometimes.
It’s been a strange few weeks here at the Ashline household. Andrew’s been fluctuating between intense frustration and euphoric joy and none of us are getting a full night’s sleep due to his erratic night schedule. Mikey is operating on fumes and I’m close behind. Andrew has started stimming a lot, squinting his eyes, laughing…
A Lesson Learned
I could hear the boys playing in their rooms when Andrew began to whine. I gave it a minute. Then two. By the third minute I could feel my jaw begin to clench. “Ian, is everything okay? What’s going on with your brother?!” I called from the kitchen. I was starting to feel the familiar…