You’ve probably heard the statistic. Eighty percent of marriages raising a child with autism end in divorce. It gets repeated at conferences, in support groups, in well-meaning articles trying to underscore how hard this journey is. Here’s the truth: there is no credible study behind that number. The largest study ever conducted on this question,…
There is a very specific kind of overstimulation nightmare that a birthday party creates, and most people never clock it because to them it just looks like a party. Multiple conversations happening at once, crying, laughing, plates clattering, music playing, lights, smells, and then the transition into an entirely new setting on top of all…
Sensory Processing Disorder doesn’t always look like what people expect. It isn’t just a kid being dramatic about a tag in their shirt or refusing to eat something because they’re “being difficult.” It’s a nervous system that registers texture, temperature, and fabric at an intensity most people never have to think about. A seam in…
Preparing Neurodivergent Kids for a Vacation We want our kids to have all the same childhood things everyone else’s kids get, the water park day, the hotel pool, the family road trip. But wanting that and being able to hand it to them without a cost are two very different things. Change in routine is…
When you have more than one child with needs, people assume there’s always “the other one,” the sibling who doesn’t need extra appointments, extra meetings, extra everything. For years in our house, that was Caydence. While we were navigating surgeries and therapies for Carlos, and school trauma and meltdowns for Coah, Caydence was the dancer,…
Imagine finally getting the courage to ask for help. You’ve watched the signs pile up, had the hard conversations with your pediatrician, and you’re ready, really ready, to get your child evaluated. Then you’re told the wait is six months. Twelve months. In some places, eighteen. Not for treatment. Not for services. Just for the…
My dad has had a hand in raising our children alongside us. I could not do it all without him. They say it takes a village, and no truer words have ever been spoken. But not everyone is lucky enough to be so blessed with that kind of support, and not everyone in a Filipino…
Mommy is tired. Not the tired that sleep can fix, or a short vacation could cure, this is the tired that lives in the bones and settles into the soul. It’s the tired of fighting the world, and sometimes even fighting with the very child I’m fighting for, over chicken nuggets that aren’t the right…
Three kids, three completely different neurodivergent journeys, spanning elementary school all the way up through college, all under one roof at the same time. It’s bananas. When Every Child Feels Like the Urgent Fire Some days it feels like triage, standing in the middle of my own house trying to figure out who needs me…
We were always apprehensive about medication. With Carlos, our eldest, we didn’t choose to medicate until high school, when the subjects finally got complex enough that he needed the extra support to focus, remember, and process. But every special need journey is different, and with Coah, the conversation started at the young age of five….
