Drawing by Max
Hey there!
I am Max's mom. My Max is a teen who has autism. Max was diagnosed with autism shortly before his fourth birthday so we have been living and breathing autism for quite awhile now. It has been an intense journey thus far but I would not trade it for anything. We have learned a lot together and I want to share our experiences here with you.
Other stuff about Max: My son has many passions and probably at the top of the list is art. He began drawing right about the time of his diagnosis and he has not stopped since. There has not been a day gone by that he does not draw or paint. I am so happy that he finds such pleasure in this form of self-expression. I believe that all children benefit from exploring their passions, especially the creative kind. Max also loves trains, Disney movies, and stuffed penguins.
Max is verbal but he isn't quite a conversationalist yet. I hate the sub-labels of "low functioning" and "high functioning" but Max may be viewed by some as lower functioning. But what I have found over the years with autism is that what you see may be not always tell the full story. There are many highly intelligent children (Max is one of them) who have severe language and communication barriers due to their autism that mask ability and performance. Max and other children like him invite you to look past the label to see them as the uniquely gifted individuals that they are.
Along with autism, my Max also has a sensory processing disorder and epilepsy. Max began to develop seizures at the age of 15.
Max is special and not because he has autism. He is special because he is my son and I love him. It is out of my love for my son that I want to share our story. My main message to you is that you are not alone. There are many families who will hear that their child has some new acronym attached to their name. It can be a scary time. We want to help you make sense of it all. We hope to impart a sense of peace that you and your child will persevere, label or no label. We are here for you with information, resources, and most importantly, support.
About Me:
First and foremost I am a mom...to Max and his older brother. I am also a freelance writer with a background in special education. Here are some quick facts about me.
- If you count my years as a clinician and as a parent of a special needs child, I have about 25 years of experience under my belt of working with and teaching children and adults with autism. Despite my cumulative experience, I am still learning about autism on a daily basis. There is always something new to learn. When you stop learning you stop growing.
- My undergraduate degree was in psychology. I also have a Master's in Special Education and I am ten credits shy of completing a Master's degree in Social Work.
- I worked for over ten years as a behavioral specialist and instructor at a psychiatric hospital. My clients included adults with a wide range of diagnoses including: ADHD, epilepsy, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, cerebral palsy, schizophrenia, mental retardation, and autism spectrum disorders. All of my clients had multiple diagnoses.
- When I quit my job to stay home with my boys I did not realize that my youngest had autism. After Max's diagnosis I chose to homeschool him. We have been homeschooling for well over ten years now.
- In my 25 years of experience I feel that there are not many behavioral issues that I have not seen or encountered yet. Feel free to try to surprise me. This is a blog where you can feel safe to share about your child's behaviors without judgement.
- Neurological conditions run in my family. My mother has schizophrenia, my Max has autism, and I have Multiple Sclerosis. I also know a lot about anxiety and depression as I have battled both throughout my life.
- I am an old-timer to the blogging world. I have been blogging for over ten years now. Before the days of blogging I was a member of multiple news groups devoted to providing support to the parents of children with special needs. I found my voice through these on-line venues and discovered the power of words to heal and survive. I am a huge believer in the power of on-line communities to provide support and empowerment to patients and caregivers.
- My on-line writings can be found all over the Internet from a newsletter for the Paralyzed Veteran Association to the Best Practices Newsletter of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (associated with Dr. Stanley Greenspan's floortime methodology).
- In 2008 I contributed the first chapter to a book called Embracing Autism about my journey with Max. Some of my fellow contributors include Dr. Arnold Miller and Stephen Shore.
- 2008 was a big year for me. I was just getting acclimated to a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, I became a published writer, and I also signed on to become a professional health blogger and community leader for a major health site called Health Central.
- I have years of experience as a community leader for a vast array of health sites including those for depression, Multiple Sclerosis, sexual health, skin care, and skin cancer.
- I have written hundreds of articles on health topics including: Anxiety, depression, Multiple Sclerosis, learning disabilities, autism, sexual health, skin care, and skin cancer.
- In 2009 I was a guest lecturer for an e-patient conference to discuss my role as an empowered patient and caregiver. During the same year I was asked to share my experience battling depression for a special segment on the Dr. Oz show.
My hope is that this humble blog will grow to be a community of support and hope for anyone who needs it.
Thank you for joining us.
Mom to Max
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