Every night, like clockwork these days, I hear the sounds of my son as he begins the cycle of waking up. It starts around midnight. Then on and off for hours, he wakes, then goes to sleep, then wakes. During these times, I feel the deepest of my sadness that my son doesn’t speak. Most people would assume that a 5-year-old should be able to call for their parent, ask for a drink of water, or say they had a
Five years ago, with only a few hours of labor, my son came into this world. He was bigger than his sister, quieter than his sister, and in that brief perfect moment that he entered this world, our family was complete. On his first birthday, we had a big party, just like we had done for his sister. I jokingly would say it was to celebrate us as parents making it a year because, after all, “these kids will never
Community Submission by: Ameera Rey One minute you are laying in bed. Eyes closed. Trying to go to sleep. Then you have an out-of-body experience. You are in the hospital. A doctor has just walked in and told you the person you love so much is dead. You are sobbing. So extremely angry. Angry you couldn’t save him. Angry you couldn’t protect him. Angry his body was riddled with a disease that stole his life. You’re so angry that you
For a year and a half, I worked out in the room attached to our playroom. There is a sliding glass door that leads into a mostly glass room which looks out into the backyard. This also means anyone who is in the playroom can see me peddling away on the Peloton. Over the last year that everyone has been home, there are days my husband would say, “take a ride,” and if you need exercise as I do, many
I used to think that when people had children with severe disabilities, it would be something detected in the womb, or shortly after birth—that it would be obvious that something was wrong. But this was not at all the case with our son, Asa. Asa is the third of three boys. He was born after a mere two hours of labor, a big healthy baby weighing 10lbs exactly. I remember a hospital staff member saying, “Congratulations—you have a toddler!” For
I am not going to sugar coat it. No one in this world loves my son more than me. No one in this world gets hurt by my son more than me. He pulls my hair, sometimes clumps in his hand. He kicks me, punches, and throws his body with no care forcing me to strain my muscles to the limits while also covering me in bruises. But the thing he does that has caused me the most pain and
Community Submission by: Avis Avis is the mother of three boys: the older two are typically-developed, and her youngest, Bennett, has Phelan-McDermid Syndrome with autism. She is also a wife and a dentist. On June 16th, 2020, my 6-year-old son Bennett ran out of the house and jumped the fence. By the time we realized he wasn’t hiding or avoiding us, we could NOT find him. We live on a corner and we weren’t sure which direction he ran. We
When we got the diagnosis of Phelan-McDermid Syndrome for my son, we were shocked. Our hearts sank, the mourning period began, and we realized that every expectation we had for our son was gone. As if overnight, all I could see was a never-ending list of therapies, doctors’ appointments, paperwork, and realizing it would never end. It felt defeating as a horrible battle between my brain and my heart began. So overcome with grief, I could not see clearly at
Dangerously Mobile – One who can move their body, but has limited awareness of the implications and boundaries of their movements. Think about it like this. Imagine you are on a boat. The boat is moving. It’s moving fast. You are trying to gain your balance and walk from one end to the other, but the waves are unpredictable, and it feels as though the ground is always in motion – because it is. Slowly you are making your way,
