Tag: challenges for families of disabled individuals
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Yeah, I Was Bald Once…
But, it’s probably not what you think. Trying to explain the Fall of 2013 would be a book all by itself. I cannot begin to convey with a single post much less anything approaching brevity the sensory battlefield we were already entrenched on. Let’s just say, things were difficult by the time I was getting…
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Ain’t Aiming For Fitspo
I want to start this post out with a few concise thoughts. My concept of fitness is very utilitarian- I do what I do for my functional needs (which change over time) and for my health. As a person with a history of body dysmorphia and disordered eating, I have a very uncomfortable relationship with…
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“Comparison…the Thief of Joy”
Several months ago, Tony, the Fabulous Miss Whitney, and I had just strolled a few feet into our local Costco. I was wearing an Autism shirt I had recently purchased from a vendor on Etsy. A woman we were passing looked up, read my shirt, and fired off the following: “Lucky. I can’t even get…
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The Trouble With Hotels
In November of 2017, our family took a long-planned trip to Disneyland. That trip, and the extensive work we did to help Tony prepare for it, is mostly a topic of a future post. I suspected (translation: totally knew it) we could be in for a few challenging moments given his sensory differences. However, I…
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January Gratitude & Reading
To Ms. B, Tony’s Sweet ST, For Insane Amounts of Patience If someone were to ask me who I think has the hardest job on Tony’s therapy team, there is no doubt it would be Ms. B. Not only is she having to work with Tony on some of the skills he’s least interested in…
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And Then, The Stuff Will Crush You
This year, I finally got everything I wanted underneath our petite living room Christmas tree- not a single gift addressed to me. Somehow a gift for every occasion has become such a culturally ingrained tradition it is almost reflexive. I find that people often don’t understand why my preferred present is a hug or a…
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Unpacking Christmas
Every year since Andy and I married, the evening of our Thanksgiving celebration we would bring out the boxes of artificial tree and holiday ornaments to unpack Christmas. Like many families, we decorated our winter holiday times with traditions that only made a guest appearance one month out of each year. As the severity of…
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All These Things Will Fail You
My very good friend Gena (who should seriously be elevated to the level of sainthood for listening to a number of “why I no longer shop at Amazon” rants over the past year) once asked me why I decided to write so many reviews during my time as one of their customers. Nothing about my…