This is our autism, day 17

During the month of April in honor of Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month I am going to post a picture showing our autism. Autism is a spectrum. When you know one child with autism you know one child with autism. This is our autism.

Peer play…Courtney prefers to play on her own. Her therapists often have Alyssa join therapy sessions so they can work on Courtney playing with a peer. It’s still very hard for her but with a lot of assistance she will play a short and very easy game. This is our autism.

This is our autism, day 16

Self injurious behaviors (SIBs)…When Courtney is frustrated or experiencing discomfort she will often go to bite herself on her arms or knees LLP. This is considered self injurious behaviors. If she’s in a really rough spot, it happens repetitively and leaves horrible bruises. This is a picture of Courtney’s arm at the beginning of the pandemic. She did this to herself. This is autism at its hardest. This is our autism.

This is our autism, day 15

Tracker…Courtney wears a tracker on her ankle. Just over a year ago she got out of the house and ran a couple houses down. The police had to be called but she was located quickly after the call was made. After that event we got her set up in a program that our neighborhood police department has. They put a tracking device on her so if she does run off, the police can locate her with special equipment. It was a very scary day! A day we hope we never have to repeat. This is our autism!

This is our autism, day 14

Bathroom…The picture is from well over a year ago but we are back to a similar place. Actually we are not even to this point yet. This picture was taken when we were trying to desensitize Courtney to the bathroom. Like bath time, Courtney has a fear of bathrooms in general. Bathrooms tend to have things like sinks with running water, dryers that make loud noises, toilets that flush and so on. All of which heightens her anxiety. This makes it very difficult to potty train her when the idea of stepping into a bathroom causes great anxiety. So at the age of 7 1/2 years old, Courtney is not potty trained. She is showing us so many signs that she is ready to potty train but her heart beats out of her chest as soon as you get her anywhere near a bathroom. So, we are back to desensitizing her to simply being near a bathroom. This is our autism.

This is our autism, day 13

Bath time…the picture I’m posting is actually the complete opposite of our autism currently. Which shows you not only is each person with autism different but each person’s autism can change drastically even within a single year.

Bath time has never been a favorite of Courtney’s. Courtney does enjoy water play though.,,on her own terms. Last year at this time, Courtney was enjoying playing in a tub full of water so much so that she was doing it 3 times a day. Now…to be brutally honest, she has so much anxiety around the bath that I feel like I am torturing her when I’m giving her one. She screams bloody murder. I’ve even explained to her therapists that bath time for us is probably causing both of us PTSD. Now before you ask if we have tried a shower, the answer is yes and it’s even worse because she HATES the sound of running water. Bath time is definitely on our list of hardest things about autism. This is our autism!

This is our autism, day 12

The energizer bunny…I think a picture of the energizer says enough. Courtney keeps going and going and going….So this exhausted mom is going to leave it at that. This is our autism!

This is our autism, day 11

Therapy…Courtney has had a very full therapy schedule since the age of 3. She received ABA, Speech, feeding, OT and Physical therapy. I actually lose count when trying to total up the amount of hours of therapy. I have struggled over the years wondering if we load her with too much. It never fails that the moment I consider reducing her therapy some, she shows me some sort of sign that no only can she handle the busy schedule, but she actually does need it and thrives on it. Just the other day when she actually had a completely free day she used her talker repeatedly asking for her therapist and was mad when we told her not today. Our therapists are very much an important part of our village. This is our autism!

This is our autism, day 10

Sibling…in honor of National Sibling Day today my picture showing our autism is of Courtney and Alyssa because Alyssa is very much a HUGE part of our autism.

Alyssa is so much more than Courtney’s little sister. She is her hand to rub. She is Courtney’s peer who will teach her how to play. She is Courtney’s model. She is Courtney’s mini therapist. She is Courtney’s person to giggle with. She is the person that will make Courtney laugh when she is struggling. She is her number one cheerleader. She is her person! Alyssa is probably the most important part of our autism. This is our autism!

This is our autism, day 9

Milk cup…I was so proud of myself for getting Courtney off the baby bottle early on. I needed to find a cup that she didn’t need to tip because she couldn’t get the hand of holding and tipping bottle so she can feed herself. After trying several different type of straw cups that didn’t need tipping, we found one. 6 years later and she will still only drink her milk out of one type of cup. Put her milk in any other type of cup and she won’t drink it. So when you see my 7 year old drinking out of a “baby cup” know that this is literally the only way we get fluids in her. This is our autism.

This is our autism, day 8

Picky eater…Courtney has a very limited diet. This is probably half of the items she will eat on a regular basis. She’s been in feeding therapy for years to work on this. This is her lunch for school. Yes, a bunch of snack items. This is our autism.

Autism: A Little Wild