Autism On The Farm

Waiting for this diagnosis just didn’t seem reasonable anymore. We were seeing a spike in behaviors like meltdowns, elopement, self harm, constant movement, not sleeping. I started looking into private companies that did autism evaluations. I found one and they only had a wait time of 3 months. I was so excited, I felt like that seemed more reasonable for our family. What’s crazy is this appointment fell through. They had a dr leave the office and couldn’t reschedule us at the time. I was devastated but now I know why this happened. God has big plans for us and just know that when things change and you’re upset something even better is probably coming.  The next place I found was Hopebridge Autism Therapy Center. I called and the wait was 3 months. I immediately said schedule us. We waited and on July 12 2022 we received Harper’s diagnosis. The doctor that gave us Harper's diagnosis was very honest about Harper, her behaviors, and her diagnosis. At the time it hurt but now I apprec...

  Right after Harper's 2nd birthday I noticed she had started pulling her hair within about 2 months she had pulled herself completely bald. This would be 1 of 3 times that she pulled all of her hair out. I look back now and think wow autism still never crossed my mind. After the first round of hair pulling I did my research and talked to the pediatrician and there is a diagnosis for people who pull their hair out so we took that as our answer and tried different things to keep her from pulling her hair like hats and then giving her fluffy toys she could pull on. It seemed to always happened in the car when I couldn’t get to her quickly she would just grab a handful and pull it out. I would pull over and give her things to redirect but the second I started driving again she would pull more.  Looking back it’s crazy to me how no one ever mentioned the word Autism or SPD. Knowing what I know now I’m really not sure how that was never brought up. The person that did bring it up t...

  When we received Harpers diagnosis of Autism my way to deal with my grief was to dive into the world of autism. I wanted to read and learn everything I possibly could. When I would find a new blog, podcast, instagram or facebook page I would scroll all the way to the beginning. I wanted to see if someone had a child like mine. Trying to find any community I could. So my blog is going to start at the beginning. This is Harper’s story.  With my oldest I had preeclampsia and high blood pressure and I delivered Savannah at 35 weeks. With Harper I had a plan and was more informed on what to do and not to do to try to prevent having those same issues again. But at 13 weeks pregnant with Harper on September 24th 2017 I was admitted to the hospital and immediately rushed into surgery because my appendix has ruptured. I remember everything from that time. I knew pregnant women shouldn’t have surgery, anesthesia, medications, all of the things that I was about to have done to me. My O...

Meet Dallas. I mean look at that face, he’s adorable! Dallas is sweet, funny, naughty, serious, cuddly, smart, and a total mommas boy. He’s everything you’d ask for from a little boy. Dallas will be turning 4 on September 3rd going into pre k and he’s autistic. Dallas has a diagnosis of autism, sensory processing disorder, and severe speech delay, no official OCD diagnosis yet but therapist believe that is also present. Dallas is both a sensory seeker and sensory avoider, has many food aversions, and is non verbal. We received Dallas’ autism diagnosis 2 months after Harpers and I was not anymore prepared to hear it then i was the first time around with Harper. It was a complete crush to my heart. But my sweet boy is absolutely AMAZING! He is a dinosaur, car, blippi loving boy who loves to jump on his trampoline and run around outside. He loves to snuggle and hug and watch the live feed from the aquarium on YouTube. I truly believe god put me on this earth specifically to be his momma....

  Meet Harper. I loves this picture because this is a complete representation of who Harper is! I mean look at that girl she’s a whole mood!! She is funny, loving, affectionate, sassy, naughty, smart, talented, determined, and so much more. She is 5yrs old, just started kindergarten, loves to dress up, and she is also Autistic. Harper has the diagnoses of autism, adhd, sensory processing disorder, developmental delay, and severe speech delay. Harper is both a sensory seeker and sensory avoider, has PICA (mouthing and ingesting non food items) and is Non verbal. I plan to share all about Harper including the highs, lows, wins, loses, and the days that are just in the middle. Having 2 autistic children has came with its own set of challenges. I have had to teach myself  so many things that I never even thought about before this and I very quickly started to wear many different hats. I no longer just get to be mom. I feel a rollercoaster of emotions on the daily happy, sad, angry...

  I didn’t know how back to school would go. I spent the last weeks of summer stressing, worrying, reading over IEP’s, making notes in my phone regarding behaviors, wants, and dislikes.  I felt like I was sending my kids into a whole other world, one that I myself was not ready for.  I worried if I was making the wrong choice by sending them to public school. If the people that were going to be on their team understood them. Would they be loved?  Would they be embraced for exactly who they are or would they be expected to change?  Would they be looked at as a distraction or a disturbance in the classroom. Do the people on their team have any understanding of autism, and not just autism but non speaking severe autism. Will everyone communicate with me? Do they think the accommodations and explanations of my kid are just excuses for the unwanted behaviors?  The first day came and went for Harper Jo and it wasn’t great. The second, third, and fourth day came a...