ausomelogan-blog

[ausomelogan-blog]

What you see here is smiles and happy times before riding Go Karts. What you don't see is the choked back tears and heartache that led up to this picture. Autism has so many beautiful moments but sometimes it just hurts. It comes with challenges that as a parent I never saw coming. Before riding with me, our Ausome Logan was in a kiddie Go Kart. We were so excited that he was tall enough to ride all on his own. Once the other kids sped pass him we realized this wasn't going to be as fun and happy as we imagined. Our son doesn't understand how to operate his ride. We saw the park assistant lean down to help him but since he suffers from serious communication difficulties he did not understand what she was trying to show him. Once it became too frustrating, he turned his head and would no longer look at her. I seen her trying desperately to gain his attention. She touched his face and still he would not respond. As the other children happily drove past we had to walk over and remove Logan from his Go Kart. I choked up. My son's lack of social and communication skills hinders him from enjoying the pleasures of being a kid. In that moment I realized autism hurts. These moments are the ones that cut me deep. I can take all the stares, judgment, misunderstanding, and meltdowns in the world but seeing him struggle like that pierces me. Thankfully he was able to ride with me and was nothing but smiles the entire time. Our life with autism may not be ideal or planned but we're learning to push through the pain and enjoy every little moment.

[ausomelogan-blog]

So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's a great balancing act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains!💙

[ausomelogan-blog]

I could easily get caught up in the facts. The fact that the average child Logan's age has a vocabulary of 500+ words and he only speaks about 30... Or I could just watch this over and over again as tears of joy and pride fill my eyes. I never knew how much those words truly meant until I became a mom of an ausome kid💙

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Logan's artwork and cute print outs from therapy as they celebrate #autismawarenessmonth 💙

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Lining up Momma's polish this morning 💙

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Logan's therapist reported that he had an awesome session. The past few weeks have been challenging and we needed a good week to say the least. Then to top this great day off, I got to hear him say "chips" for the first time! 😄

[ausomelogan-blog]

The storms interrupted Logan's sleep routine. This made him one upset little guy. Thankfully he found his weighted lap pad soothing, and it calmed him back to sleep. Weighted blankets apply deep pressure sensory input, which causes the brain to release serotonin and calms the body. It's great for anxiety and insomnia. 💙

[ausomelogan-blog]

i hope you realize aba therapy is bad for autistic people

I hope you know I am a mother doing everything I can to help my child. I'm not looking to cure his autism, I'm looking to help him be less frustrated in a world that doesn't make sense to him. Not all ABA is bad!

[ausomelogan-blog]

Difficult times often lead to the greatest moments. It’s been a rough morning full of screaming, kicking and hitting me. He’s frustrated and I don’t know why. I’m desperate. Blowing bubbles out the sunroof, handing over every device we own, pleading and begging for Logan to calm down. We had some time before therapy so I thought a trip to the Bicentennial Park would help him. As he ran, climbed steps, and walked all over this stage I couldn’t help but think… My God you have blessed me with such a beautiful child. I was invisible to Logan at this point. He was gone. He was in that world that he slips off too in his beautiful mind. I’m left outside watching and wishing I was in that world with him. All I can do is admire him as tears fill my eyes because my heart is so full. He’s so precious. He’s perfect. We may have hard times but these are the moments that make life just a little sweeter.

[ausomelogan-blog]

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A post shared by Letisha Garcia Bates (@thatpcoscoach)

I'll count this as my upper body workout of the day 😉This is the sensory exercise Logan loves the most, swinging. So on rainy days like today we get to swing inside using his sensory sack... until Momma gets wore out of course. 💙 #strongautismmom #autismstrong #autism #sensoryplay #sensoryseeker #ausomelogan #autismtn #rockthespectrum

[ausomelogan-blog]

After Logan's diagnosis, among all the other things, I worried about the reaction of other people. How will they treat him? How will they act around him? Will they understand or judge him? The friends I never see or speak to because we're constantly at therapies, will they forgive me? The family members who just want to play with or hug Logan but he doesn't like those sort of things. Will it hurt their feelings? The moments when he's lying face down on the ground in public, which ignites the looks and stares. The children who try to speak to him and he doesn't speak back. I worry about him. I don't want all the judgement. As you can see I worried about the worst parts. I didn't spend much time on thinking of how accepting people would be. How kind others are. How many smiles he receives. People who have never met Logan are amazed by him. My son has more power than I can dream of. He can touch the hearts of strangers. One stranger in particular is the "Blanket Mom" (this is what I will call her, since we've never met and I don't know her name) She is an amazing lady. She is also an autism warrior mom. Unfortunately she faced every mother's worse fear, she lost her child. Through a friend she heard of our Ausome Logan and asked if she could give him the weighted blanket that her son had and loved. Tears filled my eyes as my heart broke and was overflowing at the same time when I was presented with this gracious gesture. If you're out there and reading this "Blanket Mom" I just hope you know that your generosity has touched our family beyond words. I send all the love and good vibes to you and pray for your comfort. For anyone else reading this, please know the world isn't as full of hate as the media has us to believe. We are the good in the world we just have to choose to show it.

[ausomelogan-blog]

Recently Logan had a follow up evaluation with his psychologist at Vanderbilt. His re-evaluation was hard on our hearts. It is never easy confronting the fact that your child is different. He continues to fall into the moderate range on the spectrum. Seeing his development scores being all in low levels is painful. Logan is 2.5yrs old and currently communicates on a 11-14 months of age level. Instead of focusing on scores and numbers I wanted to share the amazing progress our Logan is making. In this video you can hear him communicate "go" and his newest word "more" as we enjoy one of his favorite activities, bubbles. I'm so proud of our Ausome Logan!

[ausomelogan-blog]

We’re off to our first day of ABA therapy! This lil’ guy has moved mountains in the past months. I’m very nervous but mostly I’m excited for the progress he will make adding ABA to our therapies. (For those who are against ABA… I do not want you’re negativity. Good vibes only over here! ✌🏼)

[ausomelogan-blog]

Logan's first trip the movies was a success! 🍿🎞

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I saw this quote and was instantly brought to tears. It has been days since I've received a sweet kiss from Logan. I can't even recall how many but I noticed a few days ago he hasn't kissed me in a while. He is more affectionate than ever before, but the hugs and kisses are all on his terms. He enjoys giving "bye-bye" kisses and tight squeezing bear hugs. Although, "just because I love you" kisses are few and far between at times. Just another simple reminder to not take moments for granted, no matter how great or how small we must celebrate them all.

[ausomelogan-blog]

When Logan was diagnosed I was told ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) was the treatment for autism. I quickly learned this treatment is not easily accessible. Insurance companies often do not cover it, school systems often do not provide it, and private paying on the average costs a family $40,000 per year. After months of tears, anger, frustration, and hopelessness the Lord has blessed us. Logan will soon receive 3 hours a week of ABA therapy until he turns three, which will be in August! Christmas truly came early for us and I can't be more grateful for this blessing. God is good! 🙌🏼

[ausomelogan-blog]

Ausome Logan had his first trip to Mindful Toys, formerly known as Therapy In a Bin. This is a toy store that goes above and beyond. They have items for children with Autism, ADHD, Sensory/Auditory Processing, Anxiety, and so much more. I was blown away by how kind and caring the staff was. After introducing themselves they gave us a tour of the store and according to Logan's needs we were lead to the toys and items he would be most interested in. Logan was then invited into the sensory room where he was mesmerized by the colorful bubble tubes. He left with some new fidgets and skill building toys. I think it's safe to say he loved the store as much as we did!