Children with autism have difficulty sleeping. Sydney is 12 and I can count on my hands the number of times that she slept through the night. The epilepsy made it worse for us. Most of Sydney’s seizures happened at night. After a seizure she would be drenched in sweat, dazed and she would wet … More The Day I Paid $20 For A Gallon Of Milk

  We went through a huge speech breakthrough. Syd went from saying juice, juice please, more juice please, to I want juice please. We had Velcro pictures and words all over the house. I used a ring of pictures that she would carry around. If she couldn’t say the word, she would find the picture … More If You Liked It Then You Should Have Put A Ring On It

Sydney is fearless, she’s bold and adventurous. Silence in our home was not the norm. So when I wouldn’t hear her playing, laughing, screaming or singing I would panic. When I hear the stories of children with autism wandering off and drowning it scares me. Sydney has always been curious about nature, flowers, water and … More We Got A Runner

  How many of you remember MC Hammer’s song Turn This Mutha Out? Well that was our theme song whenever our family entered the park, zoo, church, a family event you name it. We knew it was a 50/50 chance that we might “turn this mutha out!”. This was before Australia. I felt like a … More Copher’s Community Theme Song

    When Sydney was six balancing autism and epilepsy was challenging. Sydney would need sensory breaks. One day I told her to go to Australia. She gave me a funny look. I guided her to a spot in the living room. I told her that Australia was a safe place and everything is always … More The Story Behind Australia

This is the hardest post for me to share. Children with Autism have sensory and behavior issues. Sydney was beginning to use words in isolation and sign language to communicate. But the frustration of not being able to fully communicate resulted in aggressive behaviors. She would throw objects, kick, scream etc. Due to her delay … More My Secret

  Sydney was nonverbal from age 2 to about 4 1/2. It was devastating for us not to hear her say our names or say hello. She stopped responding to her name and wouldn’t make eye contact. I lost a lot of friends after her diagnosis. Syd would be the only one not invited to … More The Beginning

  Dear Harrison, Now I understand why you love U of M so much. It is because you said that it saved our family. Sydney was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 4. I found a wonderful team of doctors at Mott Children’s Hospital. We were able to meet with neurology, developmental pediatricians, social workers, psychiatrists … More Autism Siblings

It was September 24, 2007. I remember sitting in the office waiting for Dr. Chugani to confirm what I had already known for two years. The sun was shining that day and I remember the look on Dr. Chugani’s face and nurse Sue so clearly. The way he looked me in the eyes and told … More September 24, 2007

This is the face that wakes me up at 3:00 am each morning.  This picture was actually taken at 3:oo am in the morning. On a positive note, 99% of the time she is happy and ready to start her day. Last week there were two nights that she woke up at 1:30 am and … More If You’re Sleepy And You Know It Raise Your Hand