I Just Want to Be Superwoman

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, I want to take some time out to do this favor on behalf of parents of ASD kids everywhere. MY ASD baby, Spike was diagnosed very early, at 2 years old. I was so overwhelmed in the beginning. I had so many new medical terms, symptoms, and procedures to learn in addition to the emotional strain of learning I would now be parenting a special needs child. I had a whole lot to learn and no time to do it. It was rough. In hindsight, I’m sure friends, family, coworkers, and even strangers had just as many questions and concerns. In hindsight, I’m sure most of their comments were innocent and well meaning. However, I have spent many moments fuming with anger, hurt or exasperation due to ignorant, insensitive, or rude comments and questions made to me about my ASD child. In the hope that I can save some other parents and well-meaning friends and family some hurt feelings and embarrassment. I have compiled 10 Things You Never Say To The Mom of An Auti

You spend 9 months expecting a baby and you are pretty much aware of what comes with it. You read the baby books or in my case you rely on the experiences you gained from your previous children. You are pretty much ready and resigned to all that is coming, Sleepless nights, sore breasts, exploding diapers, teething toddlers. These are phases, though. Tough times with a tangible end in sight. You can always say I can't wait until he can sleep through the night, feed himself, use the potty. 8 years ago when I gave birth to my last child, he wasn't the only new addition to our family. He brought an uninvited guest. His guest was unannounced and took very little time before making his presence known. In the beginning, the guest was very loud and obnoxious, he always made his presence known. In his phobia of strangers. His crankiness in bright lights or loud noisy areas. His aversion to certain textures. His inability to be soothed. As a toddler, he grew with you into your obs

Yes, I know I haven't posted in many, many months, but we will deal with that later. There is something so pressing and so heavy on my heart and mind that I needed to address it here, in this space, where I am a Mommy first. I know we have all seen the video of the Spring Valley student slammed to the ground and literally dragged like a rag doll out of her classroom. This blog isn't even about that. As disgusting and criminal (Yes I said criminal) as his actions were, he's not why I'm here to vent. I am appalled NO horrified and disappointed and disgusted by how many responded to that video with, "But what did she do? or We can't see what she did before? Or well why didn't she just leave the class or give up the cell phone"" Black parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles all actively LOOKING for a reason to blame this child for this man's horrific violence and contempt towards her. As if there HAS to be another reason for a white police office

It's that time of year. Art Basel will descend on Miami next month so get ready! With events jam-packed from December 2nd to the 7th, it's hard to know which are the hottest shows attend, Luckily my new publication BOSSY is to the rescue. BOSSY invites it's readers to check out Art Basel - One to Watch- Troys Simmons. Local artist Troy Simmons has immersed himself in his latest artwork, exploring the evolution of urbanism and nature’s persistence to coexist. A consistent theme, which echoes true to his intense fascination with nature and modern Brutalist Architecture. Under the direction of JanKossen Contemporary Art Gallery in Basel, Switzerland, Simmons will showcase his new concrete work during a solo show at CONTEXT Miami Art Fair December 2nd-7th at booth #E75. He will also have several pieces on display at SCOPE Art Show Miami Beach. His massive, large-scale concrete canvases are a mix of acrylic paints and raw materials. At first

This crazy journey into Autism has had more than one surprise along the way. Ever since the first diagnosis, there has been one curve ball after another. After first learning that Spikey was on the spectrum and then every other twist and turn, from doctors, schools, therapists and Spike himself has been a continuous roller coaster ride. It can start to feel like you are holding your breath waiting for the other 10,000 shoes to drop. Presently though, we are at a time where everything is copacetic. By this I mean,  I basically know where we stand. He currently likes Sponge Bob and will recite an episode word for word. He will vomit if he even thinks he ate a vegetable. He will spin and and rock if he gets overwhelmed. He loves his routine. Even when he has meltdowns, I am somewhat prepared, I can basically see them coming. I know his triggers and try to navigate accordingly. Despite this, he is doing extremely well. He is in a mainstream class, and he's down to 2 therapists a

So I decided to be grateful daily but talk about it weekly. Not because I'm lazy (well not totally) but because I'm so crazy busy lately, which is one of the things I'm grateful about. In my grateful project, I'm trying to train myself to be grateful in every situation even when it's not my natural primary emotion. So here goes: This week; I am grateful for the drop in temperatures, I'm sure the rest of the world might not agree, BUT here in south Florida the land of almost never ending summer. these 70 degree mornings and late evenings make me feel like a parolee out on a furlough I am grateful for the success and growth of my two new businesses, My Magazine BOSSY! and my networking group BOSS MOMS . I am grateful that I was brave enough to put my my ASD kid on a mainstream Tee Ball team and that he's thriving and having fun. I'm even grateful for the mini heart attacks I have every time he's up to bat. He has only had two tiny meltdown, I&