Stranger Things: The Surprises of Special Needs Parenting

It has been interesting over the years to see all of the weird situations that come up in special needs parenting. I find myself saying bizarre phrases like “stop eating the couch” and “stop trying to ride Pepper, she is not a horse” only to be met with the phrase “Pepper horse Pepper horse” while she continues to try to ride her too many times to count. The weird thing […]

Picture Commands for Service Dog in Training

We have been in a weird place lately with service dog training. About a month ago my trainer and I decided to postpone training sessions until Ruby and Pepper’s bond was stronger and Ruby was more interested in learning how to use the commands with Pepper. When we tried to work with Ruby together it didn’t really work out. Ruby ended up frolicking around the room mostly and my trainer […]

The Power of Communication

It is funny how many of my thoughts relate back to Pepper and Ruby these days. Nurturing their relationship has become an even bigger part of my life as this is the next step in their journey together. Even my insights on life have started to revolve around them. I realized the other day that the inability to communicate causes fear and distrust. A little backstory, I have not always […]

Pepper Passed her Test!

We have been working hard on Pepper’s service dog training lately and she was finally ready to take her Canine Good Citizen Test. This is the first test on her service dog journey. As there are no nationally recognized certification for service dogs, these tests aren’t mandatory. But, I want Pepper to be the best service dog she can be so we are taking these tests to make sure she […]

When you Catch Yourself Hoping

The past few weeks we have been seeing some big changes in my daughter. Her eye contact has been phenomenal, she has been using intentional communication to not only tell me what she needs, but also to do imaginative play with her brothers. She is stringing several short sentences together! She is following directions better than ever, and even starting to realize when she has done something wrong (usually by […]

A New First for Us

Every parent dreams about the day when their child will come home from school and tells them all about their day. It seems like a simple thing, but when that isn’t possible due to autism it becomes a momentous thing the first time it does. Ruby has been going to school for three years now (pre-k mostly), and I have only had teachers notes to know how her day was. […]

Autism and Anxiety

We are often just in our own little world here and sometimes I forget that my daughter has anxiety. She has gotten used to going to school, riding the bus, going to the store, even going new places she doesn’t always have anxiety so it’s easy to forget. This week I had two reminders that anxiety is something that she struggles with. The Dentist Can be Hard for Kids With […]

Is Your Dog a Canine Good Citizen?

On our service dog training journey there are a few tests that Pepper needs to pass. One of these tests is the Canine Good Citizen (CGC). This test is a stepping stone to the big one, the public access test, which is like the CGC but on steroids according to my trainer. So first up is the CGC test. Looking over the requirements it is a pretty extensive list. For […]

Back to the Grind

Over the summer it was a little crazy at my house with all the kids home. It was wonderful… and crazy. The craziness didn’t leave as much time for service dog training as I would have liked. I did what I could for training and Pepper still made progress. Now two of my kids are back in school, it’s back to the grind, or, as my dog trainer would say, […]

How I got my 12 month old to talk

One of the most exciting things about being a parent is learning to communicate with our kids. We dream about those funny little things they will say, about the first time they say our name, the first time they say I love you. Some of this happens naturally, and some of it happens because we are intentionally working on it with them. The more we help encourage communication the more […]