A Five Step Plan for getting WHAT YOU WANT at your child’s IEP.

Photo from Ben’s first ever yearbook at the LOTTERY WINNING school mentioned toward the end of the post. I have been going to IEP’s for about 13 years now, since Benjamin started school at the early age of 3. For those who don’t know, IEP stands for “Individualized Education Plan”. It’s the place you get together with teachers, therapists, school administrators and parents to talk about and decide, what kinds of special services or school placements your child should have. Your special needs child. It is well known for being something to FEAR and DREAD in the special needs community. Read More

A Letter to my Special Needs Son

(Written 2-20-2015) This afternoon…… you stopped as I hurried you into the car, to say something…. I tried to hurry you on, literally pulling at your Jacket, but you wouldn’t let me.  I saw you look down, point, and say, “A Roly Poly!” And there it was, a little bug, wiggling on the sidewalk, and in fact, it WAS a Roly Poly.  I didn’t even know you knew what a roly-poly was, much less how to recognize one and name it so clearly.  It’s times like this, that break my heart and bring me joy all at the same time. Read More

Who WE Are

Hello!! Welcome to the Autism Momma Blog. I’m so glad you’re here. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself, our family, and tell you a little bit about WHY I am writing this blog. 🙂 My name is Willow, and my AWESOME husband is Jason… and we are parents of a Severe Autistic/Globally Delayed/Epileptic son… Benjamin Robert (15)! We ALSO are the parents of three younger NT kid, (Neuro Typical) Elijah (13), Micah (9), and Hannah Joy who is 3. Those are their ages as of this first post, March 2017. We live in beautiful Sonoma County Read More