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Marianne's BLOG
Marianne Bryant
There are six of us in our family, and Caity our youngest child has autism. She has one older brother, Charlie, and two older sisters, Holly, and Cara, as well as her Dad and I. We also have a new addition to the family, Gibbs our puppy, (and yes, he was named for “Gibbs” on the TV show, NCIS).
I would like to write about some of our current experiences with autism as well as going down memory lane with others. These are tales of how we dealt with autism, sometimes with much laughter, as well as tears, and in many cases, tears of joy. I would like to share our experiences, so that you will have a better idea of our family’s perspective on autism, as well as life through Caity’s eyes. Caity is now fourteen, so we have been dealing with autism for quite awhile now and I have many tales to tell.
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Caity has Spring Break Without Mom
Marianne Bryant
In my wildest dreams, I would never have thought ten years ago that it would be possible for Caity and me to be separated. Who was going to brush her hair, help her brush her teeth, made sure she wore pajamas to bed, or kept her from eating everyone's deodorant? Most importantly, who would deal with . . . keep reading
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Caity meets Christmas
Marianne Bryant
I know you have heard of the saying "Christmas in July". Well, how about a Christmas story in June? I don't know what made me think of this story, but I like to write about those spontaneous thoughts that just pop into my head. Every parent gets excited at Christmas time when they have little ones who believe in Santa. It's fun to have their child's photo taken with Santa, to see the excitement in their eyes when they are giving Santa their wish list. It is even much more fun to decorate the tree, wrap the presents and hang the stockings while envisioning Christmas morning and their squeals of delight as they find what Santa left for them. . . . keep reading
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Caity meets the Holy Water Font
Marianne Bryant
Caity and I had been going to church together for years. Her Dad isn't a churchgoer and her older brother and sister are rather "sporadic" in their church attendance to say the least. Older sister, who is of another faith, is very involved with her family in her church. I had always felt that there was a place for Caity in a church somewhere and that she would be understood. The problem was her interpretation . . . keep reading
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Caitys Science Fair Experience
Marianne Bryant
Caity had to do a science project for school, so we put her board together. We began asking her questions about the project, she was getting mixed up on a few things. I highlighted the areas on her board in yellow for her to use as references in case she got nervous and forgot. I then told her . . . keep reading
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Caity meets "Mitt"
Marianne Bryant
Now, I have written about people that have made an impression in Caity's life: people that she has met in her journey to adulthood, that are either no longer with us, or were in her life for a brief time. There is one person, however; that has been there from day one. She is the person that rode in the back seat with Caity when she was three days old, and Caity's screaming was so bad, I actually was afraid she was going to explode. Mitt is also the very first person to have mentioned . . . keep reading
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Caity's Mom Meets Pain
Marianne Bryant
Just when life is plugging along at a good pace and you think, just maybe, life is good. Wham! Something happens to burst your bubble. It's that realization that your child is the one that is not included. You feel this stabbing pain of reality in your heart. Image 1It's one of those pains that just sits there. It's heavy, and it adds a good five pounds to the scale at weigh-in time. This pain is a dull ache that is capable of getting a whole lot worse. It can consume you allow it to happen. We have lived in the same neighborhood for 21 years. We were one of the first families to build in this neighborhood. We were very happy that the land stayed undeveloped for many years. It was my safe haven. When life in the real world got to be too much, especially with Autism, I had my escape: my own backyard. Caity was always happy . . . keep reading
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Caity's mom says "If I only knew then what I know now"
Marianne Bryant
Did you ever have one of those "a-ha" moments? I did, only it was about five years too late. If I had known then what I know now, I would have known Caity had Autism as early as one month of age. I actually would have known earlier, when she was about three days old; but that is probably another story. Caity was born on a sunny day in May. Her first month, at the time, seemed uneventful . . . keep reading
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Why We Use Visuals
Marianne Bryant
Many people think language will never develop in Autistic children if visuals and visual strategies are used. They feel the children will regress if they have any language skills to begin with. I, too, was one of those skeptics. My initial reaction was to put little faith in using visuals with my daughter. At that time, I was so desperate for her to develop language. I knew there was nothing else involved with trying this strategy that could hurt her, so I decided to try. I was so tired of the tantrums that . . . keep reading
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Caity finds her Own Way, without Mom
Marianne Bryant
As most of you parents know, there are many children that have Autism that have unbelievable skills. They may even be savants. If your child does have an extraordinary ability, it does help make that diagnosis just a teensy tiny bit easier to accept. If they are truly gifted as an artist or a musician, you can see a future for them that they can earn an income at. They will also be doing something they enjoy. Those children are a very small minority . . . keep reading
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Caity's Mom Goes to Open House
Marianne Bryant
We are now into week two of school and I am still holding my breath. There is a lot more work for Caity to do, as well as a lot more responsibility for her to take. I was very pleasantly surprised when I went to the first Open House of the Year last week. I had been dreading it because . . . keep reading
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Caity meets her Tenth Grade Schedule
Marianne Bryant
What a wonderful day it turned out to be. When I think back to the early autism days and the beginning of the school year, I really realize how wonderful today really is. I usually spent most of the summer fearful of the transition and how to deal with the new teacher or, better yet, how the new teacher was going to deal with Caity. It was usually a long, stressful summer and then I would make the dreaded trip down to the . . . keep reading
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Caity meets Sophomore Year
Marianne Bryant
Caity had picked up her schedule on her own last week, came home, and looked at it. Then she questioned whether or not she would have any friends with her at lunch time. She went online and found the answer to her questions by asking on Facebook. She was quite happy to find out that she did have some friends that she could sit with at lunch. I was quite happy that it was a natural thing and she had solved it finding out for herself. I was also glad that was the only thing she was questioning. We had gone school shopping or rather she had gone shopping with Dad's money to the . . . keep reading
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Autism "Perks"
Marianne Bryant
I've always had an interest in the law and before autism entered my world, I was a paralegal. It is a profession that I enjoyed being a part of, but that was long ago. We moved from CT to FL and I became . . . keep reading
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Caity Learns About Autism
Marianne Bryant
If you are reading this story, then I am assuming you have a child with autism. I am sure that many thoughts on how to explain autism to your child cross your mind. In my case, I thought about . . . keep reading
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Caity Meets "nobus"
Marianne Bryant
It is so incredibly hard sometimes when your child doesn't communicate. You are desperately trying to figure out what . . . keep reading
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