My name is Addie and I have autism.

Dear Addie, For a long time, I wondered if life would just be a series of chaotic exhaustion from here on out. I wasn't handling this...

Dear Addie, For me, it was dance shoes; for you, it is your swing. They both held days of joy and sadness. They gave us hours of calm we...

Dear Addie, When we received your diagnosis years ago, the thought of you "hanging ten" and surfing gnarly waves was the farthest thing...

Dear Addie, It has been six long years, but we finally hit the lottery! Crazy right?! Now while I wish I could say that we will be the...

Dear Addie, The fourth of July – dare I say, the most overstimulating holiday of the year? Noises, lights, smells, and crowds all...

Dear Addie, Truth - in the beginning, I wanted to have you somehow conform and melt into what I perceived was a normal life. Like there...

Dear Addie, This past weekend we were invited to the O’Brien Family Farm in Coats, NC, for a bit of fruit & farm education and some...

Dear Addie, It is Summer, and our town will be bustling with street festivals almost every weekend from now until Christmas, I promise...

Dear Addie, Exposure is key. Ah yes, the most complicated yet most valuable advice we were given as we entered this journey. Exposing you...

Dear Addie, It’s been seven years today, my dear, since I started documenting our story and sharing my thoughts. I hope one day you will...

Dear Addie, …And that is a wrap on 6th grade, and what a year it was! A lot of big changes happened. A new house, school, environment,...

Dear Addie, It is Mental Health Awareness Month, and I had the honor of using the Christmas plate this weekend. Now before you think I...

Dear Addie, It's Mental Health Awareness month, and I thought I would touch base on this a bit, or at least from my perspective of being...

Dear Addie, This past weekend we participated in the VisionWalk. VisionWalk is a signature fundraising event of the Foundation Fighting...

Dear Addie, There are many different mamas out there, but the one that can schedule well visits on time or even close to their children's...

Dear Addie, Parenting. It's an endless realm of joys and fears that nobody can prepare you for. Whether you are a biological parent,...

Dear Addie, And just like that, vacation had ended, and we headed full throttle back to reality. Sad for us all but incredibly upsetting...

Dear Addie, Four years. We’ve been coming to our beloved NC beach for four years and finally seeing what we had hoped for all those years...

Dear Addie, I overheard a conversation in the Target checkout the other day between a young mom of a toddler and newborn and a woman...

Dear Addie, This week I was reminded of the all-important wisdom of “all behavior is communication.” Now having said that this reminder...