Jennifer Briggs

We have been going to the pool at my office a lot. I feel like a switch got flipped for Sarah recently and she is just wanting to practice her new things all the time. She continues to jump in ever more independently and to practice her floating. There have been a couple of times… Read more »

This week the girls pulled out all the stops…Literally. They took out all of the “Stop” cards from The Cat In The Hat “I Can Do That” game. It has also been a good week overall. We have been playing regarding Sarah’s allergies with saying “x” or “two thumbs down” or sounding like a buzzer…. Read more »

Sometimes something can be staring you in the face for a long time before you realize it. Sarah took, and continues to take, guidance for her speaking incredibly, astoundingly, amazingly, mind-bogglingly well. This is not the case for other skills. When I try to guide her regarding piano practice or other physical skills she instantly… Read more »

Thanks to the help of sitters hanging out with the girls at home, on Monday I drove to the Poconos to see my two best friends that I’ve had since I was 4. These friends are sisters to each other. I remember when I met them I thought, “oh finally, these are the friends I’ve… Read more »

Parenting is hard. Luckily there are moments that fill my heart so much it hurts with joy. This week I have really struggled sometimes regarding Sarah. She so often ignores what I say, purposefully continuing with what I have said not to do. I know that kids do this, but Sarah does it waaaaaaaaaaaaay more… Read more »

I don’t think I really have much for this week except the humbling awareness that I’m not very good at being relaxed if the girls are helping in the kitchen. I’m also in awe of how Carl can be ungrumpy with whining kids or problems to be solved. This is how he is in general… Read more »

I reevaluated Sarah according to the Son-Rise developmental model and the ATEC autism online test. Unsurprisingly, she had moved quite a bit. Both evaluations are subjective given that I am the one interpreting the questions. Still, it is pretty amazing that two years ago she was just edging into stage 4 for the SR developmental… Read more »

Summer camp is complete, so now I really feel like we are on summer vacation. Both girls had a wonderful time. I enjoyed still having some kid-free hours, but I won’t miss sitting in traffic. I did over two hours of driving per day to get Sarah to and from her camp, some of which… Read more »

Thank you so much for your midweek support regarding Sarah’s seizure. Whenever I reach out midweek like that and the support pours in, coinciding with Sarah fully recovering, and I feel better, then I have moments of feeling like I shouldn’t have asked for support. I feel like I should have kept it to myself… Read more »

You may notice that I am going barefoot lately. That is because Sarah keeps knocking my socks off! She just seems to have a bit more fullness and clarity to her communication and a wider range of creativity. When Carl was getting the girls ready for bed recently: Amy: Sarah, are you going to wear… Read more »