“I felt stupid because no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t stop. I would spend an hour straightening my shoes, trying to get them ‘just right.’ My dad had to sleep on the floor next to my bed and I had to wear adult diapers. I was left with my self-esteem in shatters. I believed I was a naughty kid.”
‘I had to wear adult diapers. ‘Do you realize how stupid you look?’ He was mimicking my tics in front of the class.’: Young woman with Tourette’s Syndrome finally finds help, ‘I got my quality of life back’
‘Please, make it stop. Don’t take my baby from me!’ The 16 minute helicopter ride felt like an eternity.’: Mom has child with Sturge-Weber Syndrome, ‘I am so honored to be his mom’
“Shortly after the move, our worst nightmare came true. In the car, I noticed he was acting weird. My son was placed on a stretcher with a neck brace, while screaming and crying like I’d never seen him before. I was helpless and hysterical.”
‘They put him on my chest for the first time. The doctors did a double take and immediately took him back. ‘Treacher Collins? WHAT?’: Little boy with Treacher Collins Syndrome spreads kindness and acceptance
“FINALLY! I was induced, and FOUR days later, PJ came out! His dad and I cried tears of joy. Then the doctors did a double take and took him away. I thought he was the most beautiful boy, but I feared how he would be treated by other kids. He will always look this way.”
‘Your kid wants to sit on your lap while you teach long division? Great. Need to stress eat half a bag of Cheetos in pajamas while trying to explain Experimental Error? Go for it.’: Mom says to teachers ‘we’re on your team’
“In light of this, our family is giving you blanket permission to do this however the hell you want for the next two months. I don’t care if you teach my kids one more thing this semester.”
‘Riley is now 6 years old. He still does not speak. I always thought words were what mattered.’: Mom to son with autism says ‘I was lucky to be in his world, I just didn’t know it yet’
“Waiting for Riley to ‘tell’ me he loves me. Waiting for him to say mommy. Waiting for him to speak. How I wished I could get a moment in his head. When in reality what I really needed to do is take a step back and see was he showed me love in ways that don’t need words.”
‘What’s wrong with her?’ Comments now change to, ‘How cute, her doll looks just like her!’: Woman creates special needs dolls, ‘Our differences make us beautiful’
“Adults will say, ‘Having a doll that looked like me could have been a game-changer,’ or ‘I struggled my whole life with how I looked.’ Those little faces light up when they realize the doll they are holding is THEM!”
‘The monitor went crazy. Suddenly, there was a half dozen doctors in the room, bagging my son. ‘I’m going to watch him die, aren’t I?’: Boy diagnosed with rare Sturge-Weber Syndrome, ‘A birthmark changed our life’
“He was hitting his milestones. He was happy. He was supposed to beat the odds. One evening, we noticed he wasn’t himself. He wasn’t making eye contact and was whimpering non-stop. We thought it was the heat, so we gave him a cool bath and went to sleep. The next morning, his face turned blue before my eyes. He went limp. The ambulance came and took Noah away. I couldn’t believe it. My baby wasn’t my baby anymore. Watching him fight made me so strong. For him. For us.”
‘There’s a rule at my daughter’s school. If you’re going to invite one child to your birthday party, you’re required to invite them all.’: Mom of autistic daughter says ‘You never know the gift you’ll get by simply saying yes to every child’
“Right now, my daughter is friends with no one. She keeps to herself and sees little interest in gossip or small talk. And that has to do with a little part of her called autism. Include the child who keeps to themselves. The one that’s weird. The one that’s ‘rude.’ Extend an invite to those who are like you, but also those who differ.”
‘My manager interrupted. ‘Wait, what? You need to get that checked out.’ I’d lie and say I was ‘gay.’ It was easier to explain.’: Woman shares candid reality of being asexual, ‘I’m not broken’
“It all hit me in high school. ‘Why is everyone obsessed with sex?’ It had never occurred to me sex was a huge part of life. Couples would make out in the stairways. Sexually active friends would re-tell their experiences in detail. I was disgusted. My therapist would ask if I was ‘this way’ because of my parents, who didn’t have a good relationship when I was growing up. People think a person, especially a woman, need to have a partner to be happy.”
‘How will you know you don’t like sex if you don’t try?’ Kissing left me uncomfortable. As a ‘good Catholic girl,’ I was pressured to marry and have kids.’: Asexual woman says she ‘doesn’t need sex to feel happy’
“I grew up in a conservative household. My father had strict rules: Dating was for finding someone to marry, and premarital sex was bad. I had my share of crushes, but I could never imagine myself doing anything sexually charged. When I went to college, a guy friend asked me out on a date. He was aware I wanted to stay a virgin. I quickly realized kissing left me uncomfortable. I was told time and time again, ‘You just haven’t found the right person yet.'”
