Koopman Kraziness

School didn't go well today. I noticed when I went to pick Kamden up that all of his classmates had come outside but he had not.  This is never a good sign.  I walked through the hall in the school against the flow of kindergarteners and first graders and tried to keep smiling and not tear up, knowing that when I got to his classroom it was probably not going to be a good scenario.  When I got close to the room, I noticed the principal standing in the doorway, somewhat blocking the door with his body.  I came around his side and glanced into the room, then back at the principal and asked, "Was it a bad day?"  He started to tell me, then stepped aside and I walked into the classroom to find Kamden sitting on the floor against the wall on one side of the room and his teacher standing on the opposite side of the room, smiling a sad smile at me.  I looked back at Kamden, and he was staring off at no one in particular, but he had a definite look of defiance on...

I've started and stopped this post two or three times now.  I got a quite lengthy post done one night and when I read it back, it seemed to just be complaining.  That's not what I want this blog to be about.  I want it to be candid and reveal all sides to special needs life, but I don't want it to ever come across as a pity party. Life has been difficult lately.  Don't get me wrong.  In many ways, life has been wonderful, but it has been extremely difficult.  Kamden's father is a member of the Texas National Guard and he was deployed to help with relief efforts following the hurricane hitting Houston.  Changes in an autism environment are never easy.  We didn't even really receive notice that his dad was going until we got a text from him at the armory while he was waiting to board the buses.  Kamden is fairly resilient, but between his dad unexpectedly going out of town and all the changes associated with starting a new school year, he's h...

It has been nine months since I took the time to write here, and I regret that.  Writing here has always been cathartic for me.  There's no excuse.  I got distracted by and busy with life and just didn't make time to do it anymore.  After going back and reading some of my old posts, I realized how much I was actually able to get out and sort out just by writing.  That being said, tonight will be a general update and then I'll get into a routine with it all again. Since the last time I wrote, there have been NUMEROUS changes in our lives. Kamden was accepted into a specialized autism program at another school in our district and was moved to attend there at the start of the spring semester last school year.   Within the first three weeks of attending, he was fully potty trained, was excelling in his classes and was showing more independence than I have ever seen him have. We moved out of my parents' home and into our own place.  I was lucky enough...