{"id":26553,"date":"2017-07-26T00:05:39","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T05:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/differentdream.com\/?p=26553"},"modified":"2017-07-26T00:05:39","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T05:05:39","slug":"special-needs-moms-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/special-needs-moms-say-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Needs Mom, You Can Say No"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_fullwidth_post_title featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_color=”#42313A” title_font_size=”40px” meta_font_size=”14px” background_color=”#B4DBC0″ custom_padding=”50px||50px||false|false”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_post_title][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ specialty=”on” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ custom_padding=”0px||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ specialty_columns=”3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_row_inner _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_column_inner saved_specialty_column_type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″][et_pb_image src=”@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9mZWF0dXJlZF9pbWFnZSIsInNldHRpbmdzIjp7fX0=@” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.4.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”src”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.9.4″]

Special Needs Mom, you can say no. That’s a lesson guest blogger Sheri Dacon learned learned the hard way after her son was diagnosed with autism almost a decade ago. Today, she’s sharing so you don’t have to learn it the hard way.<\/em><\/p>\n

Special Needs Moms, You Can Say No<\/h4>\n

When my son was diagnosed with autism nine years ago, I determined to do everything in my power to fight it. I wanted knowledge, information, and insight so I could help him succeed, no matter the cost.<\/p>\n

The school district put me in touch with a local advocate, a woman who also had an autistic son.<\/p>\n

I called her one night, hopes set high.<\/p>\n

An hour later I was on the verge of a panic attack.<\/p>\n

There was simply too much information. She gave me opinions and ideas, multiple anecdotes of what had and hadn\u2019t worked for her son. She rattled on about diet and supplements, chelation and heavy metals, vaccines and conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

When she started in on the dangers of plastic, I almost stopped breathing.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly I\u2019m was doing everything wrong,\u201d I thought \u2013 from feeding my child red food coloring, to allowing him to eat bread, to serving it up on a plastic plate.<\/p>\n

The woman was well meaning. I have no doubt she intended to help.<\/p>\n

But her words frightened and paralyzed me.<\/p>\n

For those beginning the special needs journey<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I\u2019m much further along on the journey now, and I have indeed made some changes. But I had to start by eating that elephant one bite at a time, not all at once!<\/p>\n

So this post is for those of you in the early stages.<\/p>\n