The first week of September I had the unprecedented honor of being an attendee at the event Content Marketing World. Those who know a bit about my history know that I have worked at the event the first seven years, so being an attendee and not working was definitely a new experience. I had such a wonderful time. I could write an entire blog post about how amazing the event is and how much I love …
Can Technology Really Help With Speech Therapy?
This is our second in a series of asking the professionals for information based on their experience in speech therapy. In the first blog post, we asked them if you can really perform speech therapy with toddlers. In this post we ask a question that I personally get asked a lot. My son was just shy of the major technology boom. Knowing his personality and how easily he adapts to electronics, I …
Could I Be The Luckiest Girl In The World? An Autism Story.
The first Monday in August has been a huge day for our family for the past 12 years. It is the day of our annual golf outing fundraiser. It started because our son received early intervention and was starting out in a regular education classroom. At first the goal of the outing was simply to give back, so we paired with the amazing group at Northeast Ohio Easter Seals and all our profits from the …
Speech Therapy for Toddlers? Really?
I’m no expert in speech therapy, but because of the work we do here at the Orange Effect Foundation, I often get asked a lot of questions that I honestly don’t know the answer to! So I took some of the top questions and posed them to the real experts… speech therapists! Their insight is so valuable and I can’t thank them enough for their time to help out! Today’s question is how can you do speech …
Placing Family First
I've been lucky at a lot of things in life. Amazing family, the best group of friends, and really great jobs. I went to college to be a social worker and my first few jobs in that field helped define what I was meant to do. They were both challenging and fulfilling. Then came motherhood. By far my favorite job of all. I love every second of it. Then fate kicked in and I was able to help my …
Dear Moms: Stop Beating Yourself Up
I suspect like many Moms, I get reflective as Mother’s Day approaches. But do I have time to be reflective? Maybe not. I have to make sure that all the Moms and Grandmas and Nanas in our life get cards, and gifts where appropriate. And I have to make sure that we see them that day. Oh, and one is out of town, so maybe send flowers and candy? Should we host dinner? What will be on the menu? If the …
When Everything…Even Getting In Trouble…Is AMAZING!
From my UNscientific research*, about 10% of parents have been told that their child will not be able to do something. Maybe they were told their child can’t play a particular sport due to a past injury, or that their child cannot participate in an academic completion due to a learning disorder or walk without assistance due to a birth defect. Whatever it is, no matter the issue, parents just …
Seeking Balance
February has always been such an interesting month for me. Here in Cleveland it is often the “grayest” month of the year, meaning we don’t get much sunshine! But it is also the month of St. Valentine’s Day! Love is constantly in the air. It makes me reflect on relationships a bit more, including those with my children. What a struggle it is to balance accepting them the way they are with trying …
Change and the Autistic Teenager
When my son Joshua was diagnosed with Autism at the age of two, I read every book I could get my hands on… (the internet wasn’t quite that big of a thing yet for resources). One of the things I read was that some Autistic teens get moody, even aggressive, as they start having hormonal changes. I kept this in the back of my mind for many years and knock on wood, at age 16 we still haven’t had …
5 Things That Made Holidays Hard For My Autistic Son
As the holidays approach, I reflect on how tricky they were for my son Joshua. There are a number of things going on at one time, which often challenge an Autistic child, regardless of where they are on the spectrum. By no means did we ever expect our family and friends to cater to us, but there are issues that affect an Autistic child that often do not affect a “typical” child. Here are some …
Believing In Your Gut: A Pam Kozelka Post
Following the post about Joshua and his chairs, I've had a lot of people reach out to me privately to ask for other signs of Autism that I may have seen in Joshua. Generally people are asking because they have concerns about their own children and they are looking for something concrete to help them decide if their child needs help. From my experience, and from talking with other parents, …
Raising An Autistic Son: Four Things I’d Change
My son is a successful sophomore in high school and I wouldn’t change a single thing about him now. He was diagnosed with Autism at age 2 and received countless hours of speech and occupational therapy to get where we are today. Often as he goes through life’s milestones, I reflect back on how much we have learned and how much our family has grown. Along with that, I often think about things I …
