Hello all,
My name is Brooke and I am the mother of a wonderful 25 year old son, as well as 3 other children (2 living), my oldest has a heart of gold, yet has had it broken so many times. He was diagnosed with SPD at a young age but of course then I knew nothing about or what to do about it, and sadly he slipped through the cracks because I had no idea what I was doing. A single mom of two, I was busy trying to keep food on the table, and neglected to see the connection as to why my oldest boy was biting his little brother, chewing on his sleeves all the time, hated tags, having his hair washed, and while he loved to spin in circles, heights were terrifying. I got a note from one of his teachers saying he needed to be evaluated because he would "toe out" badly, he walked like a little duck, feet pointed out to each side...doctor sent him to a foot doctor....this was not helpful. Make a long story short, as he grew up unable to ride a bike, play sports, he has blossomed into a young man with a lot of challenges. He cannot drive, has hygiene issues, he wears long pants, and a hoodie all the time, can't stand to cut his nails let alone toenails, has a complete meltdown both physically and mentally when he was asked to cut the grass because while he had his headphones in, sweating was just too much for him to handle. It is not looking like he will ever be able to be an independent adult, and it is tearing my marriage apart because my husband hasn't been able to understand why his new stepson (we got married in august 2021) has all these issues, and I haven't been able to explain it very well. My son identifies as gay which doesn't bother any of us as we are very supportive of that, works from home doing customer support for fishing and boating licenses, stays in his room most of the time playing on his computer and talking with his few friends online, he doesn't leave the house. He was bullied in high school and ended up raped in the high school bathroom. I didn't find out about this until years later needless to say I am looking for some glimmer of hope to make life better for my child, even though he is grown he will always be my baby. I am trying to help him, myself, and my husband understand how we can help him be a successful adult so he can have a family of his own someday. Sorry for the novel here y'all. Thank you for reading all that if you managed to make it to the end