Hello and welcome to our blog!
My name is Tanaya and my sons name is Bryce. We’re from Vancouver, beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
I am the author of this blog where I share my life and my experiences as a person who loves someone with autism. Bryce was diagnosed with autism just before his 3rd birthday.
I remember crying and feeling so sad and not fully understanding what it was that the doctors were telling me.
I didn’t know anything about autism.
The provincial government immediately got involved and helped fund an early intervention plan but we were limited to what we were allowed to use the money for. It was very frustrating. You want to help your child but you are stuck with a cookie cutter plan unless you have money.
Our doctor recommended Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy but it wasn’t covered by the government funding. Not having the ability to pay for this expensive treatment ourselves, a friend suggested we make a PayPal account so people could donate online to help raise funds for it.
So on March 16th, 2010 I created my blog and wrote my first post introducing ourselves hoping to raise funds for this therapy while generating autism awareness. I had no idea what I was doing, but my son was my motivation to keep doing it.
I wrote about everything from toilet training tactics to eating habits to bedtime routines. Even sharing the tantrums and the tears. Our life was an open book.
It took almost a year, 295 blog posts, to raise enough money for the therapy thanks to online donations, selling our bubble blowers, support from our friends and family, and a quarter of the recommended sessions of the treatment donated by the Canadian Hyperbaric Institute who heard our story. I personally believe the therapy helped tremendously and improved Bryce’s eye contact, attention span, and communication skills.
Everyday presents a new challenge and we take each day as it comes.
Five years later, I’m continuing to raise money for autism treatments for Bryce. We blow bubbles at local events to raise autism awareness. We have an amazing online following, have been honoured with blog awards, and even been featured in local and provincial newspapers.
Creating this blog has brought so much attention to us and to the autism community and has given us amazing opportunities.
As a mother, I will never give up on my child. As a mother of a child who has autism, I will never give up hope. I look into his eyes and I see all the potential that he has to offer to this beautiful world and I just know that one day the world can see what I see.
I invite you to follow my blog as I share my life and my experiences as a person who loves someone with autism.
- Read What is Autism? to learn all about autism.
- Read Bryce’s Story to learn everything about the year and a half leading to his diagnosis.
- Miss a blog post? Check out my blog archives.
- Got something to say? Contact us!
- Or Make a donation to help raise funds for tools and services for Bryce.
Thanks for reading and for your continued support,
Tanaya
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