Welcome to My Life

A Personal Parenting Journey Through Autism

By: Laurie L. Hellmann

Narrated by: Laurie Hellmann

Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Candid, Vulnerable, Informative, Inspirational

When Skyler was three years old, he was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism. When he was 17, his mom created a book about his amazing life.

Welcome to My Life delivers on its promise to place you squarely in Skyler’s life, surrounded by mom and dad, Laurie and Josh, and superstar sister, Kendall. Detailed sensory descriptions take you to doctors’ appointments and trick-or-treating, to Qdoba and the kitchen table, to the bathroom for another "pull-ups" change, to family gatherings, to the Autism Center, and to conversations and internal dialogue so honest that you’ll feel like you’re part of the family, too.

Welcome to My Life shares the 14-year journey of a true warrior mom advocating for her nonverbal, severely autistic son, from diagnosis through his teenage years. This brutally honest and heartwarming account details the daily struggles and often lack of social understanding that families face when raising a child who relies on parental assistance for every need.

Because he has no words and yet so much to say

For mothers and fathers, sister and brothers, autism isn’t a personal diagnosis - it’s a family diagnosis. Especially when your autistic loved one copes with significant development delays, suffers from serious chronic medical conditions, is an insomniac, and exhibits behaviors that disrupt the flow of day-to-day life. Autism turns households inside out, cracks hearts wide open, and turns daily routines upside down.

Take a journey with Laurie L. Hellmann and explore:

• How Skyler’s autism diagnosis shook and then restored her faith
• The realities of navigating divorce, co-parenting, and new love, when your child has special needs
• The emotional and physical toll (on Skyler and his family) of countless medical and behavioral treatments
• The difference between hope, false hope, acceptance, and gratitude in the face of disappointment, uncertainty, and fear
• The effects of autism on sibling relationships
• How autism can challenge and strengthen a marriage
• Why laughter is good medicine for us all

Experience the laughter and love, unspoken bonds, and unflagging devotion of one very special family. And be changed forever by the knowledge that a mother’s love knows no bounds, and that autism - though it presents various challenges - does not define who a person is nor does it devalue or diminish their contributions to this world.

©2020 Laurie Hellmann (P)2020 Laurie Hellmann

A good listen for special needs parents.

One thing I didn’t care for was the jumping around of the timeline. Otherwise this book is great. I love hearing stories from other families. Different perspectives from different levels of support needs. I feel we need more personal story’s from parents of autistic children. After all, if you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person..

Add this to your, MUST READ list!

If you live or work with anyone on the Autism spectrum, you need to read this book. Laurie does a fantastic job of sharing it all.., the good, the bad, the sad, and the humor in living the life of a family that lives with someone with extreme needs. As a mom of a son with similar needs to Laurie’s son, at first I thought I didn’t need to read it because I live it but I was wrong! It felt good to think.. yep.. me too, I’ve been there! It’s great to know that we are not alone on this very difficult, very rewarding and overwhelmingly loving journey .

A must read for special needs parents!

I loved listening to this book! I love that it was narrated by the author. I found myself nodding to many parts! As a special needs mom, I constantly find myself navigating the grief and the joys of this journey, my son’s journey!

Listening again, later on in my journey!

Laurie’s book is a story that I knew I needed to revisit. I purchased this book as soon as it came out and must have been lost in the daily grind because it stayed on my audible shelf and my book shelf. This past weekend however, I was able to hear Laurie speak about her beautiful son Skyler and her journey through self love and acceptance. Naturally, when she hit the road to her next out of town engagement, I was left wishing we had sat and chatted for hours longer then we did. I charged up my AirPods and listened to her story, read with such heart and written with such guts.

Laurie’s open heart, deep love and fierce advocacy are all admirable qualities that are both clear in person, and through the pages of her story. I can’t wait for books 2 & 3!