Kate Swenson > Quotes

“Embrace your son for who he is and love him through his hardest moments.”
― Kate Swenson, Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“The Māori word for autism is takiwātanga. Translated it means, "In one's own time and space.”
― Kate Swenson, Podcast Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“Looking back, this was a monumental time for me as a mom. I had always believed that the professionals in our lives were right, and yes, most of the time they are. But nothing was, or ever will be, textbook with Cooper. The rules that seem to apply to most people, don’t to him. Up is not up and down is not down. I knew I had to find my voice and I had to do it alone.”
― Kate Swenson, Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“As I started to embrace my son’s often too bright color, I learned that the colorful kids, the sometimes challenging kids, the not easy to teach kids, they can sort of fade away.”
― Kate Swenson, Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“As parents, we need to believe in our kids beyond measure. And then believe in them even more. When you have a child who is developing differently, your hope over the years will waver. But you can’t stop believing in them. Because no one will fight harder for your child than you will.”
― Kate Swenson, Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“I had spent the last six years trying to find my son’s voice, and I had lost mine in the process. Instead of thriving, we were surviving.”
― Kate Swenson, Forever Boy: A Mother's Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy

“Or shameful. Cooper is Cooper, and his beautiful parts by far outweigh his hard parts. That’s what we need to remember. So, we talk as a family about autism. We share. We live out loud.”
― Kate Swenson, Autism Out Loud: Life with a Child on the Spectrum, from Diagnosis to Young Adulthood—Moving Stories and Parenting Lessons Learned from Three Mothers of Children with Autism

“.The biggest issue with special education today is that because of funding and rules and regulations, the education system seems to forget they (children in special education) are children, not data.”
― Kate Swenson, Autism Out Loud: Life with a Child on the Spectrum, from Diagnosis to Young Adulthood