Jennifer Briggs

Sometimes I feel like I am weeding a garden as I continue to strive towards more loving responses to my family, especially Sarah. Yesterday I noticed a moment when I was attempting to mask judgement and frustration but I think I was just mean and that Sarah probably felt it. I didn’t like it, but… Read more »

We began today with another wonderful group meeting. Every time I think about our amazing team of people I am just stunned at what a gift these people bring into my (our) life. Such love, dedication, creativity, thoughtfulness, and openness. We talked about what we bring to our sessions in terms of our intentions and… Read more »

I am aware that there are a million therapies, diets, and treatments available to try for anyone with developmental/autistic/gut challenges. What is fascinating to me is how I often have felt I should try xyz that other families were trying and raving about, but for whatever reason I would feel overwhelmed and draggy at the… Read more »

We have an 8 year old! How is that even possible?! Last week I forgot to share that Sonia did an SR session with Sarah that involved doing yoga. After their session they came downstairs and showed their poses to me. They did downward dog including lifting each leg in turn, happy baby, butterfly legs,… Read more »

If Benedict Cumberbatch was suddenly in the room with me, I would have some trouble continuing with my work. In the same way, when I am fastening my belt or putting on my bunny pajamas, Sarah has trouble continuing with what I have just asked her do to. Ah. I understand her distractions in a… Read more »

On Monday night we had a team meeting that was helpful in generating new ideas and reaffirming what we already know but sometimes forget. We watched some micro-tutorials from the Autism Treatment Center of America (where they teach the Son-Rise Program). This reaffirmed waiting until Sarah is really ready before we request something because then… Read more »

I think the good thing I found last Sunday was more compassion for Sarah. I certainly still had some grumpy moments this week with both children, but I feel like I was able to see past some of Sarah’s yelling to the child that she is. Sometimes when I am mad at her for being… Read more »

I have no answers and something good is going to happen today. That is my motto for the moment. We had wonderful Christmas celebrations, travels, and visits. We saw all three sets of the girls’ grandparents plus a plethora of cousins, aunts, and uncles. The drives to and from the Philly/DE area were the best… Read more »

I wanted to end the year’s updates with a positive glow, and I will get there, but for starters here is the honest grit… This week felt hard. At least for several moments sprinkled throughout. I don’t know if this was due to a change in the girls’ behavior or a change in my ability… Read more »

Sometimes things don’t go as planned and that is the best thing ever even if you don’t know it at the time. For Thanksgiving, the white potatoes had gone bad so Sonia and I combined our sweet potatoes, which neither of us eat a ton of, and made mashed sweet potatoes. We learned then that… Read more »