I ordered Forever Boy as soon as I heard it was being published and read it within 24 hours of Amazon delivering it to my doorstep. Mind you, this is the first book I have given myself permission to read in quite a long time. The boys require so much of my attention during the day and I am usually exhausted by the time they are asleep.
In Forever Boy, Kate describes the journey her family has been on. Her son was diagnosed with Severe Nonverbal Autism. My boys both also have an Autism diagnosis; however, all three boys are very different. What I loved about Forever Boy is that it spoke straight to my Mama heart. Our boys may different, they have different struggles and our day to day looks completely different, but the words she wrote still rang true.
I ended up reading much of the book aloud to my husband through tears (just to be clear, Harry Potter can make me cry these days!) Each time he would comment “You’ve said that exact same thing a million times” or “Wow, that sounds familiar.” This is what makes Forever Boy so moving. It’s relatable, no matter where the child is on the spectrum.
I appreciate Kate’s honesty. She is real about how her son’s diagnosis has affected her marriage, her family relationships, her friendships, and her emotions. She talks about BOTH the joys and the struggles of life with Autism. The world tells us Autism Mamas that we need to be joyful about our kids’ diagnosis. Kate shares how she came to find joy, but doesn’t shy away from the stuff that we aren’t supposed to talk about.
Within her pages, Kate gives you permission to be real, to worry, celebrate, cry, or get angry, when the world says you need to smile and pretend like everything is wonderful. Goodness knows I have felt all of those things, sometimes within a few minutes of each other. In the last chapter, Kate talks about grief and allowing yourself to feel it. I firmly believe that in order to move forward, you must allow yourself to process these feelings. Toxic positivity isn’t helpful to anyone. Kate urges us to be the person we needed in the beginning.
If you are a parent of a child on the spectrum, you should read this book. You are not alone. If you are an extended family member of a child on the spectrum, you should read this book. It will help you understand what your loved ones live. If you work with a child on the spectrum, you should read this book. It will help you better understand the families you support. If you are a human, you should read this book. It will help you gain new perspective and be a kinder, more understanding person.
First, what is 
My children are a little young for the product. We knew this when we began, the recommended age for this product is 8+. Mr. Man is 7. However, with ASD he sometimes takes to activities such as this in a way that surprises us all. Sadly, he showed absolutely no interest whatsoever. This is the way of our life, everything is “go big or go home”. One problem he had while we worked through the puzzles was that it was very difficult for him to manipulate the pieces or place the tiny balls due to fine-motor weaknesses. I myself became frustrated at the balls constantly falling when trying to insert them in the starting position. I feel like this could easily be fixed with a small piece of clear plastic on this part of the computer board. Perhaps with a hole to load the balls into. The plastic would keep the balls from constantly popping out of place and requiring one to reset the whole system. I also realized, after we started, that this is a hard activity for a child who struggles with cause and effect.
Who would it work for…
Here, the children were each given a crayon and chose a mold to design a ring or racecar crayon. Of course, the boys chose racecars. They would insert their crayon into the machine and watch the crayon melt and fill up the mold. Then, they watched as the crayon was cooled and rehardened. After the activity was complete, they were able to take their racecar with them. The children enjoyed watching the process and I was surprised that they were patient throughout the activity.
Drip Art: Like Melt and Mold, the children are given crayons to put into the melting machine. At this station, the crayons are dripped onto spinning paper, similar to the old paint spinners I remember as a child. The outcome is a unique work of art. There is a lever that allows you to control the speed of the spinning and change the effect of the design.
At this station, you color a picture (dragon, unicorn, fairy, etc.) and then scan it into the computers. Your picture is turned into a digital design. You can choose a background for your creation and email it to yourself.
in front of a screen. Their picture was projected in front of them as a rainbow of paint poured down over their heads. The kids spent quite some time enjoying this station.
There is also a snack and dessert shop available if you get hungry. We stopped here to enjoys some brownies (who needs birthday cake?) The last activity we enjoyed was a panning for gold type station. Although, this is an added cost activity. You purchase a bag of sand and pan for different types of rocks. Monkey loves rocks, so for his special day, we went ahead and got the kids some sand. This activity was much faster than expected, but they were happy with the treasures they were able to take home.
skills. Each player takes turns rolling nine dice. Each die ha
know we will walk through this and come out the other side. I know we will walk through more valleys along the way, too. But for now, I must wrestle, and come to terms, with the fact that it isn’t going to get easier.
MamaBean Az 