When Austin was first diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy I had no one really to turn to, that understood anything I was dealing with. I had my high school friends, I had a few mom friends, and I had my family, but I had no sense of community. I did however make a friend eventually who lived local and her son was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, and to this day is still one of my dear friends and I get to see her weekly, because our daughters are now in dance together. Which has also turned into a community for us, because all of us are special needs parents. And I feel so blessed that it’s just so normal for us, everywhere we go. Paisley and Savannah know no different.
Back in 2013 I found this little world on instagram that not many people in my real life knew about. It was a world full of smallshops, and moms that loved dressing their babes, and taking pictures of it. I was in heaven. When Austin was accepted for his first brand repping collaboration, I was ecstatic. I knew it was special, but I didn’t realize until now, just how special. I was just thankful, we weren’t treated any differently. From that moment, Small shops like lovedbyhannahandeli and Freshly Picked were plastering Austins face in their clothes all over their Instagram accounts and helping me do big giveaways throughout the month of March, all while spreading awareness, through the hashtag #austinsawarenessarmy. I found the community I needed in that moment, but it was lacking one thing - more special needs mothers. Because there were none. Sure - there were advocacy accounts, and fundraising accounts, but there was no one, brand repping for small shops, that had special needs. I began sharing our journey in a new way!
I then had a couple of girls reach out to me and ask me, if they could do a photoshoot of Austin, and this other little girl that had Cerebral Palsy as well - insert Finley, Christina and our friend Randi, of growlovelyphotography. This was the exact relationship I needed, another mother that loved to dress her child in cute clothes, document it, AND she had the same diagnosis as Austin. But icing on the cake, they lived 10 minutes away. This was the part of the community I was really missing. She inspires me everyday, and little did I know, I was an inspiration to her. She found me all because of that little hashtag I made. And the rest is history.
When I first started posting Austin’s photos, I didn’t see anyone doing what we were doing, and now instagram is full of special needs mamas and their warriors posting cute photos, and sharing their journeys! And this is what I always dreamt of. I am so proud of just how far we have come, and I am so proud to be a part, in creating the Warrior Mixer Initiative. I see videos going viral, I see target ads, and I see big companies including adaptive products. We still have a long way to go, but we have come a long way in just the last 9 years, if you ask me.
I may not have that many followers, but I love our small army and will always be grateful for social media and the sense of community it offers to us special needs mothers around the world, that struggle to connect and find other moms that get where we are in life. Everything from IEPS to our non verbal, tube fed, AFO wearing, therapy going, babes.
I have found MY community, and it all started with a hashtag. And here are some of my favorite Special Needs Mamas to follow:
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