advocacy Archives | Not So SuperMom VS Society

You’d Be So Pretty If…

February 18, 2023 February 19, 2023 / 5 Comments / Advocacy & Education, Before-After, Mom Life, Motivation / By Crystal Dorothy / 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 40th birthday, adhd, advocacy, bariatric surgery, mini bypass, obesity, weight loss

I’m overweight and I’m not unique-there are over 90 million Americans that are struggling with their weight as well. With millions of us in the same boat, you’d think this journey wouldn’t have felt so isolating, but it did. I felt like I wasn’t in the same boat, but rather, I was regulated to a dark and lonely hole-filled rowboat. A rowboat that needed to hide in the shadows so no one, not even myself, could see it as it slowly sunk to the bottom. I didn’t want to be seen, because being seen meant that I would have to acknowledge it, it being the elephant in the room, aka me.

“I Hate Everyone. Kill Me Now”

January 4, 2022 January 5, 2022 / 1 Comment / Advocacy & Education, Diagnosis, Parenting, Sensory Diet / By Crystal Dorothy / 2022, adhd, advocacy, Diagnosis, discipline strategies, disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, dmdd, motherhood, motherhood uncensored, motherhoodburnout, odd, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, overwhelmed, Parenting

Disturbing Dysregulation “I hate you. I hate everyone. I want you to kill me. Someone needs to kill me. I don’t want to be alive anymore. Kill me now. What does blood taste like. I’m going to drink all my blood. You hate me you hate me you hate me. You don’t love me. Everyone …

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Overcoming Ingrained Racism

April 15, 2021 April 16, 2021 / 1 Comment / Advocacy & Education, Parenting / By Crystal Dorothy / 2021, advocacy, blm, burnout, education, racism, sexism, stereotypes

If you would have asked me prior to this morning if I was racist, I would have responded with a resounding and slightly affronted “No.” I’ve been consistently educating myself and my children about the underlying racism in our country for years. I’ve gone to protests and donated my photography services to document them. I’ve …

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Skateboarding On The Spectrum

March 24, 2021 March 24, 2021 / Leave a Comment / Adventures, Advocacy & Education, Creative, Diagnosis, discipline strategies, Fun, Parenting, Sensory Diet, SPD, Therapy, tips & tricks / By Crystal Dorothy / 2021, advocacy, autism, budget friendly, discipline strategies, education, fun, kidsafe, learning, meltdowns, occupational therapy, odd, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, overwhelmed, Parenting, Sensory Diet, sensory processing disorder, SPD, Special needs kids, Spectrum, Therapy, tips

When most people think of skateboarding, their first thoughts are usually something along the lines of misfit teens, punk rock, or maybe even guys like Tony Hawk. What they don’t think about, is just how amazing skateboarding is for kids who need occupational therapy. Kids like Everett, who are on the autism spectrum. Kids like …

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I Want To Die

March 16, 2021 March 25, 2021 / 2 Comments / Advocacy & Education, Diagnosis, Parenting / By Crystal Dorothy / 2021, advocacy, autism, burnout, Diagnosis, meltdowns, motherhoodburnout, Mothers, occupational therapy, odd, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, overwhelmed, Parenting, Special needs kids, Therapy

“I want to die. I don’t love you anymore and you’re not my friend anymore. I hate you.” These are about the last things you’d ever want to hear your child say to you, though you might expect it from an overly emotional teen. Unfortunately, I don’t have a teen and these words were screamed …

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Your Child is Autistic Because…

September 28, 2020 September 29, 2020 / Leave a Comment / Advocacy & Education / By Crystal Dorothy / 2020, 2021, 5 stages of grief, advocacy, autism, birth, Diagnosis, education, giveaway, grieving, learning, motherhood uncensored, occupational therapy, Parenting, raising secular children, science, selflove, sensory processing disorder, SPD, Special needs kids, teaching, vaccines

Without fail, multiple times a month, someone will claim Everett’s autism is caused by something outlandish. Usually, it’s the age old, well debunked, vaccine argument. Some of the things I’ve been “informed” of, pique my interest enough for a Google search, and some are just so out there that it leaves me scratching my head. …

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Living Life On The Spectrum, Homeschool Edition

September 17, 2020 September 18, 2020 / Leave a Comment / Advocacy & Education, Mom Life, Parenting, School / By Crystal Dorothy / 2020, 2021, advocacy, autism, burnout, covid-19, Covid-Quarantine, discipline strategies, education, homeschool, learning, motherhood, motherhood uncensored, motherhoodburnout, Mothers, overwhelmed, pandemic, Parenting, raising secular children, science, Sensory Diet, sensory processing disorder, SPD, Special needs kids, Spectrum, STEAM, teaching

Today we have a special guest post from a local Birmingham mother, Marjorie. I met Marjorie shortly before the pandemic hit and really enjoyed getting to know her. We both have 2 kiddos, the bigs are both on the spectrum and in kindergarten, while our littles are only a month apart in age. It’s nice …

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Why I’m Raising Secular Children

September 10, 2020 September 11, 2020 / Advocacy & Education, Parenting / By Crystal Dorothy / 2020, 2021, advocacy, education, learning, motherhood, motherhood uncensored, motherhoodburnout, Mothers, Parenting, raising secular children, reflection, secular, teaching, tips

Reasons for raising secular children.

Please Tell Me More About Your Uncomfortable Mask

July 29, 2020 July 29, 2020 / Leave a Comment / Adventures, Mom Life, Parenting / By Crystal Dorothy / 2020, advocacy, birth, covid-19, Covid-Quarantine, grieving, motherhood, motherhood uncensored, motherhoodburnout, Mothers, newborn, pandemic, Parenting, postpartum, postpartum body, postpartum depression, pregnancy, racism, reflection, riot

Reflections of a new mom mid-global pandemic “Let people help”. “Rely on friends and family”. “Don’t be shy to ask family members to help around the house”. This is the advice touted on every baby blog, in all of the pregnancy books and shouted from the rooftops by experienced moms. But what if you can’t? …

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Motherhood In The Raw

February 10, 2020 February 10, 2020 / Leave a Comment / Advocacy & Education, Before-After, Mom Life, Motivation, Parenting / By Crystal Dorothy / 2019, 2020, advocacy, motherhood, motherhood uncensored, motherhoodburnout, Mothers, Motivation, Parenting, postpartum, postpartum body, postpartum depression, selfcare, selflove

Learning to Love Your Postpartum Body Update You may remember that I’ve started a long term photography project called #motherhoodintheraw. It’s all about learning to love your body again after having children. Your postpartum body is as permanent a state as parenthood itself, and society as a whole, are conditioned to find reasons to not …

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