Alex the Artist, Spirit Lake, IA (2026)

12/24/2025

Merry Christmas from from Alex and our family!

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve been in touch with all of you but that’s my fault!

Alex is doing just fine great and having a great time with his Day Hab and art.

This fall he worked very hard with Tricia(pictured below) to get the illustrations done for the children’s book he’s been working on! We are incredibly grateful to author Mindy Meyer for her patience with Alex. As you are aware by now, Alex doesn’t resonate with speed, hurry up, or “it doesn’t have to be so perfect “.

But the pictures are done and now with Mindy so she can move forward.

We can’t wait to show you pictures and the finished product! 📕

In other news, we had Hannah home around Thanksgiving and went to see “Wicked, For Good” together which Alex just loved.

She is also back with us for Christmas so it’s another family outing to see the new SpongeBob movie while she is here.

Meanwhile Alex is enjoying the arrival of winter with all the ornery weather it brings….cold, snow, etc. He loves it all.

We have also loved watching a group of four eagles perched daily in our trees watching for prey over the frozen lake. He is quite fascinated by them! As are we.

So, as you can tell, life is wonderfully ordinary around here with great things happening!

We all want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and many holiday blessings!🎄

Much more news to come in the new year!

09/22/2025

Got this text from Alex this afternoon.

(Sidebar….we don’t have a Burger King near us anymore. So this was a big deal!)

Then i got his start of fall poem. He always comes through with a little rhyme on an important calendar day….🥰

09/17/2025

Summer comes to a close….

And Alex continues to live his best life!

We got more tubing in.

He went fishing with Day Hab and nabbed a perch!

We went on our annual mini golf outing and he got 3 HOLES IN ONE! Mom…..zero😏

Unfortunately, Alex(we) lost our art mentor Deb Burow as well. She’s moving back to New Jersey. It’s a great life event for her but boy is Alex one sad guy. She’s a special lady…..not to be easily replaced.

As I watch younger parents go through really hard times, hopefully seeing Alex and other young adults can give you some hope that life with autism can get easier. It will ALWAYS remind you that it is life long, but the reminders get less severe and less frequent.

Hopefully.

Bring on fall!

07/08/2025

Where there’s a will there’s a way……

ALEX GREW HIS SUNFLOWERS!!

For the many of you who have followed Alex’s “sunflower saga” over the last 5-7 years, we have found success!

I should say WE because the summer has been ALL Alex.

A little back story. Alex always wants to grow SUNflowers……in mostly shade. He cannot be persuaded otherwise.

I’ve tried everything to try to get him to move the plant to sunnier spots.

Absolutely not.

Then once they start growing the critters would decimate them. Heartbreaking.

Spring 2025……

We bought a very nice indoor grow lamp. The signature blue pot. Lovely Miracle Gro potting soil. A package of Dwarf sunflower seeds as ordered by Alex.

He started them at the end of April downstairs on his desk. Light was on most of the day then off at night.

Truth be told I never gave them another thought. (Another year of shade grown, critter destroyed sunflowers)

In early June I went downstairs and the most beautiful vibrant green sunflower plants were growing down there! After about 6 weeks he had gorgeous looking plants. He then started taking them outside sometimes.

But if it got windy he brought them in.

And…..he has those whirly gig things in there to keep the critters away.

He keeps up meticulous TLC of his pot.

Jim and I leave for three weeks and came home to this! Blooming 🌻 sunflowers! THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!

My gosh he is so happy!

He’s had that little watering can for about 15 years. No kidding.

He’s very precise. Surprised ?

This doubting mom saw her son prove her wrong. That grow lamp was amazing!

“We’ll have to do this again next year, right Mom?”

Absolutely.

05/30/2025

Alex has a great day most days, but yesterday was a banner day!

Bowling with the group at Day Hab.

“I got 3 strikes Mom!”

Way to go bud!

(We don’t need to talk about the bumpers being up….😉)

Now strikes and spares are key in Alex’s bowling life, but let’s face it, it’s luck.

No matter, we celebrate his prowess nonetheless

The guy just loves bowling.

Then his group outing last evening was to go to our local summer amusement park to get ice cream and look at the lake.

So there’s our happy guy!

04/24/2025

Alex’s beautiful sendoff….

Three years ago today Alex’s Grandma(my mom) passed away very peacefully.

My siblings were generous to allow him to sing at her funeral.

We shared his solo then, but as I remember her today, this is worth a re-post.

Alex doesn’t realize the joy this would have brought to mom, nor to the people gathered that day. This is just what he does…..then gives a little smile and takes a seat. No big deal

Enjoy the guy who brings us so much joy….

04/17/2025

This is an incredibly shortsighted and ignorant description of individuals with autism.

RFK talks about the tragedy that is autism.

What we have done to our children.

He goes on to tell us all the things our children will never do.

What is the first “never” he chose to point out?

“They will never pay taxes”

(BTW, Alex had a job for awhile and paid taxes)

To have a child with autism is hard. It rocks your world and changes the path of your lives. But a tragedy?

It’s the most beautiful tragedy I’ve ever experienced.

This man is who we are trusting our nations health services to?

Now that is a much greater tragedy.

04/02/2025

World Autism Awareness Day

Today and the rest of April the world tries to bring light and awareness to the world of Autism.

Autism is in our life daily. And some days we bring more awareness to the community than we’d like to(😉). But we try to never hide the amazing young man that is Alex.

In 1999 when we started this journey the number of children with autism was 1:144. Today in 2025 it’s 1:36.

Let that sink in!

So much progress has been made. We are raising our children to accept kids who may navigate this world differently and that is amazing.

We still have work to do but I feel we are on the right track as a community of caring and concerned people.

Under the current administration we can only pray our kids don’t get lost or tossed aside. A very real concern for families.

This morning three amazing women appeared on “CBS This Morning” to discuss autism and their new book “Autism Out Loud”. Kate Swenson is a dear friend and the woman behind Finding Cooper's Voice on FB.

These three ladies are blazing a trail in getting autism advocacy and awareness out there. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy!

Thank you Kate, Adrian, and Carrie!

02/21/2025

Just have to share this one...

As parents of an adult son who is on the spectrum and lives with us, this one hit home to Amy and me -- it's a personal story on the important issue affecting the lives of millions of families like ours.

It takes us back 24 years, when Alex was diagnosed by the great staff at Washington University in St. Louis. Obviously, we were stunned, and we knew very little about autism other than unfounded perceptions based on anecdotes and horror stories.

Throughout our journey with Alex, we've seen the amazing progress in understanding and the increase in resources put to these neurological issues. It is truly a better world for families who live this journey day and night. And yet, there is so much more to do and learn.

And we have often said that Alex has shown us there are so many angels on this earth. Yep, they are out there. They are in school systems and community-service organizations, performing real-life miracles for our kids -- the miracles are happening as I type this, and they are inspiring beyond words and tears. And there also are angels in research and academia, like Dr. Cara Gallagher Pugliese.

We think of all of them, the families and the angels, and we ask why these severe actions (and the questionable processes behind them) are being taken so rashly. And we ask what good for our children and families can possibly come from actions like this. I will be asking our elected official these questions, and we plan to share this story with our dear friends who share this journey with us.

One final thought. Our community is just a sliver in the universe of families who are dealing the full range of pediatric health crises -- physical, mental, neurological, you name it. We think of them too.

Respectfully submitted by Alex's Dad.

01/06/2025

Thanksgiving
Wicked
Christmas

It’s been a minute since we’ve touched base, but Alex has not been sitting idle.

He has been busy living his best life, but there just haven’t been any huge events.

Thanksgiving was spent in Colorado Springs which was wonderful. Alex and Hannah went to see Wicked together and to quote him……”that was amazing!” I purposely didn’t go with them because I wanted them to have the experience together. He LOVED it. He loves all things WICKED.

As a family we decided to spend a quiet Christmas at our apartment in Champaign…..this was a request from both Hannah and Alex.

No decorations. No tree. Just us and our gifts.

Alex was the most “present” at gift time he’s been in a long time. Everything was so calm and leisurely. And he had done all his own shopping….he was very excited to see us all open our gifts. Gina took him shopping after Day Hab and they had a great time.

Taking turns was not an issue at all.

These are changes and growth that just touch our hearts. He genuinely cares what we want and if we like what he chose. In years past he wasn’t too interested.

So, no decorations needed. Just quiet and calm. And gifts. 😉

Of course we got trips to Applebee’s and Red Robin. And brought home some Papa John’s.

Our holidays were quiet, but so blessed. The kids think the quiet celebration in Champaign should become our new tradition. Not a bad idea.

Simple is often times better. This time it was.

12/04/2024

Update…..Alex and I just arrived at the airport to fly to Chicago and who is working the counter? Jennifer! We exchanged a hug and I reiterated our thankfulness!!

Cool story of thoughtfulness…..

Last week Jim, Alex, and I were boarding our flight to Colorado(from Sioux Falls) to see Hannah for Thanksgiving and one of the boarding agents says to me….

“Did you leave your water bottle on the plane on your last trip(in October!)? “

Yes I did….i had remembered it as we were half way down to concourse so by then it was too late to go back, so I just let it go.

Jennifer the agent says, “Well I have it! I knew you’d want it back so it’s in my locker! Next time you come through tell them it’s in Jennifer’s locker!”

She was dead serious and knew exactly who I was.

Of course I do fly United a lot out of Sioux Falls so they see me but I had no idea she recognized me. Perhaps traveling with a young adult man acting a bit differently and wearing headphones makes us stand out just a bit?😉

So I keep that in mind and we board the plane and get in our seats. There we are minding our business and all of a sudden there is a little ruckus and here’s Jennifer with my water bottle! Handing it back to Jim with the biggest smile on her face!

Oh my gosh what a very big act of kindness on a very busy travel day!

These are the times where I know Alex is seen and people do care.

It would have been much easier to just throw that water bottle away. But she saw the bottle and understood its significance.

The kindness of strangers…..it’s out there!!

Thank you Bauer !! And Unitedairlines!!

Bauer

Alex the Artist

12/24/2025

09/22/2025

09/17/2025

07/08/2025

05/30/2025

04/24/2025

04/17/2025

04/02/2025

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12/04/2024

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