Kate Swenson's 'Forever Boy'

First time author, Kate Swenson, talks to us about her heartwarming, new memoir, Forever Boy: A Mother’s Memoir of Autism and Finding Joy. “So my son Cooper is now 11 and he was diagnosed with severe nonverbal autism at age 3 and the title really talks… I’m hoping the title really shines a light on how we get forever with this amazing little boy to try and figure out his mysteries, to advocate for him, to celebrate life and the life that he’s going to lead because he isn’t on a timeline. He’s really doing things at his own pace and it’s been so fun as it goes.” During the conversation, Swenson described the difficulties her and her husband went through with Cooper before he was diagnosed, the dark predictions about autism they faced, and the lonely and traumatic journey she went through before her son learned how to communicate. Throughout all the challenges, what she discovered along the way is that “no one’s going to advocate for your child like you are.”

In her son’s early years, Swenson created a blog called Finding Cooper’s Voice, which became her place to find solace and to write about the raw emotions she felt while raising a child with special needs. As time went on, it transitioned into a refuge for parents going through a similar situation to seek guidance, comfort, and community. While Forever Boy includes many topics from her blog, it’s also filled with new content, such as her divorce, her subsequent remarriage to her husband, the sibling dynamics between her children, and advice for parents with newly diagnosed kids. What did she find difficult about writing this memoir? “What I did struggle with was reliving all the hard parts… the nights where I would just feel like I feel like I ran a marathon today. I talked about aggression or self injuring… I had shoved a lot of those parts way down deep to never be seen or heard again.” The process of remembering those tough days, months and years turned out to be a very healing process for her. She said, “A lot of the older moms that are reading my book are, like, ‘you’re helping me heal things I had PTSD over.'” For her, that acknowledgement and praise has been fulfilling, rewarding, and something she is extremely thankful for.

Regarding her memoir, Swenson said, “at a high level I think it is about autism in our family but really it’s for any person who is faced with something that causes them to pivot…know that this book is really about transformation and providing hope and figuring out how to get through something that isn’t what you originally planned.”