Meet Jenny
"It's so important to me to establish a community for neurodivergent kids. We need each other because it can be lonely."
~Jenny Jacobs
When Jenny and her husband’s son had still never spoken a word by the age of two and a half, they brought him in for tests.
It started with speech assessments, which were pretty straightforward, considering he didn’t speak. Then they had hearing tests, as they thought he might be deaf because he didn’t react to voices or loud sounds. Turns out his hearing was perfect.
It wasn’t until they got him into a research study that focused on diagnosing autism at a young age, that they finally received some direction to help them communicate with their son.
That gave Jenny the confidence to sign up for many parenting classes for both her son and her daughter.
When their son was finally diagnosed with non-verbal autism, the doctor asked Jenny how she felt, which struck her as odd since it was her son who was the one diagnosed with the impairment. Although she was sad and concerned about how this would affect his life, she assured the doctor that she was okay. All Jenny wanted to know now was how she could make her son’s life awesome.
Her question to the doctor was, “What can we start doing for our son?”
That’s when Jenny and her family’s journey into their new normal began.
She wanted to learn, discover, and research all she could to make her son’s life as beautiful and fulfilling as possible.
Then, a few years later, Jenny and her husband sensed something was off with their daughter.
A very smart, talkative nine-year-old who was involved in regular school programming began displaying some concerning behaviors.
It was during the COVID pandemic that they contacted the clinic to get her assessed, only to discover that there was a very long waitlist.
Jenny and her husband made the decision to get her assessed privately. That was when their daughter was diagnosed with Autism and ADHD.
Jenny wondered if she missed something – that she should have seen the signs. But it turns out that females are amazing at masking and blending in so well – go figure.
Jenny and her husband had to now tell their daughter about her diagnosis.
Learning so much from their son’s experience over the years, they took a positive approach when sharing the news with their daughter. Focusing on the positives, they told her how amazing and awesome she was.
Wanting her to recognize how special she was, and to never feel defined by her diagnosis, Jenny and her husband took their kids out for dinner. They’d fondly nicknamed “Autism” with “Tism”, so they had fun, celebrating “She’s got the ’tism” by going out for dinner, topped off with a sweet drink and dessert of her choice.
It was essential that they celebrate both their children, in a way that brings as much love, joy, and laughter into their lives as possible.
Throughout her journey, Jenny found that one of the most difficult challenges was the feeling of being alone.
Although they had many family members nearby, they didn’t receive help. Most didn’t know what to do – so they completely withdrew. Jenny and her husband were left to figure out and do everything on their own, with minimal support. It was a very lonely – and expensive journey.
Jenny has met the challenges she has faced over the past few years with strength, courage, and determination. She is constantly researching and trying different products, services, methods, and programs that could help her children and benefit their tight family unit.
Many of the tools and products available were financially unattainable, so Jenny got resourceful, creating affordable items at home and using what they had to achieve similar results.
Jenny realized that if these lifehacks could help her, surely they could help others.
Jenny knew that so many other families were facing similar struggles and feelings of being alone. People who don’t live this life cannot understand the challenges and how truly hard it can be.
The Sensory Source was created to establish a heart-centered, inclusive community for neurodivergent children. To provide a safe, supportive space that offers affordable products, valuable lifehacks, tips, stories, and ideas.
Because Jenny understands firsthand that being a parent of children with special needs can be lonely and expensive, she knew she could share her own experiences, insights, and wins with other families.
She created the Sensory Source to help alleviate that pressure, offer a sense of community, embrace and empower families…. and help make THEIR lives awesome, too.
"You have to be unique and different and shine in your own way."