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Sunday, 07 February 2010

  • Children with Special Needs - Placing an Order at a Restaurant.

    I shall be diplomatic now because this isn’t my story to tell.

    My son, the birthday boy and host is busy, occupied, as we order our drinks in the restaurant. His friend makes two strenuous attempts to request a beverage from the server. His voice is as clear as a bell and quite as piercing, but the message has failed to penetrate. I intervene:- “yes he’d like half Pepsi and half Sprite please?”

    The server is perplexed and distracted as he mines for information. From a distance we look like any other party of 12. Close up, it’s different. It takes a different format in each child. Collectively it can be disconcerting. It’s as if we each have three heads, fluent in Swahili.

    More Here...
  • I'd Rather Not be Autistic Today

    1. My parents are going to an IMAX showing of Avatar on Sunday. I think I can handle those scary aliens (Leigh assures me that they're not scary; they're good). But can I handle an IMAX? That's a lot a lot a lot of stimulation all at once, both visual and auditory. Should I go, but bring my headphones and close my eyes when I need to? There's a ride at Disney World that's like an IMAX, and you fly over California (it's called Soarin'). It's one of my favorite rides in the park. It's so exhilarating. Maybe I'll like the movie too? But if it's really bad, and I melt down, then what? I'd rather not be autistic today.

    More Here...
  • The Little Things - Speaking without Prompting

    Sometimes the little things mean so much.

    Yesterday, we participated in a day-long Scouting event that Nigel’s troop organizes annually - Christmas tree recycling. The Scouts and their parents drive all over our town and the neighboring town, pick up Christmas trees from people’s homes, load them onto trucks and trailers, and take them to a local park where later they are turned into fish habitat and mulch. It’s a great program for the community, and the donations received from it help to fund the Scout Troop’s activities for the year.

    Halfway through the day, we break for lunch, which is prepared and served by Scout parents and siblings at the local church where we have our weekly meetings. During lunch, one of the Scout’s sisters walked around the tables refilling drinks for people. Nigel was seated at a table near me, and as she passed by, he held up his cup for her to refill. She did, and he said, “Thank you.” He said it perfectly, so naturally, like he’s been saying it all along. And he said it completely unprompted.

    More Here...

Saturday, 06 February 2010

  • Question: Dentists and Autism

    Here's a question from a Parent searching for Answers about better dental care for their 6 year old with Autism:



    "How can one prepare a child with Autism for the visit to the Dentist? He is just reaching this age where his baby teeth may be falling out. We just got him used to regular doctor visits, and his Doctor is completely understanding - and even sat on the floor with him to get his vitals...but the dentist seems rather new and challenging.  I'm just afraid all the poking and prodding around his mouth will make him go into full tantrum mode


    Let's help this parent out, Any suggestions?



  • Autism Not Caused By Vaccines: Officially

    The scholarly article that started the rumors of a possible autism-vaccinations link has been officially retracted by its medical journal after being consistently discredited and coming under fire for unethical and dishonest practice. Researchers have not been able to replicate the findings of the now-retracted study.

    As CNN writes: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention praised The Lancet's retraction, saying, 'It builds on the overwhelming body of research by the world's leading scientists that concludes there is no link between MMR vaccine and autism.'" William Schaffner is even quoted, saying, "Since Wakefield's study came out, some 20 other studies have come out, and each one of these studies, done by different researchers, in different populations and in different countries, has denied the associations between vaccines and autism. Scientifically, this story is over."   

    More Here...

Friday, 05 February 2010

Thursday, 04 February 2010

  • Autism, Self-Advocacy and the Social Curriculum

    I read a post over on Autism Learning Felt about an interview with Dan Burns (author of Saving Ben) and felt inspired by a line in the article about self advocacy.

    My definition of self-advocacy: a skill-set encompassing knowing what you want, communicating what you want, planning for yourself, and refusing things you don’t want. If kids (with and without autism) want to be able to make choices about their adulthood, they have to know how to do these things. In fact, these skills are part of the ‘hidden curriculum’ aka the ‘social curriculum’ of high school!

    So, is it a mystery that kids with autism miss the hint on these highly-valued, but rarely explained skills? No.   More Here...

Wednesday, 03 February 2010

  • One Mom Shares Story of Regret Over Skipping Vaccine


    Warning: Very sad.



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  • Baby Einstein Videos Educated My Autistic Son

    Baby Einstein, I'll vow for you!

    Don't we have greater problems to take care of in this world? Yes, our children are our most valued possessions, but destroying the reputation of a brand, like Baby Einstein, that (in fact) does not harm our little ones is crazy. Our tax dollars need to go towards keeping pedophiles off the street, terrorists out of our country, and executive honesty in corporations. PLEASE, ENOUGH ALREADY!

    I have read other mommy blogs about this subject with great disappointment. I will not even give the links because that would only promote their theories and make me a hypocrite. The recent NY Times article infuriates me. I ask these mommy's and the legal system creating this hoopla: Don't you think that the parent, not companies, should harbor the responsibility of enforcing the recommendation of the the American Pediatric Association...that a child under 2 should not watch any television? You have the power parents! If you don't want your child to watch television, then don't turn it on.

    More Here...

Tuesday, 02 February 2010

  • Movies, Airplanes and Melt Downs

    A recent post by one of my Facebook friends reminded me of a time when collegeman was three-years old. My friend mentioned that her child had had a sensory meltdown at the movies and there was very little she could do to help her past the episode, so they ended up leaving the theater. With collegeman it started with a play. He loved watching Beauty and the Beast. It was a new Disney film at the time and we bought it on VHS (see how long ago that was). Well, in the way that children with autism do, he watched and he watched and he watched until he could replay the entire dialogue in his head and he knew every word to every song. (Also remember at this time we had no idea that he was dealing with an autism spectrum disorder)

    So along came his baby brother. Now as anyone knows the important thing to do with a new sibling is to make sure you spoil the older child. So we decided to take collegeman to the new Broadway play Beauty and the Beast. It had just started and there was a tremendous amount of excitement. Never before had Broadway produced a play that was specifically geared towards children. Today it is matter of course, but back then, well it was a new phenomenon. So we bought Saturday matinee tickets, along with almost every other parent in Manhattan and hubby proceeded to take collegeman out for their very special daddy and first-born son afternoon.

    More Here...

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