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Sunday, 05 February 2012

Superbowl Sunday! Poems, DSM-5 and Autism Speaks!

Time for one of my favorite days of the year...Superbowl Sunday! Obviously I am rooting for the Giants! On Friday I went to the Autism Speaks Awards Reception in Princeton, it was such a fun night! They honored the top teams, individual fundraisers and shared some new studies with us. I am honored and thrilled to be the 2012 Publicity Chair for Autism Speaks (Central NJ) and hope this year's walk is the biggest yet! I will be blogging a lot about Autism Speaks, since I have been volunteering with them for a few years now, and I think they are wonderful. I wanted to talk about a few things that some of you have asked me to blog about! Feel free to send me ideas More Here...
My Name was Stolen by Somebody! (but we’re friends now)

This is a post by Dr. Scott Standifer, a Clinical Assistant Professor for the Disability Policy & Studies office (DPS) at the University of Missouri. He is the author of Adult Autism & Employment: A guide for vocational rehabilitation professionals, and the organizer of the Autism Works National Conference, March 6 & 7, 2012 in St. Louis, MO.

The first call came in 2008, just after I started work on the first Autism Works National Conference: “Hi Scott, this is Tracey with Autism Works…” the woman said. “But, wait,” I thought, “That is MY project’s name…” Actually, I don’t have a copyright on the name, so it is legal for others to use it too. Still, it felt likeTracy stole my name.
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Autism Light: Lisa Carling

Lisa Carling is the Director of Accessibility Programs for the Theatre Development Fund in New York City. She has been instrumental in creating the Autism Theatre Initiative.
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The Miracle That I Waited So Long To Feel

Albert Einstein once said, “There are two ways to live. One, as thought nothing is a miracle, and the other, as thought everything is a miracle.” I have this saying on my refrigerator, and I look at it every day to remind me of the miracle of my son, Jare. Sometimes miracles are so obvious, and sometimes they are so small and subtle.

What is miraculous about Jare is he came to this world to teach me about quiet courage, compassion, and forgiveness. If he had been born a typical child, I would not have been given this gift. More Here...

Saturday, 04 February 2012

Defining Autism: A Perspective on DSM-5

You may have heard, read or seen the flap on the news. Parents of children on the autism spectrum and adults with high-functioning forms, such as Asperger's are. Not. Happy. Frankly, it's all so confusing and I was none to excited to write about this. But, it is extremely important to our community. Truth is we still don't know how this will all shake down in the very end--as far as how those playing with our lives will draw the lines that determine understanding, perceptions and most importantly, services. We've been hearing unpleasant rumblings from the sessions amongst these shirts for quite sometime, serving to increase our collective anxiety. Meantime, here's a perspective from Spectrum Mom, who guest posted here on "The Journey with Grace" last year:

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Life Without Parole

Daniel and I were headed off to Cohasset for a tournament just a few weeks ago. We drove through an area I knew like the back of my hand. I had driven the road every weekday for 2.5 years. I sat in the passenger side staring out the window and Daniel asked " brings back memories doesn't it?" The moment he said it I suddenly couldn't breath. I began crying. Dan got it and softly asked "It's a reminder of the cell your in?"

yes

My life was so different then, not better mind you, just different. It was life before Sammy. I cannot say life before autism since my oldest has Aspergers. I just never worried about Tyler the way I worry about Sammy. I always felt Tyler would be just fine. I was right, he is doing so well. More Here...
Providing a Voice - Who Knew?

One of the by-products of working on a site like Autisable is hearing the responses and insights from people.

My last post talked about how Kate Winslet was inspired to start a foundation because she was a part of something - narrating a movie.

Lately I've been inspired by Carly Fleishmann. She's a young woman with Autism who is non-verbal. She communicates through the written word, spelling out each of her thoughts one letter at a time.

It's painstaking to even think that in order for her to communicate, she has to think out each letter of each word...but she pushes through and does it.

Through technology she has been provided a voice, and she's using it to it's fullest potential. Here's a video of her story as featured on 20/20 (which just surpassed 1.4 million views): More Here...
She Is Smart Beyond Her Years

I dont know where she got it…

…but it wasn't from me.

When talking with Madison, I often wonder if I'm talking to myself. Not all the time, but a majority of the time, its like she can read my mind. She says what Im thinking, and tends to know, just by looking, if I think what shes about to do is ok or not. Maybe it’s a girl thing, the intuitiveness that she has. I couldn’t be for sure.
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Friday, 03 February 2012

The Complication of Having Delayed Sensory Overload Problems

I have a bit of a booming voice, it can get loud… so when my dog is particularly bad or my boys stop listening and I raise my voice… it gets attention. I’m not yelling or screaming out of control by any means, it’s just… raising my voice is… loud.
The problem with this is that my son Cameron is especially affected… since a sudden loud voice like that can send him running to hide under some blankets.

At least when that happens though, it’s instant. I’m done, he’s done… we go about our day. No worries.

The real issues come into play when it’s not done and over in an instant.
A positive is a negative More Here...
Cyber Bullying: Putting Out The Fire

When people post horrid things on the internet, what they really want is your attention and disdain. Mostly attention. In this case, a person or persons has listed names of people in a negative way. It's a common behavior, especially with no facts listed to give the least bit of credit to the accusations. So, it's really not very elaborate. More Here...