Weblog » Archives » December 2009
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New Year's Resolutions for an "Autism Mom"
Autism and life are inextricable, but certainly not incompatible nor joyless. Sometimes, though, thriving with autism might take a bit more planning and commitment. Thus, with high hopes and good intentions, I join w… -
Calendars and New Years
I never do my Christmas shopping a day before the 22nd of December. I am a teacher and teachers, including the despicable Arthur Mitchell on Dexter, design their personal lives around their time off. So my Christmas pl… -
Desiderata - Desired Things
As we approach the end of another year, it's difficult to avoid reflecting on the past twelve months. It can be even harder at the close 2009, as the arguments rage as to whether it is the end of a decade, and you can… -
Christmas in an Airport
The hardest part of waiting is not knowing how long you’ll have to wait. - Aidan, age 13Come on, say it with me: “I will never spend Christmas in an airport.” That’s what I’d said all of my adult life and certainly bel… -
It's Winter Time Again In San Diego
Winter conjures up all kinds of warm and fuzzy seasonal images complete with a wardrobe change filled with cozy sweaters, fur lined jackets and suede boots. Well, in autism land these changes in attire are not like… -
Autism Community—My Christmas Gift to You
Thirty-six years ago when my second son, Brandon, was born my world began to fall apart. He seemed different, and no one knew why he acted the way he did. At age nine, he was diagnosed with both epilepsy and learning d… -
Christmas, Autism and Why I Believe In Miracles
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate). We made our own dates for Hanukkah this year since it wasn't until December 25 that our entire family was able to be together.… -
Understanding Autism Time and College Time
Yo Mick here. Grwomth. I have a mouthful. I’ve developed an overly fond attachment to this purple whatever I received for Christmas, the first one. We had 2 Christmas’ at our home. I like that Christmas seemed to… -
First Nativity Play
One of the great thrills of parenthood is seeing your child in their Christmas performance. It isn’t something that other parents mention to you the way they knowingly gloat as they inform you that you will not sleep… -
Life Lessons By Rudolph
Every year we watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Its one of my favorites. Yes, I know, once again, I'm showing my age. Rudolph is cute. So its the dentist elf. And I have to admit a certain fondness for Yukon… -
The Santa dilemma
(Photo taken at Parents' Night Out) Cuddlebug and Bearhug never really showed any interest in Santa Claus until they saw the Polar Express movie (I think they were 5). Even then, they were more interested in the tra… -
The Countdown to Christmas
Lets start at the beginning, shall we? Which started this morning, when I woke the kids up and told them it was time to go. You all know that moment, the one when you realize your up late, yet again, only today you rea… -
Bob for the Holidays
One love, one heart - let’s get together and feel all right. - Bob Marley As many of you know, this family loves Bob. All three of us. In fact, it’s the only music that we all enjoy equally. It’s our go-to music for ca… -
Brittany Murphy's Death is a Wake Up Call
Earlier this week, the country was shocked by the sad news that Brittany Murphy had passed away. The official autopsy report is not in, but it is said that she had a heart attack. Although this is not in question, p… -
The Power of Social Networks
Strength in numbers. It's a common phrase that I usually think of when dealing with any issue. In times of war, the side that usually had the larger number of soldiers won.... ...this, of course, before tactical warfar… -
Autism Ignored and Harassed
People with autism are often ignored and harassed, but just not at the same time. Last week my adult son, Brandon and I went to a holiday party at my son, Matt’s house. When we entered the party I was greeted with a… -
Reflections on a 16th Birthday: You Bet We are ALL Stressed
Today I am in a retrospective mood. Highschoolboy turns 16. I look at him and think of the past years and how he has grown into the proto-man he will become. I sit and think how those years have flown by and about t… -
Got Lemons? Make Lemonade
December is an exciting month. Christmas beckons, the end of the old year looms and the promise of a new one draws near. It can see you reflect on your year, usually focusing on what you perceive to be your failures d… -
Occupational Therapists
I am considering going into occupational therapy. I would like to have autistic children as my main focus. I have a very general idea of what that would entail from some prior discussions with occupational therapists… -
Interesting Behavioral Development
A week ago this Sunday Daniel came down with a fever and by morning he looked worn out and was still hot to the touch. I kept him home from school and he lay in bed all day until I had him get up and get dressed for a… -
How Inclusive is Inclusion Anyway?
I'm thinking this may be a hot topic. Both sides present some very persuasive arguments. I guess I'd like to add mine to the fray, giving those out there a mother's view of what inclusion has meant to my son and fa… -
Hitting the Slopes
The other day it snowed quite a bit and we both had the day off from school so Nick and I hit the slopes. . . well you can't really call it "the slopes" it is more like a hill at a local elementary school but in our… -
What the future holds for my Asperger child
What happens after high school? Last month, my son started high school. Like many parents, we are faced with the impending thoughts of "what next?" Most parents are thinking about college, the high cost of it, t… -
Conference with the Math Teacher
Thanks for all your comments yesterday. I conferenced with Jonathan's math teacher yesterday. Since you've been a part of this journey with us the last couple of months, I'd like to share the results of the meeting. But… -
Cast Out To Sea
When you find yourself with a child with autism, it feels something like being thrown into the water far out at sea. The safety and security of the known and familiar, is all at once out of reach, and you know that if… -
Fractal Moles, Unanswered Emails and a Truely Inappropriate Parental Response
By now it is well established that highschoolboy is having a difficult academic year in chemistry. Lucky for him he has some very understanding and helpful teachers. In fact the chemistry teacher had offered to come in… -
The Regulator
“Did you refill your pill organizer for next week?” I ask Nigel as he walks into the kitchen. “Not yet.” He walks over to the cupboard where we keep his bottles of medication, takes a bottle out, and proceeds to shake… -
Can we trust our doctors on vaccines?
Do childhood vaccines cause autism? If you listen to a variety of critics, the answer is possibly yes; the research hasn’t been done, so we can’t say definitely yes or no. The anecdotal evidence from parents is overwh… -
Great Homeschooling Moment
We have been working hard on independent writing skills. My son has been doing great with hand over hand assistance. I have been pushing him to write independently. He hates it. We do a lot of repetetive work. He has t… -
'Tis the Season
We had a beautiful honeymoon period with our virtual residential team. Now its over -- and how. Until a few days ago I found myself questioning whether we needed so much support. Then came the weekend. It was ROUGH.… -
Marijuana as a Treatment for Autism?
From: Dr. Chun Wong The debate has been going on for years now: Should we or should we not legalize the use of Medical Cannabis (or marijuana)? Everyone has their own opinion on whether or not the legalization should… -
My Undiagnosed PTSD
I have read and heard it said that we all have sensory issues to some degree. Whether you cut the tags out of your clothing, get a headache from fluorescent lights, cringe at the sound of a drill, or even still get car… -
Where on the Autistic Planet are the Normals?
life is amusing..... particularly through the lens of autism. it is through this lens that you see yourself for who you are...or.....specifically. for what you are actually saying.....and.....how completely ridiculous… -
The Story of a Pineapple
Since landing myself in this situation, Ive done things that I never thought I would do before, things I swore I would never do, you know, assuming I got into a situation like this. I used to tell Molly that there were… -
Alice Through the Looking Glass: The World and Your Aspie
The other day hubby and I were having a conversation with collegeman. The topic of the conversation is not what is important but what is important is the fact that he did not understand the idioms used in the conversa… -
Autism Diagnosis: An Intersection of Difficulties
Currently, early recognition and diagnosis of autism is becoming heavily emphasized (Shattuck et al, 2009), as the autism community sees better and better outcomes from early intervention therapy (Dawson, 2008). Expe… -
Justice: by the law or by the heart?
When you have brought up kids, there are memories you store directly in your tear ducts. .. Robert Brault I’ve debated how to write this post for several days, and it’s been difficult. My role as attorney at law is… -
Autism Therapy: Vitamin D and Autism
I’ve notice lately that Vitamin D seems to be the “latest” thing people are buzzing about in the autism community. Vitamin D as an autism therapy. Seems reasonable. Children with autism present with muscular weaknes… -
Dog Obedience Training/ children with Aspergers
Does anyone have any experience with this technique? It has been suggested to me by a physician that there has been great success using pet therapy for children with Aspergers. I’m considering it. Apparently, the… -
Autism's House
Do you have a "house" you go to where your anxieties drift away? Most of us do, though we may no realize it. Our "house" may involve a physical activity like running or swimming, a hobby like music or reading, or busy… -
Review On Booklet for Parents New to Autism
When my husband I walked out of the doctor's office with a diagnosis of "autism" for our middle child, I wish the doctor had handed me something like Same Child, Different Day, a booklet I've recently learned about. T… -
Living with and Loving the Asperger Mind
There are just so many times we can hear the statistics of a baseball player before we lose interest. Many times, we cannot muster up the enthusiasm to listen to the ins and outs of a video game that he has just learn… -
Child just diagnosed with autism?
D. emailed me and said her grandson had just been diagnosed with Asperger’s. Where should she start in learning about this? she asked. Here’s my reply: You will find that the autism world is divided into two camps: main… -
Antibiotics Cause Autism? Pattern Seeking Behavior
We are a pattern seeking species. There was, long ago, a variation amongst some of our ancestors in their ability to recognize patterns. Variation being the impetus of evolution we began to slowly acquire this abilit… -
Adapted Bowling and Family Fun
My daughter is still in Florida with my parents. I really miss her and so does my son. Yesterday, he was feeling bored and lonely. He requested that we go bowling as a family. It was a surprise because my son does… -
The Right Things at the Right Time Fairy
My children are into fairy tales and fantasy stories now. Maybe I have been hanging out with them too much, but I have decided that there is a fairy out there that provides the right things at the right time. So in a… -
Could My Mom Be The Source of my Aspergers?
Last night, I was skimming through some facts about those with Aspergers or those with autism, and being the concerned child I am today, I read some facts about those with autism that reminds me a lot of my mom. Throug… -
Asperger with No Tomato
The other day, I got a letter in Nathan's backpack. It was asking me if I wouldn't mind having someone come in to talk to Nathan's class about his disability. (For the record, Nate is in an intergrated class room with… -
Connecting Thoughts - the "other kids"
Everyday, after Josh gets out of school, we have about 2 hours before Dylan comes home, and another ½ hour or so, before Madison shows up. People often have told me that Josh wont ever be like “Other kids” and most tim… -
In My Opinion... This Doesn't Lay to Rest the Connection
“Latest autism figures should dispel any fears about the MMR jab being linked to the condition, say experts.” - Michelle Roberts Health Reporter, BBC News. This article jabs my buttons… One of the arguments that man… -
The More Things Change
Aidan, seated next to me in the booth of a Mexican restaurant, says, “I have a joke for you, Nigel.” Nigel, seated across from us on the other side of the booth, asks, “What is it?” “A plane crashes on the border of Ca… -
The End and a New Beginning: Aspies and Peer Rejection
We have had a problem lately with Highschoolboy’s best friend. I don’t think he wants to be friends anymore and doesn’t have the ability to tell HSB. He has really lame excuses for not coming to the phone when HSB ca… -
The Most Important Thanks of All
Today I've had a cloud hanging over my head. Its been a rough week and I'm so very tired. I even broke down last night, wondering if I could handle what God has given me. I had a post already started in my head. I… -
Autistic Brothers Reunited
From: Dr. Chun Wong We often speak about Autism in children since this is often when the disorder is diagnosed. Parents are much more aware of the common symptoms of Autism including short attention spans, slow speech,… -
When Oprah Speaks
Well actually I now believe that it was God screaming at me and yet I did not hear or even bother to try to listen to the voice in the back of my head that was saying, "Your son has autism." I was wrapped up in the mo… -
Spank you, spank you very much! - Part 2
Well the night of the concert I decided to dress him up nicely in a little blue suit, white shirt and tie. He looked adorable, but he kept wiggling and fidgeting around and I thought he was just excited. We arrived… -
Review Your Rules about Autism
Yo! Mick here, the one with pointy ears and canine grin! Thank you well wishers! I am feeling better and Red’s (aham) out of the doghouse (sorry – I know that was a cheap shot but hey – pull my paw if you don’t like… -
Being Complacent in Communication
An easy trap to fall in and we all do it. When our children have high levels of support and thrive staff can become complacent (and of course funding issues can play a part) support is reduced and then people wonder… -
Church this Week with ASD.
Josh usually tries to get out of going to church, almost every week... this one was no exception. This week at church, the kids were "stuck" sitting with their parents during the service instead of going to their own c… -
Conversations about Poop
Sometimes the changes around us, in front of us, are so subtle or so long in their metamorphosis, we fail to see them. All of us do this; it’s been most current for Zach and I. Lately, we’ve had a lot of people commen… -
Rocking rocks!
Dear autism, Rocking chairs rock! (pun only partially intended) There are so few things that I can actually tell give Savi joy. He’s non verbal and notoriously hard to read. But on this day, I knew without a dou… -
Noise Sensitivity and ASD
Last week, during a fit of pique, The Boy threw a billiard boy at another child attending after school club. It is difficult to see how I am supposed to deal with the matter. The other child isn't a "special" child. H… -
Am I Asking Too Much?
I like order. I thrive on logic. Always have. I'm always curious about the whys and hows of things happening the way they do. That's why I embraced Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) so well. You see a behavior, you lo… -
How To Relieve Anxiety at a Party
Jonathan is a strange "Aspie." (Is that an oxymoron?) He loves people! He may not initiate conversation. He may not respond to someone talking to him. He may not make eye contact or shake a hand. But it doesn't mean that… -
No Words Necessary
Last night while I was getting Daniel ready for bed we had gone into his room where I normally tuck him in and give him a kiss on the forehead and say something like, "see you in the morning Danny Boy." I have all kin… -
Jenny McCarthy Offers Hope To Mothers: Part 2!
I wrote a post about Jenny McCarthy offering hope to some mothers a couple of months ago... Yes, I understand that was risky. You either love her or hate her, right? Well, it turns out, some thought that opened me up… -
Different Milestones - the emotional issues we face as ASD parents.
Tonight was the monthly Southern Oregon Autism Support Group meeting that I facilitate. We had a low turn-out, probably due to illness, but it was one of the best meetings we’ve ever had. For one thing, two new members… -
When did I become "The Advocate"?
Today was the first time I participated in an IEP meeting that I requested. I can’t believe that after thirteen years of teaching I actually called one to sit in on by choice. I suck as a special needs mom. Over the… -
Back to Basics: My Autism Lists
Today’s post is for parents of children with autism. I’ll start by saying that I do not have a child with autism, so I can’t relate to the full scope of your situation. However, most of my kid-related autism… -
ASD terminology: "Autistic" vs "Individual with Autism"
What’s in a name? Apparently, everything, if you are a person with an autism or Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis. At issue is whether or not to use ‘autistic’ as an adjective or to keep the traditional PeopleFirst langu… -
Study compares vaccinated and unvaccinated populations
Joseph Mercola, DO, has a massive emailing list about health issues. He has recently taken up the vaccine question, which I am very happy about. He has a new posting in which he interviews a pediatrician, Larry Palevsk… -
Special Moments, Gratitude and Autism
As I headed to our monthly team meeting with my son's teachers and therapists, I didn't have much on the agenda. This year, the team's open communication and investment in my son's progress is a comforting feeling. I… -
Acceptance is the Answer
I believe accepting people for who they are can be one of the kindest things we can do. When we find out our children have autism, epilepsy or special needs this information can be extremely difficult to deal with. Man… -
If You Love Someone Set Then Free - Decision Making and Your Aspie
I am faced with an interesting quandary. Collegeman does not want to go to the therapist anymore-at least for the time being. He says he has too much work to do and with the semester coming to a close I am sure that… -
Developing New Daily Life Skills
It's great when my son masters a new daily living skill. I do the proud mommy dance every time it happens. Last week, my son mastered getting ice and water from the refrigerator door. This may seem like a simple thing… -
Special Sensitivities
The thoughts continue. We’ve spoken to a number of people, in a variety of situations, though not all that we intend to. Alex seems happy, though we certainly see a difference in his actions when we talk about or are… -
Catch 22: Society and Acceptance but Your Child is More Than Autism
There is a wonderful blogger that I follow, Mae who writes, Autism Is Not the Boss. She has written an interesting post ASD terminology: ‘autistic’ vs ‘individual with autism’ As usual since, I generally have alot… -
Autism & Adulthood: Taking Flight
What if? What if our children grew up as fast as wild animals? I wondered this today as I looked up from my laptop and spotted out in the corner of my yard five healthy teen deer. Every year I watch these beautiful… -
Neurotherapy as a Treatment For Autism
From: Dr. Chun Wong Canadian neurotherapist Paul Swingle will be the first to admit that his methods of treatment for Autism are often criticized. Many claim that there are no dependable studies that prove his neurothe…
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- Name: autisable
- Member Since: 3/26/2009
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To Medicate, or Not to Medicate
This is the question I have been ... -
Releasing the Grip
I am a problem solver. Most people who kn... -
Does Floortime Therapy Work? We're still waiting for the evidence.
I’ve been reading about Floortime/DIR Aut...
