Autism Blogger

WOO HOO =)

Looks like we have another Michael Savage on our hands .... http://autismparents.net/denis-leary-a-hole-extraordinaire/

 FJH

http://autismretort.blogspot.com

"JACOB....IS.....TRYING....TO.....PEE....ON....ME!!!!!!"  I am jolted by this announcement as I stand over the stove trying to make popcorn for a special treat.  I run into the bathroom to see Elizabeth sitting on the toilet, and Jacob standing beside the toilet pee streaming down his leg, toilet and floor.  I look at Elizabeth with tears in her eyes.  "Jacob- lets go upstairs and use the potty," I say as I am pulling him away from the toilet.  "No!" he says back.  "Jacob, we either need to go upstairs and use the potty or you need to wait for Elizabeth to be done."  "Wait for Elizabeth...." his voice trails off.  He tries to release himself from my grip so he can finish peeing ....while Elizabeth is still sitting on the toilet.  I hold him back.  He is getting angry.  Elizabeth quickly finishes.  "Go ahead Jacob....I am done."  She doesn't hold a grudge.  Jacob finishes peeing.  I cup his eyes so that he can not look away.  "Jacob you can not pee while your sister is on the potty.  You need to wait, or use the other potty.  It is not acceptable to pee while Elizabeth is on the potty."  He escapes from me and runs into the living room.  I walk into the kitchen to see Elizabeth, and finish my popcorn.  "You okay?  You know he doesn't mean it right?" She had already forgot about the incident.  She says "I know he doesn't mean it.  Is the popcorn done?"  We are now just listening to the popcorn pop.  Elizabeth is dancing to the pops.  Jacob walks into the kitchen.  "Can I have popcorn please."  I tell him it will just be a minute.  He hears the popcorn popping, and starts jumping and flapping.  He flaps on Elizabeth....directly in the eye.  Her eyes well up with fresh tears.  I hug her to me.  "Are you okay?"  Her little body is clinging tight to mine as the sounds of the popping continue as well as Jacob jumpin  read more »

Let Me Explain...

I was eight months pregnant with Dylan (number 2 child) and Tristan had no communication; he liked to play in the living room facing the window lining up his cars or animals. Peter and I thought that Tristan had an independence streak and all our friends marveled at his ability to "play" by himself. While I painted all the rooms of our old colonial, Tristan lined up his toys and flipped the pages of his books.

Honestly, we had no clue there was anything wrong until Peter's grandfather, a doctor, and all his doctor friends came to Vermont to play golf. One of Grandpa Doc's friends was a pediatrician and as we sat at the bar of Peter's Dad's restaurant, worrying about Tristan's small toes that curled-in, we happened to mention that Tristan talks in gibberish and how we thought he would just start speaking whole sentences when he finally DECIDED to talk. He looked at us, raised his drink and in his Indian accent said "If Tristan doesn't begin speaking soon, you may want to get him evaluated."

Before I fell off my chair, I thought evaluated for what — he is an intelligent little boy who is well beyond single word sentences because he has the sentence structure all figured out. After dinner we left and on Monday morning I called our pediatrician and scheduled an appointment. Doctor Sara said, "Bring Tristan's favorite toys and let's play and then go from there."  read more »

http://www.freerice.com/index.php

This is a neat little site. You just answer some questions and help the UN feed the hungry =)

Having autism in the lime light has raised more money for ASD research and grants along with informing the public of early intervention and detection, however I am not sure the latest news segments about how to cure your child of autism, supports families in the long-run. We all are — "Warrior Families" plugging along trying to provide for our children while parenting them to reach their potential. When faced with autism, parents are given a diagnosis with no cause, cure, or prognosis even though we know through research that intensive, early intervention can often lead to a more inclusive life, we can sometimes get dragged down a path of trying to "cure" our children.

Curing our children with ASD only means we are taking a piece or pieces away from who they are. And what do we expect to replace the characteristics with, a fusion of "popular" people traits? Of course as parents we should help our children grow into adults that can enjoy a meaningful life, but I would never think of curing my four year olds's tantrums, I would work towards making him self-regulate himself. At the same time I think a child who has tantrums will someday be able to speak his or her mind, so I cherish the fact that my child screams when a toy is snatched from him.

However, I do believe we need to emphasize making children with ASD well, whether they suffer from gut issues or seizures, the care children receive should be complete and thorough. Often because an individual with ASD has limited communication or lack of connection to what hurts inside his/her body, doctors misdiagnose or a diagnosis is never made.

I have sat in dozens of doctor offices posing the same question over and over, "how can Tristan develop if he cries all night and has severe abdominal pain?" For the past four years I have been searching for the answer to improve my child's health, not to cure his autism.  read more »

Join the group Parenting Autism on Facebook!  Connect with individuals and parents affected by autism on Facebook.

I read on Yahoo news (and saw something on tv) about a couple of wildfires in California. They

said two people have died so far. Fire and earthquakes used to make me pretty nervous when

we lived in California.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2008) — A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has discovered an important clue to why children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble imitating others: They spend less time looking at the faces of people who are modeling new skills.

The study was conducted using high-technology eye-tracking headgear and software that measures with precision the point at which a child is looking when learning a task. Researchers used an actor to demonstrate a task on a computer screen.

"We found that the children with autism focused on the demonstrator's action and looked at the demonstrator's face much less often than did typically developing children," said Giacomo Vivanti, a postdoctoral researcher at the M.I.N.D. Institute and the study's lead author. "The typically developing children may be looking at the demonstrator's face to check for information on what to do or how to respond appropriately, information that the children with autism are less inclined to seek. This is an important finding, because children with autism have difficulty learning from others. This might be one key to why that is so," Vivanti said.

Imitation plays an important role in how children learn, as well as in how people interact socially, said M.I.N.D. Institute researcher and senior study author Sally J. Rogers, who has been studying imitation impairment and autism for more than 20 years. "This is a trait we see as early as we can diagnose autism, and it's one of the traits that is present even in mildly impaired adults," Rogers said.  read more »

Okay the counter thingy says 27 readers and nobodys writing anything new............. WAKE UP!!!

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please check out my new video WHY YOUR CHILD IS AUTISTIC  too.

Thanks!

Phil

I use Craigslist all the time to make deals. Just curious if anybody else uses it?

If anyone has an IEP coming up here are some ideas for the objectives.

The objectives should be clear and measurable.

Clear, measurable objectives should be specific with reagard to:

Who

What

When

With what support

How many/long/often

The school team should ask parents ahead of time for their input on what they woudl like their child to work on. And if possible, send a draft home for parents to review before the meeting. If not, be sure to bring your ideas for objectives to the meeting in writing or send them to teh teacher before the meeting. At the meeting, all can be reviewed and evaluated.