Diary of a Mom

As an autism gram, I depend on the autism community for support, education and knowledge.

In my first A to Z post, I mentioned Jess Wilson's blog, Diary of a Mom.  So often, when I can not figure out how to express what I want to say about how I feel, Jess says it for me in her inimitable way.  We don't always agree but I am almost always educated and most definitely respected.

Hope on over and let me know what you think.  You will not be disappointed!

Unacceptable

When a person becomes a teacher, it ought to be because they love, I mean LOVE children and desire making a positive difference in the lives of their students.

When a person becomes a special needs teacher, this love and desire to make a difference in childrens' lives needs to be multiplied several times over.

There is no greater trust that a parent can give than for a person to spend hours of time with their child. When a child doesn't have the ability to communicate clearly, the trust factor has to be even greater.

It is with a heavy heart that I share this:

This is unacceptable. I believe it is time to have cameras in all special needs classrooms first and then in every classroom across the country. When I was in fourth, fifth and sixth grade, I had teachers who were abusive. This was in an academically talented situation. That is why I say cameras need to be in EVERY classroom.

Who will speak out for our precious, precious children?

Awareness?

This is the first in my attempt to do the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Twenty-six days, twenty-six entries, one for each letter of the alphabet.

As April is Autism Awareness Month, I can see no way around starting off with an "awareness' blog.

At this point in time, I do believe that anyone who has access to communications is "aware" of the existence of autism. Overall, I find people to be quite kind when they learn my granddaughter is on the spectrum. Seems that everyone has someone they know who has been touched by this disorder.

This site, http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly/milestones/index.html, will give you milestones your child ought to be reaching at certain ages. EARLY intervention is so very important to your child's development.

Awareness isn't just knowing that something exists; it is knowing about and dealing with the disorder as early as possible Did I say that already? I guess I really mean it!

Personally, I knew something was going on with my grandbaby before her first birthday. I still kick myself for not saying somethibng to my daughter sooner than I did. Better to be cautious than sorry.

Any questions? Looking forward to visiting and getting to know some of you. gail

1,,,2,,,3,,,

...4...5 When I was taking education courses, a wise professor taught us to count to five slowly before calling on a student to answer a question. She explained that students process differently and it takes some longer than others to come up with an answer.

This lesson has come in very handy in grandparenting (yes, I did make up that word) a child on the autism spectrum. It seems that the brain of someone with autism doesn't work in the same way as the average person's. (If you like, I can refer you to some sites for further explanation.)

In the part of the northeast that we live in, we tend to be in a rush. This makes us want answers to our questions as soon as we ask them.

"What did you have for lunch in school today. Huh? What?"

This might be asked with little pause between the three questions.

I noticed that we were doing this with Isabella. After remembering what my dear professor said, I started pausing and watching my girl. I was actually able to "see" her gears turning while she processed the question.

When Bells was in pre-k, Jordan longed for her to be able to answer that simple question about lunch. Now, she can! Sometimes the answer comes easily and other times I need to prompt her. Her progress, though, is wonderful!

Whether on the autism spectrum or not, it is kind to wait on answers from those around us.

So, too, is it wise to wait before answering questions. I tend to suffer from "foot in mouth disease" because of some of my "unfiltered" comments.

The weekend is here and we are anticipating snow. I think I will sleep through it. What are you up to? g

This post is part of a blog hop at Company Girl via Home Sanctuary Why not visit?

Welcome to Holland

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley.
c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Back in the Saddle

I am going to do my best to get back into the swing of blogging. Other on line activities have taken me away from my first love and I long to type more than one sentence at a time!

Recently, we had the yearly IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting at Isabella's school. It took a while for my daughter and me to understand that the system is taking away services while telling us how well Bells is doing. "Your child is doing well so we are going to reduce her time in school and take away her summer program." Huh? If it is working why change it? Bottom line, let's save money.

Budget cutting measures are made by people who aren't in the trenches. If they met these wonderful children would they be as quick to pull the rug out from under them? If they were to look into the eyes of the parents who are exhausted from the daily care of special needs children and from working full-time to put food on their tables could they justify the measures they are taking?

More and more I see the need for groups like Autism Speaks and P.O.A.C. which are on the front lines of defending the rights children on the autism spectrum. When I reached out, I was given information to help my daughter fight this I.E.P. and insist on getting Bells the services that are helping her to flourish.

On May 23rd, team Isabella will be walking for Autism Speaks. We hope to raise $1000 to help raise awareness of autism, education and research for a cure. If you wish to join us let me know! If you want to donate, great. What I ask for most is your support and encouragement for myself and any other families with members on the spectrum. Learn about autism. Reach out; give them a break if you are so inclined.

Awareness and education; our greatest weapons and our greatest defenses.

blessings from the trenches, gail

Freaky Friday Falderal

Freaky Friday Falderal

Friday evening and, as I sit here typing this, the Yankee/Twins playoff game is on and I am scratching my head over the news of this day.

Firstly, I see that Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Huh? The candidates were chosen two weeks after he was sworn in. Why did he win this? Have his followers finally convinced enough people that he is the messiah? I am confused.

Then I read in the paper that my state is starting a registry for autistic people. It seems we already have registries for craniofacial problems, cardiac problems and others. It looks to me that we are being prepared for a healthcare holocaust! It is supposed to be anoymously reported by healthcare professionals. Anonymous. Right. I sense that this is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Beware when the government comes saying it is doing something to help you. Big Brother is watching.

Heard a specialist in infection and disease control say he wouldn't take or allow the swine flu vaccine to be given to his children. He said it has too many additives in it like a disinfectant that has been linked to causing autism in children with mitochondrial defects. Hellooooo! Let's use our sense, people.

My darling Isabella has a stomach something. Poor thing was crying in pain and asked me to put a band aid on her tummy. Is that too cute? Poor thing just wanted to go to sleep and woke up in pain and started throwing up. My poor baby.

Have you ever read George Orwell's 1984? Did/does it effect the way you think about government? Actually, I have never read it but know enough about the premise that it has affected my life for a long time. I don't even want EZ Pass in my car but Himself insists on it. Privacy is an illusion.

Did you or are you going to get a flu shot this year? How about the swine flu vaccine? I'm not prone to getting the flu but opted to get the shot because I need to be healthy to care for Bells. Swine flu? Not on your life! It's too new. See above.

What is your idea of an ideal Saturday off? Starting Friday night, staying up as late as I like. Saturday morning sleeping in as long as I like. Then, having a quiet house all to myself for the entire afternoon followed by a nice evening with our bcf's (best couple friends - the couple we hang out with the most).

Read any good books lately? Just finished Kathy*Reichs' latest, "206 Bones." That's how many we have in the human body. It was pretty good. I figured some of it out early on, though. Also, been reading Ecclesiastes in the Bible.

Have any trips coming up? Well, since you ask...I am going to visit my baby brother in Texas next week. I haven't seen him in two and a half years and am going to suck up my fear of flying to see him and his wonderful wife. Hopefully, Dana "Texas Mammie" and I are going to meet up for lunch.

Heard or seen any craziness in the news? Let's hear about it?

blessings, g