Sorry I didn't see the "Visits" posting right away. Don't mind me, I feel like little chunks of my brain are disappearing all the time.

Well, I guess you will always have a link to David, a cosmic link, and it's a good thing that he's the best guy you've ever known so far. It sounds like he isn't a deadbeat as far as child support goes. Does one child get his time and the other his financial support? That's a tough situation that he is in, two kids, two mother's of his children, time, distance, money, and his own youth, a bit of growing up to do, and some feelings of guilt, no doubt.

Did you say he has been talking about getting back together with you? It sounds like you are going to be more careful with your heart this time around, but you are maybe are willing to give things a try?

Well, I guess you could look at it this way, a lot of guys David's age are being deployed over to Iraq for seven months and then get to come home for four months. I heard of one guy stationed here at Camp Pendelton getting sent out four times in a row like that. Some Daddies don't come back. In either case, the mommies tell their young kids that daddy is far away and can't visit. So, in that regard, Michael is having a similar experience to a lot of his peers across America.  read more »

Well first of all it looks like maybe you ARE the only one who can respond,

kinda wierd. ANYWAY you've got a good head on your shoulders, you'll

be okay. And you're so lucky that Michael can at least ask you why his father

isnt around, my son cant. Listen Im not real religious but I think God gives these

kids to strong people for a reason, they truely are "special". David will have

alot of regret when he "grows up." Obviously being a mommy of a special needs

child has made you grow up very fast. As for Michael he's lucky to have a mommy

who puts him first, his daddy could take lessons from you =)

*okay its says image required............. lets see what I can find lol, not much on this computer since

the crash awhile back. I know I'll use my name =)~~

Actually I found that on the internet. A friend of mine in California said she liked

cowboys butts lol when I told her about Tx sooooooo put cowboy butts in search

thinking I'd send her a pic or two of cowboys in jeans and found that picture

instead lol. I dont know if its made to look old or what but Im guessing it was taken

sometime in the early 50s by the look of it.

As for cuddlin'...... TRUST ME lol. Guys that age have nothin but uh, well you know lol

on their minds. Ask any OLDER woman like me and they'll tell ya the same, hell ask

any man ANY age and he'll tell you the same.

We are moving away from forums and onward with blogging. Please put all new posts, threads, discussions as blog posts. Blog posts are more versatile, organized and easy to manage. Sorry for any inconvenience. 

I had not heard from Michael's father in probably 6 weeks. I had given up trying to get information out of him for Michael's profiles and such. I lost his address and wanted to send him a painting Michael did, along with his school pictures. Spencer does Spring pictures that are like senior portraits for little kids. I love Michael's. But no address. So I gave up deleted him from Myspace and just stopped emailing him. He woke me up at 1:15 this morning to talk. And kept me up until 5 on messenger. I was not the best of friends towards him but I refrained from saying many things on my mind.

I guess there is a reunion a few hours away so he is going to come down with his daughter after that and spend about 24 hours here. Yeah thats it. Michael has never met his sister. Does not even know about her. She is I think14 months. I met her mother but that really was not much. I want Michael to know his sister, I just do not think it is very fair that he needs to share his father right now. It would be impossible for David not to love the child he was there for since she was born and can see whenever. The one who is normal thus far... I just have mixed feelings. I do not want to overstep a line with her mother. I do not even know if he told Naomi he was bringing Rose here after the reunion. And no, not one person mentioned wanting to see Michael for it. Go figure.

I really do not know how I feel about David coming down. It will be right after Michael's birthday, and I know he has presents from geez last Christmas and beyond, but I do not care about presents. I think the hardest thing is him elling me he wants to be with me. I mean not as a relationship, he actually told me he wants to cuddle. Here I am trying to banish him from my heart. He s going to be in for a surprise because I am not giving up my heart again.   read more »

We give Marcel a buzz cut about every three months, it just makes like easier.

Im curious how many of y'all do the same thing. Last weekend my husband

decided to cut his. He shaved his hair REALLY short and we're in a military town

so he fits right in lol.

I tried to put these in a cute-pics forum, but it the site wouldn't let me, so... here he is before I gave him a buzzy haircut, riding an antiqu train, trying on my clothes, and dressed as Peter Pan.

CUTE CUTE! And Wyattsmom I see your little guy is like my lil guy, not so

little lol. Marcel was over three feet tall at two years old. When I found my

birth mom and sister, they told me the men in the family tend to be tall, somewhere

around six foot four =) He doesnt have a bike yet, maybe one of these days.

Hello everyone

First post here so hope I don't get it wrong! ;0)

I am involved with a project at www.developing-ability.com where we are trying to create a series of courses aimed at parents but suitable for others, eg. teachers, assistants, supporters.

We are looking for people from all around the world to participate in the design and development of these courses so as to ensure that they reflect best practice. To date we have people from Canada, the UK and USA involved.

We'd be happy to give free guest access to the online version of the first course "First Steps in ABA" to people who express an interest. All you need is broadband internet access. They are designed to be very practical courses, i.e. that you would learn how to use ABA methods and techniques in any setting, school, home, park, car...

We'd welcome enquiries from all areas, whether you are a teacher, parent, ABA therapist, SLT, social worker...

This will probably operate on a first come first served basis, and all we ask in return is that you offer us genuine feedback in the form of an email with recommendations, comments.

Many thanks

Here's Wyatt being pushed along on his trike.  Obviously, steering isn't a priority for him! 

I thought this would be nicer to look at than that plastic surgery spam that got posted here. 

Michael finally figure out pedaling! Steering is another matter. Step two, pedaling his big boy bike.

1. If you’re choking on an ice cube, simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. presto!

I just have a minute here, mom work to do. I believe in shots. I think they're given

too close together. I wish somebody had told us in advance, we knew nothing until

AFTER they were given ugh. Gotta go, I just needed to vent!!

Hi Cindy,

I've wondered about the flea killers that we've been putting on our pets since around the time of the rise of autism.  It is designed, not to kill adult fleas, but to kill their eggs and larvae.  Maybe it harms our kids, too.  

Another thing that came out for public consumption at the time of the rise in autism is Aspartame.  Saccharine (spelling?) was being taken off the market and they needed another sweetener to be rammed through the FDA for approval.  So we got Aspartame and there are still a lot of worries about it.  I think that is one reason why we're seeing a rise in alternative sweeteners like Splenda and Stevia.  Aspartame is not good for you, yet it is ubiquitous, like soy products now.  You find it in EVERYTHING.  I was looking at a box of Fiber One cereal.  14grams of fiber per serving, as healthy as can be!  My husband is a fiber junkie.  I was going to buy the cereal, but I saw Aspartame on the ingredients list and put it back.  Aspartame gives it flavor and keeps the calories low, which is what the public wants.    read more »

Okay so every day I get the latest autism news from Yahoo alerts & the

latest mentions chemicals in pet shampoo? Last week the latest was

something about schitsophrenia (not sure how to spell that one) in the

parent(s). A couple of months back it was from having an older father.

I KNOW little martians landed on planet earth and implanted autism pellets

into our childrens brains ugh!! So it's possible that all this other *#*@ caused

our children to be autistic YET it is impossible that it was the damn shots??!!

Sorry I just needed to vent!!

Be nice if we had a lil chat room here =) It's not like I have alot of time to chit chat,

but it would be nice if we had one, dont suppose its possible?? I'm a new member

and already addicted lol =)

Unfortunately Noahs Ark Advocacy isnt nationwide. It just so happens

ten minutes after I posted Brenda called. They're only in SATX. SORRY =(

But there has to be something equivalent out there!!

I just have a minute here, Marcel is pulling at me lol. I dont know if the company

is nation wide or what but our case worker through noahs ark advocacy here in

San Antonio is wonderful. I can count on Brenda for anything and it doesnt cost

us a thing. I sharded this info with Wyattsmom and she suggested I post it.

=) Cindy

I am so sorry that you have to deal with this extra hurdle in your life :(  Did Susan Baker give any sort of diagnosis, such as PDD-NOS?  (Pervasvie development disorder not otherwise specified).  Is there an appeals or second opinion process?  Can you call up SSI and ask for a supervisor regarding that MR waiver?  Maybe there are other "waivers" or maybe you don't need a waiver, maybe you could qualify on income alone?  Are you sure that High Functioning Autism doesn't qualify for SSI?  Anyone else reading this, do you have any insight???  I can't believe the system is letting Michael fall through a crack! 

Don't feel selfish!  Everything that you are working toward is for Michael.  You were just looking at one way to accomplish a goal, but you may need to take another path, that's all.   It's not that you hoped he scored low, not at all!  You know what is in your heart. 

If there is anything we can do, I don't know, like ask around on some autism Yahoo groups or other blogs or make some phone calls or something, let me know!  Maybe someone out there will have some good suggestions.  Meanwhile, hang in there!!! 

First I shall start with a long and deep *sigh*. Where to start. I have a tangle of thoughts and emotions, fears and doubts, wishes and disappointments, well basically a mess to word out.

I had no doubts in Michael before this morning. I accepted what they told me, and it all seemed to fit. Or did it fit because I was looking for proof to make those statements concrete, or was I just too accepting of the facts and related half-true coincidences from the books, statistics, websites, and word of others so I would not have to doubt anything.

Michael is ineligible for the MR waiver in Iowa. I should be happy he scored so highly. I should be proud of my little man for all he has overcome and progressed in this short time. Yet the disappointment over-powers that pride. I was really counting on that waiver so that I could have something to push at the state so they would help find and approve a daycare. So I could apply for SSI and get a car so I could have a hope of working again. I feel so selfish, was I looking to cash in on Michael? I have been surviving on nothing for so long, and all I could think about is the little help and what we could actually do with a little more money.

Have you ever had one of those movie moments where you are on repeat mode, where you almost vision an echo of something somebody is saying? Maybe all I could focus on was the words I never expected to hear. I know my son is not mentally retarded. But I was told for Autism I had to file under that waiver. Only according to this woman he is not showing any typical results of an autistic child on his tests.  read more »

Who says we are staying sane?  :)  (This is a reply to Shootingstars's post, I'm just having some technical problems--I posted a lovely reply yesterday that was promptly lost in cyberspace, so I am being forced to create a Blog entry as a reply).

Well, the obvious answer to "source of strength" and "shoulder to cry on" is a religious answer.  I think we all explore that in our own way and faith, even my husband the skeptic.  I think Faith is better than Xanax, plus Faith often comes with a support group of people to care about you, pray for you, and bring you casseroles.  But, although I haven't been short on Faith, I've been away from that scene for a while.  

All right, let's talk about the unreasonable burdens and demands that are placed on us Mom's of ASD kids.  Let's face it, it takes most of my energy to just take care of and clean up after Wyatt.  Meeting his basic needs, buying groceries, doing laundry, vacuuming, dishes, cooking, getting him from point A to point B all the time, that wears out any mom.  Now we add a layer of IEP meetings, therapy sessions, insurance paperwork, OK--I guess I can handle that.  No, wait, we forgot "parent training."  I'm expected to be a therapist, too! And a doctor, special diet chef, lawyer, teacher, researcher, and the list is endless.  This is our life 24/7.  But we can't live that life 24/7, it is just not good for our sanity.  read more »

To answer your question Shootingstars, I think having a good sense of humor

helps (seriously lol). We have wonderful friends (that are all over the place) but

only a phone call away when I need to talk. This site helps alot too. Elsie our

boxer is hilarious! I live for the weekends when my husband is home. I dont care

if we go anywhere or not, as long as we have our family time. Also sometimes I

have to remind myself how fortunate we are, he doesnt have cancer. Also I limit my

exposure. There is so much out there about autism I could drive myself crazy

researching. Sometimes I'll turn everything off in the house and crank up the stereo.

Today when Marcel was acting up really bad I put on my favorite feel good song lol...,

Marky Mark and the funky bunch, "Good vibrations". I crank it up and just get silly

with Marcel. He LOVES it. My 56 year old husband has also been known to skip in

the Walmart parking lot with his 8 year old lol. We just have to remind ourselves what

a miracle this kid is. We've been married 28 years in July. Marcel came along when I

was 38 & daddy was 48 proving God has a sense of humor!! Every day has its

challenges. I try to take it one day at a time (sorry AA if I stole your saying).

Where do you find your strength from? They say a mother can rise to any occasion, but I wonder if that is really true. When does giving more than what you have become too hard or breaks you down? It seems like every day is a roller coaster. Somedays I feel like I can conquer the world, others I want to hide from it. I could lie and say these days rotate by what is on the calendar, but nothing can change between two days and my whole emotional state of being may flop or fly.

Sometimes I would give anything for a shouler to lean on. I wish I could act my age. But choices I made 4 years ago changed everything. I love Michael more than anything in life, and I feel horridly guilty for those feelings. I wish I could find a source of strength that would help me be really strong rather than faking a smile for sanity's sake.

Well I still cant respond but I can post so I wanta share a cute story.

Yesterday our respite care provider commented on how well Marcels

favorite Winnie holds up even though he's always biting the nose.......,

so I explained  that its kinda like when you were a kid and your gold fish

died and your parents didnt tell you they just replaced the gold fish lol.

Marcel has six or seven Winnies that we just replace when the old one is

worn  out. He always has a "favorite" that he chews on, bites at and sleeps

with. I snag it and wash it when it gets too cruddy and then replace it when

needed and he never knows the difference lol.

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Todd tried to help me... but I am hopeless ugh =( I still cant repond in

public ugh.

There have been some changes to the site:

• Disabled Mandatory Preview - You can now submit without having to preview first.
• Disabled Smileys - Users were complaining of issues. They also "dumbed down" the look and feel of the site.
• Added a Site Information Forum - Use this forum for all questions, ideas and discussions of Autism Blogger.
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Hopefully, these changes improve useability and ease for everyone. 

Stay tuned to this forum for more information regarding upgrades and improvements.

Im still having trouble!!!

Is anyone struggling with the reading issue at this point who could point me in the right direction? My son is 6 years old and we are really struggling with his reading. Any assistance would be great!

N. Walker and J. Cantello, eds. (Toronto: The Geneva Centre), 1994.  (sorry, could not find an ISBN.  The Geneva Centre website:

http://www.autism.net/

Their address is:

112 Merton Street
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M4S 2Z8

This booklet provides several quotes of people with various ASDs describing how they experience the world on a sensory basis and how they perceive this has impacted their lives.  I found it helped me to develop a more empathetic understanding of the various challenges many ASD people face on a day-to-day basis.  Some of the statements (theories) presented in the preface may be somewhat out-of-date.

On the CBS Evening News tonight on the second round of cases that went to court  today alleging a causal relationship between child vaccination and autism cases.  We've got some preliminary interviews and content up on our site now and  the final piece will air tonight at 6:30 EST (check local listings).  We  would love some help in getting the word out so people can see this  story.

Here is the link to what we have on the web -
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/12/cbsnews_investigates/main4086809.shtml

I found this heartwarming story about a Autistic boy who's chemistry project makes it to a statewide science competition.

 http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/indepth/story.aspx?content_id=d0e40769-ec51-42de-b813-8b2cec80057e

I can't believe I didn't think to post this before about enzymes.  Has anyone here tried enzymes instead or in addition to the Gluten-Free Casein Free diet?  I bought some last year when I heard about them.  I had to do a little research and price comparison first, but I decided to get two different kinds, one for gluten and casein digestion and one for bean, grain, and vegetable digestion.  Now that my son is eating a broader variety of foods (this year), I am going to give these another try.  Here are the brands I tried: 

AFP-Peptizyde from HNI:  Houston Nutraceuticals, Inc., Using Nature's Science for Better Health

V-gest from Enzymedica

Other companies make enzymes including Kirkman Labs, a bio-med company that is popular with the ASD set. 

I heard that V-gest is extremely mild and a good enzyme to start with.  But I also wanted to get an enzyme that really addressed the GFCF diet.  I tried the AFP Peptizyde loose powder for sprinkling over food.  I found that it does have a very, very slight savory taste.  The drawbacks are that it says not to get it on your skin or inhale it.  That's just impossible.  Also, it tends to make sauces runny--it seems to draw the moisture out of Mac n' Cheese so that all of the enzyme is sitting in a runny pool of cheese and I wonder how much enzyme is actually getting into my child's system.  read more »

Wyattsmom can you answer in public now or are you having to create content like

me? This is weird. Im fine til I hit the preview button.... forgive me for repeating

that lil problem ugh.

This is a title of a booklet produced by The Geneva Centre (of Toronto, Canada) that includes many quotes of people with ASDs of their own sensory experiences.  I found this book helped tremendously to develop a sense of just how differently we all experience this world through our basic five senses.  My son, like many people with ASDs has difficulty dialing down or filtering background noises.  To gain an idea of just how that might "feel" - I would sit in a quiet room and deliberately try to hear every single little buzz, whir, click, hum and then imagine that I could never find a spot to escape these sounds.  Afterward, many of my son's expressions of frustration seemed to be more logical.  Over time, I learned which types of sounds bothered him the most and was sometimes able to peg them as the causes of difficult behaviors and to reduce his frustration by selectively removing the ones I could from his environment.  It also helped my son to understand for himself that this was an issue for himself and he did find many ways to cope himself in environments with noises that were inherently irritating to him.  He likes headphones (and thankfully this has become more and more a socially acceptable thing to do).

He had similar issues with smells.  One quote from the book (not him but someone with a similar experience to his):  "I did not like the smell of fresh grass (as a child).  Fresh grass has really too much smell for me to like going on the grass."  Somedays my son would tantrum just going out the door - those days... after a rain, after we had just mowed the lawn...  Once he knew how to tell us which smells bothered him, it got easier to respect his sensitivities.

Check out http://www.heartofsailing.org/mission.asp 

This program been around for 3 years and is a non-profit free/low-cost sailing therapy program that began in Indiana.  There are lots of locations and volunteers in other places, too now.

$10 per person one-time registration fee, optional $5 per person on day of sailing for a meal.  For ages 8 to 18, but ages 3 to 60 ish welcome (see their site for more detials).

Gees I still cant respond in public. I wanted to say my son sounds very much like your

grandson. He hits and bites, scratches. We're checking into ABA. Your family is not alone.

We use time out, it helps some. Gotta go, he's havin a tizzy ugh.

The culprit  is the preview button, thats when everything slooooooooows down and then

it says service unavailable. My pop up blocker is off. All I can say is it's a good thing I dont

drink lol*ps this will be okay coz I dont have to preview, I can just hit submit

It's me Cindy in disguise......... I still cant respond to anybody even under my new

name grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day! Hope everyone is having a great day.

That reminds me, I need to go call my mom... 

I just can't believe it sometimes.  I go to my grandson's house.  He is 7.  He seems happy to see me.  He reaches out for my hand and holds it.  Then he hits me in the face with his other hand and laughs.  I take him to his room.  He gets down on the floor and starts kicking at me.  I manage to pick him up and put him in his room.  I hold the door shut so he can't get out.  He is very strong and it's hard for me to hold on to the door knob.  After a while, he seems to calm down and I let him out.  Before I know it, he's at it again!  WHile he's trying to kick me or bite me or pinch me, he's laughing hysterically.  It all seems like a bad dream.  I don't know what to do anymore.  I feel like I'm in a mad house.   It's depressing.  Oliver has a sister who will be 10 in July.  She has to live with this.  I take her as much as I can but I can't help feeling that she's being damaged by having to live with a brother like this.  I worry about her.

In case y'all are wondering it didnt work! I cant comment and while Im complaining what in THE

hell is a technorati whatever in the heck it says? Technorati tag I think is what it says. I like this

site and it ticks me off that I cant comment!!!!!!!

I have strange ideas for things, I know. I like to pretend that I am a writer, it is a dream of my own for being published some day. I write for two sites but have not submitted more than poetry of late. Actually not even that lately. *smacks own hand* I have thought about writing up a few articles about my ASD experience. Surprisingly there are not as many entries in that section as I had thought, so if I really pour my heart into it, there are few reasons I cannot earn a few cents (or possibly more) a month on the articles. (I can give anybody who wants more information about writing for the site in a private message) Last night I was flipping through American Baby (for some reason I have a free subscription because I am "pregnant"m no clue how that happened) and realized that they rarely talk about the things that could go wrong with our babies. I have never seen an article on ASD or even Down Syndrome. I realize they do not want to scare young parents ect, but statistics are going up. Magazines need to start thinking about single, younger, and special needs parents in parts of their articles.

Yes that ramble has a point. Reading the newbie blog of a new member I had another strange thought. And this one I am not pushing much at the moment it is more of a pipe dream. What if we compliled testimonies of the "Auti-Mom" (& Dad) into a book. Since no two ASD children are the same. It would be like a normal variety population version of Jenny's book. Since that is harder to accomplish, it made me think smaller scale. Yes it has been a morning of power thoughts. And since we slept way in, it has been a hour of thoughts. And more keep coming even as I write this.  read more »

Im having trouble with this site

Okay I can create content but I cant respond to what somebody else writes ugh.

Everything I write comes out double spaced which is irritating but a minor problem.

So anyway I go to respond, click on the preview thingy and after what seems like

an eternity a new page (for lack of a better word) will open up and all it says is

service unavailable upper left hand corner. Ive changed browsers. Ive checked pop

up control. Now I just may have a hissy fit

I have to say that the past two weeks have been very intense and amazing for my son and I.  We have both grown tremendously.

As some of you know, it began with him literally giving me a piece of his mind by explaining to me that a few wavy lines drawn when he was very young was in fact a picture of his EEG (Another Way to Look at the Writing on the Wall).  It moved through his decision to invite about 60 people to a birthday party at a bar for his 20th birthday and with me helping him process the fact that he received only 6 positive replies and about 30 maybes.  Then came the worst day, the day that not one of those positive replies or maybes bothered to show up.

Although that was the most painful day, I now realize that it was the most important one because that was the day that I was called upon (by him) to be his real friend and we spent three hours in that bar together, mother and son, working through our pain together by making up a list of plausible explanations as to why this had occurred.  It took me longer than he - to forgive and to find the courage to move on, but with his help, I continue to work on it.

The next day, he forgave the two people who DID email him with apologies and explanations and he thanked me for understanding and for being there to help him get through it all.  He then made a point of going to someone else's party and found that he could still have some fun with the group (by overlooking their earlier transgressions (even the ones that never provided an apology).  He still hopes they will see at least how they can hurt his feelings or to acknowledge at least that he has feelings.  read more »

I'm so new to this whole thing, we are going to our first specialist appt in june. WE've been working with speech and behavioral therapies since 18mo and all agree that our son is autistic, we just need the final diagnosis form the specialist to get the services ball rolling.

I dont know what to expect from autism. It terrifies me, I'm afraid that I'm going to loose my son into the depths of his own mind. Does ASd work like that, like alsheimers in that it slowly worsens until theres nothing left of the child I love so dearly? I dont care if he learns slower, or if he's weird in the eyes of strangers, I only care that he can still be the loving wonderful little sprite that I know today. That would tear my heart out is he stops being affectionate with us, I dont think I could handle it. I just want to keep telling him to stay here with me, just stay how you are and I will always be here for you. Someone please tell me what happens as they grow up, do all ASd kids disapear emotionally? It's like mourning a death right now, I cant loose my baby to this, I just cant take that and still be OK.  

More Than Words, by Fern Sussman, $52.  A beautiful book and a fabulous resource for parents of young pre-verbal ASD children.

This book is part of a program called The Hanen Program (from Canada).  You can learn more about Hanen at http://www.hanen.org  More Than Words:  Helping Parents Promote Communication and Social Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder is a beautiful, easy, book to read and has lovely pen and ink drawings with clear captions.  It is filled with so many practical, common sense ideas.  I would highly recommend this book for parents who want to do more to encourage their ASD children but are having trouble figuring out how and where to start.  The Hanen program offers certification for Speech professionals; therefore, there may be a Hanen program seminar offered by certified Hanen people in your community.  

They have other programs including , It Takes Two To Talk, involving parents of children with language delays, Talkability for parents of verbal children on the autism spectrum, and another program for parents kids who are simply late talkers.

This book is $52 on the Hanen website.  Superduperinc.com also has this book for $55.  Amazon does not stock it in-house.  

My kiddo likes to admire himself in the mirror while wearing his little underpants.   He will pose this way and that, standing on a chair.  When he is in a self-admiring mood he will bring me a pair of his underwear so I can help him put them on.  Any other time, he wants nothing to do with his undies.

Here's a picture of him up to no good, standing on a box, trying to grab our CD player from my closet. 

Okay Wyattsmom............ how about that?? Now if the damn thing will only let me post grrr.

I am worried about discrimination based on biased, inconclusive, incomplete, compromized, and "fuzzy" scientified "studies."  Groups like the Nazi's performed all sorts of grotesque and bestial reproductive (and other) experiments on the Jews as a propaganda that they, the [Jewish] victims were sub-homan.  In the same twisted way, white supremacist groups have lots of psuedo-scientific progaganda out there "proving" that other races are infererior due to reduced cranial size or whatever nonsense.

It disturbs me when I read about scientific "findings" that certain lobes of autistic brains may be smaller or certain neurons may be missing.  I worry that this information will be used to discriminate against our children.  Really, the brain is a powerful and mysterious organ.  Haven't we all read that theory that people actually only use 95% of their brain's true capacity?  If so, then what difference does it make if one lobe of an autistic person's brain really is a little smaller than that of a typical persons?  What difference does it make if someone is missing a certain neuron if the person can perform the same capability using different channels in the brain?  Of course, of course, of course, I am NOT against scientific research!  Quite the opposite!  I just don't want it to be shoddily done or to come back to bite my kid.  read more »

Now that I find myself "out" (of the box at least), just for the record - my mom was never a "refrigerator" and last time I checked, I wasn't one either.

There is no cure for autism, but ASD people do learn to present a set of symptoms that are more acceptable to the "rest" of society.

In a perfect world, however, ASD people would not have to fear being "magically erased" by a cure or having their life's work (i.e. achieving social acceptance) threatened by a raft of "scientific" opinions.  As someone on this site so eloquently put it - magic erasers not only remove the marks, they take some of the color out of the paint as well.

My son is still wondering why he can go to other people's parties and have fun, but no one even bothers to show up at his.  Does science have an answer?

Check out Garth Brooks - "The Dance."

Still trying to come up with some readily available raw data (Based in the philosophy that there are at least three sides to every coin, not just two and that our government has a responsibility to disseminate impartial information rather than just "sell" a point of view to the public.)  Personally, as I have said, I am on the fence regarding vaccines and autism.  Because I am still unable to glean any similar stats from the CDC or Fed Stat website, I am using data from the Public Health Agency of Canada website; however, there is still a detectable bias in how the data are selected and presented (i.e. promoting the efficacy of vaccines).  Completely objective data (so that I could form my own logical and informed conclusion) have, so far, remained elusive.

Diphtheria:  "Routine immunization against diphtheria in infancy and childhood has been widely practised in Canada since 1930. In 1924, there were 9,000 cases reported, the highest annual number ever recorded in Canada... At the same time diphtheria was one of the most common causes of death in children from 1 to 5 years of age. By the mid-1950s, routine immunization had resulted in a remarkable decline in the morbidity and mortality of the disease. Toxigenic strains of diphtheria bacilli are detected each year, although classic diphtheria is rare. In Canada, there are 0 to 5 isolates reported each year."  (source URL:  http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/im/vpd-mev/diphtheria-eng.php)  read more »

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations (Paperback)<!--aoeui-->
by Stephanie Cave

This book offers statistics and suggestions for a revised vaccination schedule.  One side note... the author tells you to look for "unbundled" MMR shots, but even back in 2003 I was repeatedly told that the pharma companies had stopped producing unbundled MMR shots.   

The most common data flying around about ASDs is that if currently is estimated to occur in 1 in 150 births each year.  It seldom results directly in death, but presents usually as a serious handicap to social integration for those who "contract" it.  These difficulties can remain pronounced for a lifetime although inroad are being made towards recovery (although percentages of effective recovery stated vary considerably).

As a basis for comparison, I've been trying to get some pre-vaccine statistics on the various childhood diseases and am finding this surprisingly difficult (at least just from home on the web).  The raw data I can find comes from Canada (The Public Health Agency of Canada Website).

Here is what I've found so far:

Measles:  "Before measles vaccine became available, virtually all children contracted measles; as estimate 135 million cases with about 7-8 million deaths globally each year... Currently, more than 30 million people are affected each year by measles. Globally, in 2003, it was estimated that there were 530 000 measles deaths, the majority of them children." (source url:  http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/tmp-pmv/info/measles_e.html#profile)  This calculates to a global pre-vaccine rate of death per case of about = 1 in 19 and a current rate of death per case of about = 1 in 56.  However, statistics regarding deaths from complications of the vaccine were not mentioned.  read more »

As a teenager I was taught that measles was more a condition of the past. I had never heard of anybody getting it. Actually funny story, Michael's paternal grandmother once was going off how there could be a biological war with measles virus because kids are no longer vaccinated. I guess the old shots or something left scars. We were watching some documentary at the time. I am not really close to Michael's paternal family so of course I remained silent because I really did not know about vaccines. Of course after that Michael was given the MMR.

I heard there was an outbreak of Measles in another state but never really thought about it. I got off the phone with my neighbor a bit ago. Her son is sick, they do not know what is wrong with him, but his paternal grandmother pays more attention to the news and stuff. I guess there was 60 some cases here, and one was a kid who was vaccinated.

I am not saying go out and get your kids jabbed. But even though Michael is ASD I am relieed he had the shot. I could not imagine losing a child to measles, or having him blinded or brain damaged by the fevers. 

Why doesn't the government and all the top hospitals of the world get rid of the frozen viruses of the past so there are no longer any risks of redevelopment of these things...

I just got off the phone with Michael's teacher, who turns out to now be his case manager rather than the Area Education Agency which was news to me, but not disturbing news. A summer program has been designed specifically for Michael and one other child, since their need is unnusual. I guess this is the only year he will qualify so I definately will not complain. He will have 5 weeks spread out over the summer where he will go 2 days a week for an hour or so. And then I am going to get him re-evulated by the CAMPS, which honestly I do not know what it stands for. He will see the occupational and speech therapist again if they approve him to start work again. Only this time I am going to lay down my foot, he sees one set and only one set of therapists. Last time he would see one set for a few weeks then boom go back to working with another. For occupational therapy this was not such a problem, but I would prefer the speech therapist to remain the same. I am hoping they will work more on sign language since that has really helped him thus far, even with his limited knowledge.

I am happy they finally figured that out.

No I do not think I am. As a normal mid-western teen girl I had a few little bouts with depression. But compare myself mentally to some of the other girls I ran around with, I was beyond the degree of normal... Maybe there is something to the following study I will paste, but I am probably too sensitive, but I almost deleted it and thought "jerk doctors" but I guess there may be something to it. From what I have concluded about my fellow posters here on AB, we all seem like normal ASD non-psychotic mothers. Of course one of us may have a pysciatric disorder, I do not mean to judge or be rude towards you.

A brief review of: Daniels, J.L., Forssen, U., Hultman, C.M., Cnattingius, S., Savitz, D.A., Feychting, M., Sparen, P. (2008). Parental Psychiatric Disorders Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Offspring. PEDIATRICS, 121(5), e1357-e1362. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-2296

The journal of Pediatrics just published a population study based on the national Swedish registry, which examined the association between parental psychiatric history and autism. The authors compared the parental psychiatric of 1,227 of children with autism spectrum disorder and 30,925 typically developing children. Children were identified as having autism spectrum disorder if they were born between 1977 and 2003 and had a diagnosis of ASD recorded in the registry between 1987 and 2003.  read more »

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