Autism Blogger

subtitle:  The All-New (Yet disturbingly familiar) Adventures of Aspie and Autie.

This blog will follow the ups and downs of life with my two sons on the spectrum.  Aspie is 10 and has high functioning Aspergers Syndrome (think of a little Jimmy Neutron).  Autie is 7 and has profound autism.  Living with the combination of the two of them has lead to both the absolute toughest and also the most unbelievably hilarious moments in my life.  It really needs to be documented somewhere for future generations.  So here we go, this is a start, many more blogs to follow.  

Sign me,  IPGL (I Plan, God Laughs). 

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I have to say, I do like Run to Win camps. When I came to pick up on the last day, the coach was saying how to "sign up on Gods Team." I am christian so I am biased and I loved that they did that. Then when I was looking for Zare I found him hugging a coach. We pick up his stuff and say Goodbye to the Head Coach. He says

"Zare, don't forget your cool drawings!" So then I ask the question my DH wanted to ask.

"So, did He go on the field at all?"

"Well He did go on the field some, but we are not going to push him if he does not want to do something. But he did better every day."

In the car driving off, I asked him what his favorite part of camp was;

"Water break, a girl gave me some of her candy." Then I asked him what was his least favorite part.

"Leaving."

You never know until you try! I am so glad we are doing sports camps this summer, and yes next week he is taking a week off.

I have a 3 year old son who has been diagnosed with Autism. He shows more characteristics of PDD but Autism is the diagnosis. I also have a 2month old son. My boys are the light of my life. I adore them so much. When I was pregnant with my second, I was pretty sure that I could manage the load in a way to where my toddler would not experience jealousy. I took the advice of some friends with two kids and continually try to include my oldest in most of the tasks dealing with the baby. However, things have not gone exactly as planned. What does go as planned when you have kids. My oldest really seems to love the baby. He is very affectionate and always wants to hug, kiss, and hold the baby. The problem is, he doesn't understand how to be gentle. He is not aggressive with the baby. He just gives very firm hugs and kisses which are a bit too rough for the baby. In turn, after telling him to be gentle several times, I find myself gently pulling my toddler to the other side of me which may appear as if I don't want him touching the baby. That's not the case. It is just so hard to get my autistic toddler to understand that he is being too rough.

I have noticed lately that my 3yr old is starting to act out. Not against the baby, but against mommy and daddy. Oh, and his teachers at school. He is doing anything and everything he knows he is not supposed to do to get attention. He doesn't even care that it is negative attention. So being that he is continually being told not to touch or do certain things, and being given time outs, it appears that the baby is being favored. I am not trying to play favorites. I am just having a hard time getting him to understand that the baby can't talk and that is why he gets what he needs when he cries or fusses.  read more »

Hi everyone! My five year old daughter has autism and I am having a lot of issues finding a good school for her . We live in Fairfield, Ohio and I have checked out the Cincinnati Center for Autism but would like to check out some other schools as well. Do any of you know of any other schools in the area? 

WhatsamattaU

Alex is getting a grip on using language. “Good morning, Alex.”

“ ‘morning, Alex.”

“No. ‘Good morning, daddy.’”

“ ‘morning, daddy!”

I’m learning more about how he’s learning to speak. He’s pretty clear, for instance, but can’t seem to form his mouth around a V sound; he pronounces the words “fiking” and “scuba difer.” That seems more a matter for his speech therapist, though, so I’ve decided to just grab moments to teach him words and appropriate phrases.

“Watch Elmo!”

   read more »

As I was getting dressed today, in my extremely messy back bedroom that we keep closed off to the daycare- I found my red construction headphones that I use so that I'm able to mow the lawn.  I'm MUCH higher functioning than Derek H.- whom we all know from his father's posts here- but my autistic symptoms are indeed similar to his in that most of my problem is caused by a highly sensitive and somewhat malfunctioning nervous system- both in small motor control and sensory issues.

 But it struck me, this morning as I was driving in to work, what a difference in philosophical symbolism there is between the puzzle piece and the red headphones.  It very much represents the difference between the parental cure types, and the neurodiversity movement.  

 Those who choose the puzzle piece for the symbol of autism- are very much trying to *correct the autism* in a way that forces the autistic individual to be what he is not.  For them, autism is a puzzle to be figured out- a puzzle because in their world view, to be normal is to all think alike.

 But to me, the Red Headphones represent coping skills- learning to cope with the challenges, instead of medicating them away (and even special diets like GFCF, are a method of medication), while preserving the genius and the good in autism.  I've always said, one day an autistic savant will save the world.  But they can't, if we medicate the condition down to non-existence. 

Autism NI/Autism Ulster and its PAL

The Parent Autism Lobby (PAL) was launched in July 2009 by the charity Autism NI/Autism Ulster. (see page 3 here: www.autismni.org/news/ebulletinJulyAugust09.pdf. )

I am not sure why AutismNI/Autism Ulster felt the need to create a separate lobby group of its own existing members to separately represent parents. It could be that parents are not being heard within the charity. The Charity claims to have 18 branches across Northern Ireland, branches made up of parents. There are only 1.8 million people in Northern Ireland, so that is one branch per 100,000 people. The rate of autism in Northern Ireland is as yet unknown, but let's say it's 1 in 100. So each branch could serve a potential 1000 members. That's a lot of people, and a lot of voices. Why the need for PAL? Isn't AutismNI/AutismUlster providing a platform for all those voices?

The PAL group was formed at the same time as the launch of the new Northern Ireland Regional Autistic Spectrum Disorder Network (RASDN) in June 2009 www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/news-dhssps/news-dhssps-june-2009/news-dhssps-29062009-health-minister-launches.htm )  read more »

I was just wondering if anyone else's child has a hard time with having their teeth brushed and if so what are some ways you have tried to make it easier for your child? Does your children also tend to have a lot of plaque or tarter build up on their teeth?