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I just read an article this morning about a mother who was very distressed, angry, and saddened by the fact that her 7 year old child on the Autism Spectrum was not invited to a birthday party. He was the only child in the whole neighborhood that was not invited, even though they all played together in the same neighborhood playgroup.
As I read it, my heart bled. I am sure that we can all feel this pain. The social/emotional gap between typical children and those on the autism spectrum is wide indeed. A doctor once told me that children are the best diagnosticians in the world, and when you watch a group of them, the odd child will always stand out alone.
So we cry, feel sorry for ourselves and for our child, and become indignant with a “soap box” reaction, feeling that we must go on a mission to educate those ignorant of social disabilities. These are all normal reactions of course, however, after all these negative feelings have passed, what can we do in the here and now for our child in a practical sense?
I was very impressed by the helpful answer to this predicament. The answer was to be proactive in this situation by being prepared with other plans. For instance: The suggestion was made to have plans ready BEFORE the party, simply inviting the child that is having the party to a private celebration, such as going to a favorite restaurant that both would have fun at and having plenty of parental supervision. A “one on one” type playgroup instead of a large group where our child will surely stand out. This great idea not only protects the child’s dignity and self esteem but it also gives an opportunity for education by assimilation, giving the other child and parent an occasion to broaden a greater understanding of Autism Spectrum and the social/emotional challenges that are a huge part of this disorder.
We may feel that we should not have to go to these lengths and that people should be more open minded, educated, and considerate. The fact is, yes, they should be and this would be wonderful if these attitudes were prevalent. However, this is not the case and we are our child’s parent. We accepted that parental role with the true honor of “protector” of our child. In order to be accomplished in our honorary title, we must make extraordinary efforts to protect the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of our child. This is not a simple task either, especially protecting our child’s emotional wellbeing. Keep in mind though, if we do not protect their self esteem and dignity…No one else will!
Let’s arm ourselves my fellow parents with a positive and defensive wall of protection for our kids. Thus, by so doing, we rise above the negative and dwell on a positive direction of promoting awareness. Just remember the old saying, “More flies are gathered by honey than with vinegar” and no one wants to listen to us if our words are sour. It may take more work and effort on our part, but our children are definitely worth it!
Kimberly Larochelle
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Autism is Local. Autism is National. Autism is International. The month of April is honoring “World Autism Month” and so do we here at the Mane’ Center. There are no boundaries in the world that is Autism, and there is no color, race, creed, social or economic distinctions either.
The Mane’ Center has been embracing visitors and patients all the way from the Tampa Bay Area to Michigan and North Carolina , to the UK this month! It is truly a pleasure to be able to see the worldwide scope and the outpouring of international togetherness to find a solution for our world’s children and families living with Autism Spectrum.
A few months ago, I had the great pleasure of being interviewed by Kevin Healey of Autism Radio UK . This was a tremendous forward step in a positive direction in getting the word out about hope and help for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
HERE IS THE LINK TO THE INTERVIEW:
http://www.autismradiouk.co.uk/archive/listen-again/200.php
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I had the pleasure of being on ABC’s Positively Tampa Bay last week with Lissette Campos. She is absolutely a genuine person who cares about the community and what she is doing. I feel like she showed a sincere interest in our cause, promoting awareness for Autism Spectrum Disorders and seemed interested by Hemispheric Integration Therapy also. I was happy because I got to speak about HIT again in a public forum and continue in my goal of getting the word out about Functional Neurology, Hemispheric Integration Therapy and the benefits it has for those on the Autism Spectrum. Here’s the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udl_Lq4EPKA
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Here is the link to an editorial regarding children on the autism spectrum and bullying in schools. This is a negative aspect of life but is something that is realistically occurring and parents as well as others need to be made aware of the situation. On the positive front, this article shows that there is more awareness regarding this subject and that possible legislation and political pressures are coming to bear on the situation. My hope with this post is to perhaps open some eyes regarding this subject and possibly motivate the more politically active to follow-up with what is going on in Massachusetts. Here is the link
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2009/11/22/kids_with_autism_are_especially_vulnerable/
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My name is Melissa Winter, and my oldest child is Autistic.
We were lucky enough to find an amazing school for him and he is thriving! He and so many other children like him are able to learn how to function despite the barriers of Autism because of centers like the one we found.
I am passionate about the work being done in the world of Autism and wanted to be able to make a difference, so I designed this glass puzzle piece necklace to help do just that. (See picture attached) A portion of our profits will be donated to The Slomin Family Center For Autism and Related Disabilities; http://dreambuilderscampaign.com and to Autism Speaks; www.autismspeaks.org
The wholesale price of our necklace is $10.00, with the suggested retail price of $20.00. Your school makes a $10.00 profit from every necklace sold! Not many fundraisers offer this kind of return! Please share this with your PTA President and the sponsors of any other club within your school that would participate in fundraising.
Please visit our website to learn more about “The Puzzling Piece” and how we can help your school grow too. www.thepuzzlingpiece.com. I can be reached for further information at 201-602-0547 or my e-mail address is info@thepuzzlingpiece.com.
“The Puzzling Piece” reminds me that I am not alone, and that we all can make a difference! There are so many pieces to the puzzle of Autism. Our necklace represents one of those pieces, and specifically how important all the pieces are.
I look forward to talking with you and exploring how “The Puzzling Piece” can be a “piece” in your school’s fundraising plan.
It’s not just art; it’s a statement!
Best regards,
Melissa Winter
201-602-0547
info@thepuzzlingpiece.com
Melissa Winter
President-Mom
The Puzzling Piece
201-602-0547
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This is an interesting site I found relating to Special education law with a section on Autism. I used the link below to take you to the site and this particular post which I thought was eye opening. This type of information is always beneficial to share. We all have experiences that we may have learned from that could help someone else that hasn’t been there yet.
http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2008/09/painful-failure.html#more
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I have a ten year old autistic boy as a patient who occasionally tries to bite me. He used to try it much more when we first started treatment but lately not as much, in fact rarely. I always say that what the practitioner of Hemispheric Integration Therapy does often does not look like much but many times what we ask of the child can be a very powerful stimulus and quite demanding. It is why and when we are doing something that is the art. Pushing a child to”exercise the weak part of the brain may require mommies help also as no one know that child like mommy( most moms are great.) But often what the child needs can be difficult to do and very frustrating . Also, to once again make the working out analogy, it has to be hard enough but not too hard. But the sessions can not be too easy either. I ran across the term alpha rage on a blog relating to my experience with the biting. I hope this expands your awareness.
http://autismblog.us/beta-rage-and-alpha-rage-whats-that/
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In my office, we have several children that are in or approaching adolescence as well as some older adult children. Presently, our oldest adult child is thirty four. Once again I state that this subject of autism spectrum disorders is so broad and immense and touches us in so many different ways. It always seems the younger children get the attention and always seem to be the poster children. Often the adults tend to be forgotten. As one parent once told me ” Its hard to get treatment for adults. Many places won’t even accept them as patients. I think this is because they are harder to manage and are not cute.” We do accept adults with autism spectrum disorders. For this reason I found some basic information on a few web sites for those of you in this situation or approaching this situation to begin getting some help. I will write more on this subject at a later date.
http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/autism-and-adolescence.html
http://autism.about.com/od/transitioncollegejobs/a/steward.htm
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Here is a report suggesting that corporal punishment in the school system is used more on children with disabilities than on the general population. To me, it is simply a reminder that we have to be watchful, communicate and be aware of what is happening to our children while they are at school. Obviously, parents of more lower functioning and/or lower communicating children need to be more concerned and diligent. Fortunately, there are watchdog groups and organizations keeping tabs on these types of situations and reporting back to the general public.
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/08/11/impairing-education-0
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I got this from Family Cafe
Dear Friend,
We are pleased to inform you that there is now an Autism license plate available here in Florida. Please see the following message from our friend Susan Goldstein, who has been a big advocate for this new license plate.
Advocates:
After a long hard effort, the Autism License Plate is finally available!!! All proceeds will fund direct service programs for children and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities.
The good news is that you don’t have to stand in line or go to the tag agency!
We know the difficulties of waiting in long lines for our families, so we tried to make it as easy as possible to acquire your new plate.
You can get your new plate by phone, and have it mailed to you.
You can even call and secure a personal message for your plate. The maximum number combination is five (5) letters/digits . When you call, the can check on the spot, if your choice is available. The forms will then be mailed or faxed to you, asking for your vehicle information to replace your existing plate, and your payment information. You can then mail or fax back the information to the tag agency, and your new plate will be mailed to you!
1-877-465-3824
Thanks for your support!
Susan Goldstein
