aaah.....

Today I am paying for letting boy have milk yesterday! ugh! He really enjoys having pizza on Fridays at school, but of course it is riddled with milk products.

The result? Out of control crazy kid. No focus, glazed over eyes, easily frustrated, and his voice takes on a different tone...it's totally hard to explain...but trust me, it can easily drive you mad.

Coping and trying to survive the day...

news - hormone oxytocin to help autism?

"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow." ~ Orison Swett Marden

Here is an interesting article I read today. French researchers believe the hormone oxytocin can help improve eye contact as well as the ability for people with autism to read other people's expressions. Apparently some children with autism have low levels of this hormone.

To read more: Oxytocin hormone help

Oh holiday

"Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie

In our house, Valentine's day is celebrated with all of the excitement and enthusiasm of Christmas. And, this is for no reason other than the fact that it is a holiday. Boy LOVES holidays. And, he remembers every holiday and spends the days leading up to the holiday reminiscing about the past year's holidays. It is extremely tiring to listen to, but his enthusiasm is adorable.

On Valentine's day my husband always brings home a little gift for the kids. Boy knows this and can barely contain his excitement over what the little gift might be. His excitement becomes so great that he cannot even wait until Valentine's day itself! All day today he has reminisced about previous Valentine's days and what little trinket was brought home for each of them...going back years. This means a day of non-stop talking...non-stop talking...non-stop talking...all day long! While eating dinner he took a drink and was still talking!

100 posts!

Woo Hoot! 100 posts, wow! Well, 102 with this one. Here's hoping to 1000 more posts and at that marker let's hope that we have even more information about autism.

Aspergers diagnosis to be eliminated?

Wow! The American Psychiatric Association, APA, has drafted a proposal to change the way Autistic Spectrum Disorder is classified; eliminating diagnosis of "Aspergers" and instead using an overall diagnostic category of "Autistic Spectrum Disorder" with levels of severity - mild, moderate, severe. Aspergers would fall under the mild category. PDD-NOS would fall under the new diagnostic category Autism Spectrum Disorder.

I'm not sure how I feel about that or if it even matters to me that they are changing it...hmm... I overall don't like the use of "mild/moderate/severe" as it either makes you feel like everything you are struggling with really isn't a big deal (if considered mild) or on the other end how would it make a parent feel to have to indicate their child's diagnosis is "severe autism"?

Perhaps I am reading too much into it. However, I do feel it just shows how little is still known about Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Maybe this is a step into the right direction though...to stop trying to diagnose and fit someone into the bubble of "aspergers" or "ASD" or "PDD-NOS" and realize that it is all one huge umbrella and not everyone can cleanly fit into one label.

If you would like to read about this: APA press release

fun with sensory!

"Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful." ~ Mark Victor Hansen

We did a lot of fun stuff at sensory therapy tonight that I just must share with all of you!

Bike riding: We have been working for some time on coordination for boy. One of the struggles he really has is riding a bike and it really bothers him; he is really hoping to be able to ride a 2 wheel, (or 2 liter bike if you ask him) without training wheels, by this summer. To work on this his therapist has him doing laps on a two wheel scooter. At first it was really hard for him to balance on it at all, but now he can go almost 5 seconds without stepping off. You may think this sounds pretty obvious right? Well with boy even the idea of getting on one of these scooters was too overwhelming for him. That's the fun thing though with having someone else that your child works with -- for some ODD reason they are sometimes more trusting of another adult who feels confident they can ride the scooter without fail. Go figure! At our next appointment he may be ready to move to the two wheel bike to try it out. I can't wait to see him do it!

Shaving cream fun: playing with shaving cream is an excellent sensory task! Take it a step further and add glue to the shaving cream. Adding glue allows them to create a picture on construction paper that will stay white and fluffy'ish. SUPER exciting and fun!!

Sticky paint: next time you play with fingerpaint, shake things up a bit and add maple syrup to it (and if you really want to get kooky add sand or glitter to give it a gritty feel). Adding the syrup makes the paint sticky to paint with and also sticky when it dries...it is really interesting and fun.

Happy

I heard this song and it made me think about all of the moms who work hard every single day to make the world a better place for their children. Their sweet voices will be heard!!

Happy - Leona Lewis
Someone once told me that you have to choose
What you win or lose
You can’t have everything
Don’t cha take chances
Might feel the pain
Don’t cha love in vain
Cause love won’t set you free
I could stand by the side
And watch this life pass me by
So unhappy
But safe as could be

So what if it hurts me?
So what if I break down?
So what if this world just throws me off the edge
My feet run out of ground
I gotta find my place
I wanna hear myself
Don’t care about all the pain in front of me
Cause I’m just trying to be happy, yeah
Just wanna be happy, yeah

Holding on tightly
Just cant let it go
Just trying to play my role
Slowly disappear, ohh
All these days I feel like they’re the same
Just different faces, different names
Get me outta here
I can’t stand by your side, ohh no
Watch this life pass me by, pass me by

So what if it hurts me?
So what if I break down?
So what if this world just throws me off the edge
My feet run out of ground
I gotta find my place
I wanna hear myself
Don’t care about all the pain in front of me
Cause I’m just trying to be happy, ohh, happy, ohh

So and it’s just that I can’t see
The kind of stranger on this road
But don’t say victim
Don’t say anything

So what if it hurts me?
So what if I break down?
So what if this world just throws me off the edge
My feet run out of ground
I gotta find my place
I wanna hear myself
Don’t care about all the pain in front of me

I just wanna be happy
Ohh, yeah, happy, ohh, happy
I just wanna be, ohh
I just wanna be happy
Ohh, happy