I was looking at my wonderful toddler today and wondering what the future will hold for him.  We are honestly trying to decide if the public school would be the best place for him.  He went to their PPCD unit for two weeks and two days.  Then, he regressed to a point we had not seen in two years, if ever at all.  We pulled him out of school, under our doctor's advisement, and he has slowly recovered to a point close to where he was developmentally before he attended school.  After an experience like that, we decided to look into our options for schooling.  There are no schools in our area specializing in Autism, unfortunately, so we are looking to the internet and other parents for information.

I found several websites with curriculum geared towards Autism.  I thought I would list these sites below and we can explore them later.

Linguisystems-has the Buddy Bear curriculum along with other curriculum choices.

Star Autism Support

National Autism Resources

 ACE-Autism Curriculum Encyclopedia:  offers online curriculum

Rethink Autism

Model Me Kids Autism Curriculum

Eden Autism Services

I'm wondering if any other families out there find it difficult to make time to prepare meals.  Our toddler isn't in school yet and must be watched every moment.  He sometimes takes naps, so I have learned to use those times to best advantage.  I have also learned that it's easier to cook casseroles, where I can put everything in one dish, than to cook a traditional meal.  I try to cook a couple of meals at a time when I do get the chance to be in the kitchen.  

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please share them!  I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, too.  It can be a challenge cooking for a family that has different nutritional needs and food allergies, not to mention food aversions.  I will list a few of the things I do to streamline my cooking:

• If I'm cooking ground meat I try to cook several pounds at once.  I can then either refrigerate or freeze what is left over.  Then, when I'm ready to cook a meal requiring ground meat, I can just defrost it, warm it in the microwave for a bit, then mix up my recipe.
• I bake chicken breasts or strips in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so.  I usually season them with a seasoned salt or some type of poultry seasoning.  The chicken is very versatile and can be used in anything from chicken salad to chicken casserole.
• I like to mix up casseroles while my toddler is napping.  I then refrigerate the casserole until about thirty minutes before I need to cook it.  I let it sit out until time to bake it.
• The crock pot can be a time-poor cook's very best friend.  There are many easy recipes that you can start before your family wakes up in the morning which will be ready in time for supper.
• I also try to prepare enough so I have left-overs at each meal.  I just refrigerate them for a couple of days, then we eat them again.  Sometimes I'll change the left-overs up a bit by adding some ingredients or eating the left-overs with rice.  For example:  I take baked chicken and veggies, add some cream of chicken soup, and place it all in a dish.  I then put a ready-made pie crust on top and pop it in the oven.  Instant chicken pot pie made from left-overs!

I'll try to find more tips and post them later.  Again, please share any tips you might have.  Thanks for visiting our South Texas Autism!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  I've been trying to get back into the groove of therapy, doctor appointments, etc. but I just seem to be having the hardest time getting my mind back in that mindset.  It was kind of nice having a few days where I didn't have to worry about all of the logistics that come with having a Autistic child.  That being said, I thought it might be good for some of us parents to have some resources to help us cope and to offer up tips.  I have listed a few links below to sites I found that I thought might help.  

I hope you have a wonderful Monday!!!


Coping With Autism:  Stress on Families

Helping Children with Autism:  AUTISM TREATMENT STRATEGIES AND PARENTING TIPS

WEBMD:  Parenting a Child With Autism

I remember sitting in the neurologist's office hearing her ask, "Have you heard of PDD?". Everything inside froze, even though I had suspected my 17 month-old son was in the Autism Spectrum.  The following diagnosis of SPD caught me totally unaware.  I had never heard of it.  It was hard having our suspicions confirmed with his initial diagnosis.  We're still not real sure where he will ultimately fall in the Autism Spectrum.  We will need to wait a few more years and see how much his speech and everything else develops.  Our SLP has recently told us that our son, Rob, is "verbal but not functional."

If your child has just received a diagnosis, you may not know what to do or where to go. We didn't.  We had a hard time finding resources in our area, too.

We want to provide you with some websites that can point you in the right direction. 

Autism Speaks First 100 Days Tool Kit

Autism Speaks Family Services Webpage

Interactive Autism Network:  Newly Diagnosed 

About.com:  Children with Special Needs-First Five Things to do After You Are Diagnosed

Autism Resources by State

Autism Speaks Resource Guide

We hope this helps you.  If anyone knows of any other resource websites, please contact us.  Have a great day!

Today has just been...one of those days.  You know what I'm talking about.  Our three-year-old son was "off" at different times today and dealing with the tantrums has just worn me out.  I'm sitting here with a migraine and unable to settle down to sleep.  Since sleep is still trying to elude me, I thought some venting on my blog might help me relax...so here I am and here I go.  Ready?

One thing I just can't get used to in regards to the Autism Spectrum is how drastically behavior can change from one day to the next.  Sunday our son was talking in three-word sentences which we could understand (no, that is not normal) and he interacted with his dad and siblings most of the day (that varies according to what he can handle).  I was getting excited thinking he was headed towards a breakthrough with his language and social engagement since our son had such a wonderful day.  (He still could be headed that direction, I know.)  Today, he hasn't been able to handle much interaction and there have been no three-word sentences that I have understood.  There has been a lot of head banging, toy throwing, screaming, and staring into space though.  He couldn't handle wearing his clothes this morning, so we put him in his surf shirt and leggings.  (For more info on that, please see the "Hints" page on our website.)  You know you're in for a tough day when you have to drag out the leggings first thing in the morning.  The other sign that forewarns of a tough day is when he repeatedly pulls off his 'pull-up' and runs around the house naked.  After a few tantrums and a nap, he improved a bit and his dad took him outside to play.  Sometimes this calms him down; other times it overstimulates him.  Anyway, his day ended well and he went to sleep pretty easily (thanks to the Melatonin).

I guess the not knowing how our son will be from one day to the next is what really gets to me.  I'm a planner, plain and simple.  I want to have a plan B to fall back on if plan A fails.  One of the biggest and hardest things I've had to learn was to be flexible.  I try to prepare for anything and everything he might do, but I can never quite cover it all.  For example, he pulled over a dining room chair and broke the back of it the other day.  He hasn't tried to do that in several weeks.  I never know what he will do and I'm finding that it's getting harder to keep him from doing the things he does (throwing objects, hitting and kicking things, etc.).

I thought I would follow up my news post yesterday about preparing our Autistic children for the holidays with information on helping our families understand Autism.  Below are a couple of links with information and ideas to help.

Helping Families Understand Autism Spectrum Disorders:  A Guide for Extended Family

Autism Today:  Helping Others Understand the One You Love

It seems that no matter how much you explain or how many ways you try to present information about your child, someone in the family just doesn't get it.  I've included a link below for situations such as these:

The one thing I learned early on when dealing with an Autistic child is that you have to be flexible.  No two days are the same--ever.  Usually, no two hours are the same.  My toddler's sensory needs can vary drastically from one day to the next and we never know what to expect.  We have pinpointed a rough cycle that he goes through which lasts about six weeks, but even that varies.

It's become a sort of joke between my husband and I when we talk to new doctors, therapists, etc. about our toddler.  When they ask us questions about him, we chuckle and our answer, "It varies."  I also like to tell people that he is "consistently inconsistent."  It gives me a headache just thinking about trying to explain the complexities involved with our youngest son to someone who is not familiar with him.

If anyone else out there is experiencing the same thing, just know that you are not alone in what you are dealing with.  I've learned to be flexible in any and all plans, routines, and appointments depending on how our son is doing on a given day.  It's not easy being flexible to the extent required but I believe it is a necessary part of being a parent to a child in the Autism Spectrum.  Otherwise, I would have driven myself bonkers trying to keep to a schedule, routine, and following normal protocols laid out for a neuro-typical child.  

I told my oldest child not too long ago that our family is not "normal" and will never be considered "normal," ("normal" being another family who does not have children in the Autism Spectrum or have special-needs kids).  Just about everything about us is different from other families:  our schedule, our routines, our environment, our meals, our family time, our bedtime routines, our bath-time routines, our nights, our days, our holidays, our vacations (if we take any).  But, as I told him, that's o.k.  It's o.k. to be different.  It's o.k. to not do things like everyone else.

I'll leave you with that thought for today.  I try to keep to a schedule with the blog and the website but, as I stated  above, every day is different.  My presence is now required elsewhere.  I hope everyone has a great Saturday!!!

Have you had days where you feel like you are way too tired to deal with Autism?  What about days where you are so burned out on going to doctors that you want to boycott the entire medical profession?  Maybe you feel like if your child receives one more diagnosis you will need to buy a medical dictionary just to understand it all.  I have been there.  Actually, I am there most days.

I just want to encourage you weary parents to keep on fighting for your children.  It took eight years for me to get a diagnosis for my oldest son.  Eight years!  We have seen several doctors in three different cities who did not catch the Asperger’s.  Now we are waiting for academic testing for I.Q., information processing, and a host of other learning problems.  It seems that it’s a never-ending process trying to find answers to endless questions.

I want to encourage all parents out there to keep on fighting.  Keep on searching for answers to your questions.  Keep on looking for the right doctor, therapist, etc. who will meet your child’s needs.  Keep on researching.  Keep on learning.  I believe that we are parents of special-needs kids for a reason.  I don’t know about you but I am stubborn, hard-headed, determined, and I don’t like settling for second best when it comes to my kids.  I believe that my husband and I are just the parents my kids need because we both have these attributes.  Our kids in the Autism Spectrum and with other disabilities need parents who are willing to fight for our children’s needs and who will not settle for less than the best.

I know you get weary—I do, too.  I know there are days when you just want to pull the covers up over your head and say, “I’m sorry but I’m not dealing with meltdowns, food aversions, sensory issues, or any other problem today!”  It’s on those days that we need to dig down deep into ourselves and tap into that reserve of strength and determination we’ve been hanging on to for a rainy day.  As I said before, I go to God for what I need and then I use it as I face my day. 

It’s almost like suiting up for a football game:  you get your uniform on, make sure you have your protective gear on underneath (You can take that figuratively and literally. LOL!), and get your game face on.  Unfortunately, we rarely get time-outs and there’s no such thing as half-time during our days.  The game always runs into overtime and, if we’re lucky, we score the game-winning touchdown with seconds left on the clock when we finally get our kids into bed.

Some of you may laugh at my analogy but I imagine a lot of you can relate to these descriptions.  Please, don’t give up the fight.  There are resources available and people who want to support you.  You are the only true advocate your child has on his/her side.  You can make a difference.  Everything you do will help your child, even though it may not seem to at the time.  No effort is wasted, no phone call insignificant, no conversation irrelevant. 

It’s time to suit up for the game.  Are you ready?

Have you ever had one of those days?  I’m not talking about bad-hair days or days when you lose your keys and wind up being late for work.  I’m talking about days when your Autism Spectrum kids are melting down at the same time, your Spina Bifida child hasn’t urinated in eight hours and might need a catheter, your husband is in bed sick, and you can’t move without pain because your fibromyalgia is in full gear.  My normally unpredictable day has turned into a series of chaotic events that shatter the fragile peace and leave the shambles of my eventful life raining down around me like ash after an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.  All of you parents of children with Autism know what I’m talking about, don’t you? 

You might ask, “How do you keep your sanity?”  First, I have to give credit to God.  He gets me through each day.  I couldn’t do this without Him.  Without His peace, love, and guidance I would have been a greasy smudge on the road of life a long time ago.  My husband would be next on the list.  He’s the only one on this earth who knows exactly what I’m going through; exactly what it feels like.  The third on my list would be my mom.  I talk to her every day, usually more than once, and she lends me her ear, her empathy, and her experience as a teacher. 

I encourage everyone to find someone who will listen to you vent, who won’t run away when things get messy-and they do get messy.  If you have a hard time getting away from home, like me, online communities are great.  It’s helpful to see that you are not alone in the obstacles you are facing as a parent of a special-needs child.  There are forums for Spina Bifida, Autism, Tourette's Syndrome, Sensory Processing Disorder, and many other diagnoses.  There are also local support groups who meet all over the U.S. and they are a great resource for us.  

I think the most important thing for me is feeling like I'm not alone in the fight for my children.  Sharing information, talking about the challenges we face, and helping those who are in situations similar to our own is very therapeutic and fulfilling.  Please remember today:  you are not alone; there is someone who cares.

Have you noticed that, on days when the weather changes, your Autistic child's behavior also changes?  It seems that barometric pressure affects behavior in Autistic children.  It is so true in my house.  Below are some links to site which have research to support this belief.

http://www.science20.com/mom_not_otherwise_specified/physics_parenting_autism_spectrum

http://coloradomoms.com/featured/weather-can-affect-autism-symptoms/0