My Autism Insights

I will veer slightly off topic for a moment to say that first I am thankful that President Obama’s inauguration went well!  I’m also thankful that Gus’s school made it possible for the kids to see it.  Gus was excited about it, but his only comment when he got home was that the speech was too long.  That’s valid coming from a seven year old.  My five year old was a bit…disgruntled about having to watch “the bad news” at first, but then became more engaged after I explained, “We have to watch this because it will never, ever happen again. No matter how many African-American presidents we have after President Obama, we’ll never be able to see the first again.”  She seemed to get it!It was an awesome day.

I am thankful that Gus’s behavioral evaluation (evaluation done by a behavioral specialist)  went relatively well, according to his teacher.  He had a good day on Tuesday and didn’t have his rough day until yesterday.  She’ll be back, but at least she’s seen that he can have a good day, and often does.

I am thankful that my buddy Adonya Wong, author of In My Mind, will be here in just a couple of days, stopping for her Virtual Book Tour!  She’ll be discussing a typical day with her son, Nicholas, biomedical interventions she tried and their effectiveness for Nicholas, and other very interesting topics!  Save the date and stop by on Saturday January 24th and see what she has to say about life Through the Eyes of Autism!

And as always, please share your thankfulness below.

A few things to post about today!  We went to DH’s office party yesterday and one of the staff brought his kids: two boys aged 5 and 2.  I was amazed at how well they ALL played together.  Usually, MM is the one to make friends immediately and to dominate any new children’s attention.  I expected that to be the case since the older boy was her age.  So imagine my shock when I saw that Gus was playing with J with all DH’s action figures!

One thing I’ve noticed before is that Gus can get along, and will actually take an interest in other children, just not his peers.  A two year age gap seems to work very well for him, and he loves babies.   It was nice to see.

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On another note, Barbara at Goal for the Green had honored me with the I Love Your Blog award, and I’m finally passing it along.  (I’m starting to run out of blogs!)  I don’t remember exactly what the rules are, but I’m passing the award along to:

Lainie Sips - This is a tea blog that I’ve really grown to love!   I am by no means a tea aficionado, but I do drink tea almost to the exclusion of everything else.  Lainie has really peaked my interest in different teas with her reviews.

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Finally, Tanner’s Dad has organized Autism Healthcare Twitter Day taking place all day today.  President Elect Obama is looking for input from the autism community for healthcare needs.  So if you’re on Twitter, use the hashtag #HHS and please lend your support and input!

I had also received this about a week ago:

“Early next week, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN) has been invited to give input to the Office of the President-elect at two meetings relating to disability policy in the upcoming administration. The first meeting will focus on autism policy issues specifically while the second will focus on health care policy from the disability perspective. The meetings will be small, intimate and include representatives from several other autism and/or disability organizations as well.

I’d like to take this opportunity to invite people to give their thoughts as to what issues matter to them in relation to Autism Policy and Health Care Policy in the upcoming administration. We’ve been asked to take 2-3 policy priorities into the first meeting and will want to represent some of the specific needs of autistic self-advocates in the second. As an organization that seeks to represent the needs of the community of autistic people and to fight for the rights of ourselves, our families and our supporters, we want to hear from you. Please feel free to either reply directly here or by e-mail to me at aneeman@autisticadvocacy.org . I’m looking forward to hearing from you and please distribute.

Regards,
Ari Ne’eman
President
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
1660 L Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC  20036
http://www.autisticadvocacy.org
732.763.5530″

Even if you aren’t on Twitter, you can make your voice heard.

I was feeling much more thankful before Gus came home and told me that he threw out the $13 thermos that I bought him because he didn’t like the fact that I was sending him water.  Asking to have juice in his thermos was clearly too difficult.  So much for trying to be environmentally friendly.  Anyhoo, thankfulness for today…

1. I am thankful that the thermos that has been allegedly thrown out was only $13 and not $30 because then I may have lost my mind temporarily.  And yes, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that I would have spent that much on a thermos because sometimes I’m silly like that and I forget that we can’t really afford to do that!

2. I am thankful for the head’s up that I got from a friend today.  I’ve been considering trying to find Gus a neurologist closer to home instead of going back to the developmental specialist an hour away.  But it was suggested to me that if I think Gus might at some point benefit from medication, it might be wiser to see a psychiatrist instead.  Not only are they better at managing medication, but they may also (obviously depending on the doctor) have a better handle on other issues that could contribute to behaviors but have nothing to do with Asperger’s.  I think with any medical professional, everything really hinges on the competence of the individual, but why not stack the deck in your favor as much as possible?  Anyway, it’s something to consider that I hadn’t thought of.

3. I’m still thankful for President-Elect Barack Obama!  Do I think he’s some sort of Messiah who’s going to save the world?  Even if I believed in any messiah, no I wouldn’t think that.  But if he doesn’t manage to do anything else in the next four years, right now, he’s given an awful lot of people a much needed morale boost.

What positive thoughts are keeping you going today?

P.S. Nano word count: 11K +

This will be a non-autism related post…sort of.  I’ve just spent the evening watching the first African-American president become elected.  And I feel hopeful.  I feel hopeful that my bi-racial children will now grow up among a different world view, that there is now an image of success at a whole different level than I’d ever imagined.  I feel hopeful that no matter what my son’s differences, it has been proven in a very visceral way for me that the sky is truly the limit for him, for my daughter, for generations to come.

I’m rambling a little because I’m, honestly, floored.   No matter what happens now, beyond political alliance or color of skin, the majority of the people of this nation have stood up and looked beyond difference toward our best hope to achieve the common good.

So in that way, maybe this is a post about autism, about succeeding regardless of difference.  Maybe it is a post about possibility, and vision, and hope.  Yes, we can.  I will look at my son with the renewed belief that yes, he can too.