My Autism Insights

It’s been a long and trying week, but not so much that I can’t keep things in perspective!

Today I am thankful for:

1. The support of other parents who recognize the importance of providing discipline and structure to their children.  It can be challenging enough to not be a doormat for your kids some days, but it is that much harder when other people are, passively or actively, thwarting your efforts.  Loving your child does not mean letting him or her run roughshod all over you, and quite frankly, it doesn’t help the kid one bit.  No one else in the real world will put up with it.
2. I am thankful for my Reiki practice.  Although I haven’t done as much as I want to with it, I’ve suck with meditation and balancing practices.  I see a huge difference, especially in my responses to situations that in the past would have made me want to tear my hair out.  Good stuff, that Reiki!
3. I am thankful for Girl Scout Cookies - not the selling part, but just the general yumminess of them. Isn’t everyone?  They rock!

Your thankfulness below, please, and have an awesome day!

Today my thankfulness will center mostly around our visit to the neurologist and to see a classroom.

First, I am thankful that we found a neurologist who actually spent time talking with us and listening to us about Gus.  He spent a good deal of time asking questions and observing.  He talked to Gus, was not condescending to any of us, and actually seemed pleasantly surprised by some of the comments I made to him.  (”How do you know all this?” I explained about my blogging.)  He was very patient (unlike the last doctor) when Gus was climbing and touching things he shouldn’t have been.  This guy didn’t even get annoyed when Gus turned the lights off in the room.  I don’t think I’ll have to worry about him shouting at me if we disagree.  It seems we’ve found a keeper!  Gus will go in for an EEG, and we spoke about medication, but I’m not feeling pressured.  Win!

Next, I am thankful that I decided to take Gus to visit the class I saw last week. I still think he’s better off in his current program, but it showed me that he does have options and also that he has the ability to function better than I was aware of.  Watching her interact with him gave me a slightly different perspective than I had during our first meeting - I liked her.  I’m also glad that the teacher saw the unmedicated version of Gus - she seemed to enjoy his presence.  That’s important in a teacher, at least to my way of thinking.  It was a good experience.

Finally, I’m thankful that my husband took the day off to come to the doctor with us and that my neighbor picked up MM so that we could both go.  As I was telling her, it seems to make a big difference when service providers see both parents taking an active role in their special needs child’s care.  I could read a lot into that, but I think it might be a post for another day. For now, I’m just glad that I don’t have to handle everything on my own.

What are you thankful for today?

Right now I’m thankful that we all got through the morning with no tears.  We came close!

Otherwise, today I am thankful for:

Having a night off from any obligations.  As grateful as I am to have my job, it’s also been a tiring week, and I’m happy for the rest.  Gus had a rough day yesterday and a difficult morning, which was a bit draining for me as well.  Heaven would be to get to sleep before 10:30.

PARP - Parents as Reading Partners.  This year both kids were involved in this reading program at concurrent times.  It’s been lots of fun, and we’ve really enjoyed going through several chapter books together.  Gus’s pick has been the Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne.  Historical/fantasy, extremely well researched and loads of fun.  She even wrote reference books for some of the later works in the series.  Another series he loves is Time Spies series by Candice Ransom, again these are incredibly well done historical fantasy, which seems to be the genre of choice lately.  (I’ve even learned quite a bit from both series.) We’re going to try Encyclopedia Brown when we’re done with these.  Both kids also enjoy the Junie B. Jones books by Barbara Park, which are hilarious, and even though the character, Junie B., is probably not the best model of socially appropriate behavior for Gus, he seems able to recognize her lapses in social skills, so they are helpful in that way.

Finally, I’m thankful for all my visitors, readers, EC droppers, commenters, Twitter followers and pretty much everyone who has supported this blog!  I don’t always reply to comments because the interface is clunky and annoying, but I just wanted to throw out a big THANK YOU!  Your presence and support is much appreciated!

And now, please share your gratitude as well!  Have a great Thursday!

It seems there have been quite a few things to be thankful about this week, but I’ll stick to my usual 3:

1. I am thankful for the amazing weather we’ve had.  It’s been like springtime and I can see the difference in mood and energy level for all of us.  The fact that he just caught a cold will not dampen my glee and having a whole week of not having to wear 20 layers inside the house.

2. I am thankful that Gus received a People Respecting Others award at his quarterly assembly yesterday.  I thought it was an academic award, but I really like the fact that he got a reward for something more related to social skills.  It’s an awesome positive reinforcer.

3. I am thankful for the great conversation I had with the teacher of the class our district has been trying to get me to agree to send Gus to.  I’ll be visiting the class next week even though I doubt I’ll want him to move.  But I’m going in with an open mind.

I am also thankful that giving up sugar hasn’t killed me in the…one day I’ve been off it, but that’s a story for another blog!  Please share your gratitude below and have a great weekend!

Despite the fact that it hasn’t gone above 65 in our house yet today, I am still in a surprisingly good mood.  Thankfulness for today:

I am thankful that both my kids did well on their second quarter report cards.  Gus is doing a little better with his IEP goals; out of 27 goals, he’s progressing in about 19 of them.  Last quarter that progress number was much lower.  His academic report is good, especially in Reading, Social Studies and Science.  MM showed great improvement in her writing and is doing really well in math and reading.  Her teacher also called her a “delight” and a “good example” in the class.  Sorry for the bragging, but I allow myself a proud mommy moment once in a while.

I am thankful that Gus is also being given a Principal’s award next week (alright, two proud mommy moments).  Now, he was given an Outstanding Effort award last year and there was an interesting incident with a microphone…hopefully, we won’t see a repeat.  And if we do, I am resolved to just laugh about it.  Those assemblies are often way to serious anyway.

I am thankful that my sister’s friend, who had asked me for an impromptu Reiki healing a few weeks ago, apparently decided to pay me.  She asked at the time and I told her that I didn’t want any money.  But she sent some anyway.  A nice compliment, and always useful!  That was an awesome surprise!

This all goes to show that even in the coldest and bleakest of times, good things can still happen.  Please share your gratitude below and have a great week!

I very nearly missed that it was Thursday; I was somehow running a day behind!  Anyway today’s gratitude:

I am thankful that whatever virus or germy thing is attacking my body, it’s being held at bay and hasn’t knocked me out completely.  It would probably be wise to get to a doctor since I’ve probably jinxed myself by writing that.

I am thankful that Sesame Street has never wavered in its quality or entertainment value.  Gus and MM are watching now - Pre School Musical - and I don’t feel the need to beat my head against the wall (unlike when I watch Blues Clues).  Sesame Street rocks.

I am thankful that today is only a school delay day and not a full snow day.  Gus really needs to go to school and get some of his energy channeled into something more productive than building structures out of furniture or testing the recliner to see just how much force it can stand before snapping.  I think he has a possible career in quality control.  Or demolition.  Or comedy.  Or gymnastics.  Good to know he’s got options.

Must run now - I totally did jinx myself.

Please share your thankfulness in the comment section and have a great day.

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.

Thankfully, the weather has cooperated and everyone is back in school today!  That means I can actually make my post at a reasonable time.  So this week, I am thankful:

• For only having one casualty of the school cancellation yesterday: our trampoline.  DH made the mistake of jumping on it with MM and the rest is history (so is the trampoline).  But it could have been worse.  There was a sort of chair sculpture, very reminiscent of the one in Poltergeist II, that could have been a real disaster.  Gus was feeling particularly creative, but oddly he was not the destroyer yesterday.
• For being able to go work with my prenatal yoga client today.  After 2 weeks of Holiday break followed by school delays and cancellations, I really needed to get away for some adult time.
• For Gus learning how to meet some of his own needs even if he can’t always express them.  This morning, MM got a bad splinter stuck deep in her finger.  As soon as Gus heard this, he started looking for hiding places, because he knew she was going to be crying at some point.  When he realized his first hiding spot wasn’t getting him far away enough, he went up to his room, closed the door, and got into another of his favorite hideaways.  He’s grown enough to be proactive about avoiding the things that disturb him instead of waiting until he’s at the edge of his rope!  Go Gus!

What are you thankful for today?

P.S. Opinions on the new header would be greatly appreciated.  I won’t be able to change the layout because Today.com is going to a universal layout for all bloggers, but I can at least have my own header.  What do you think?

Or a brand new year as it were!  Happy New Year, readers!  Today I am thankful for:

• Getting home safely from our brief New Year’s Eve celebration at my cousin’s.  We got hit with a snowstorm yesterday morning, and decided to go out anyway as soon as the snow stopped.  The roads were kind of bad, but the kids were so excited about seeing her kids that we chanced it.  Her son is a few weeks younger than Gus and has a similar diagnosis.  They usually only interact in passing, but yet always seem excited to see each other.  They did play together yesterday, so it seems that they may progress toward being friends one of these days.
• I am thankful for a very patient and kind waitress this morning when we took the troops out for breakfast this morning.  In my infinite wisdom this morning, it didn’t occur to me that we had waited too late to get moving.  Gus has a much harder time with his coping skills when he’s tired or hungry.  So he got upset that we had to go to our table before he was ready, and he was quite rude to the waitress.  I wouldn’t say he had a full blown meltdown, but he was pretty loud and clearly distressed.  The waitress never even flinched or frowned, just went on as if he were being the most docile child on the planet.  Had I been less agitated myself, I would have thanked her especially.  The world needs more people like her.
• I am always thankful for the chance to start fresh and to try new things.  We got some good news yesterday which was a good omen for things to come.

What are you thankful for at the start of this new year?

It’s that time again!  I very nearly missed the fact that it is in fact Thursday.  Forgive me - I lose track sometimes!

Anyway, on to thankfulness…

I am thankful that the snowstorm that we are being threatened with is coming tomorrow instead of today even though that means Gus’s teachers won’t get their gifts until after Christmas.  But not having school canceled today allowed me to get some deadlines met, which is a BIG plus!

I am thankful that we did not decide to bake for Gus’s teacher gifts because they wouldn’t have lasted the two weeks that he will be out of school.

I am thankful that I don’t have to fight with Gus over homework for the next two weeks.  I think we were both a little done with it and the break will be much appreciated.  I’m going to try some online learning software if he’s open to trying something new to see how he does with them.

Finally, thanks so much to Barbara at Goal for the Green for two awards:

I’ll pass these along in tomorrow’s post.  Thanks for reading, and please post your thankful thoughts in a comment!