We have added a new dimension to our website. A number of individuals in the autism community have offered to share their talents, experiences and expertise with us. Elizabeth Lipp, writer & parent of two sons with ASD diagnoses is opening her journal to us. Nick, Matt and Connor's mom Chris Fleming and Larry Freedman, father of Jesse will write periodically and talk about their families' experiences raising a child with autism; as will Diane Schlegel, physical therapist and mother of 17 year old Kareem. Robert Naseef, psychologist, writer and parent will add his comments on occasion as well. We can all "eavesdrop" on their thoughts, enjoy their stories, benefit from their wisdom, and laugh along as they tell their tales. Join us, by welcoming Liz, Chris, Larry, Diane and Rob to our site.
We all would like to hear from you,
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Well last night I had a mommy melt down at Nicks speech. When we arrived the door was locked for some reason, and that was enough to put him into a tail spin for the rest of the night. I finally got him in the building where he sat and screamed and hit himself for over 1/2 hour. I stood my ground with him and didn't leave (even though my emotions were telling me to). After he … Read More …
So we got back from the Franklin Institute about an hour and half ago. For the record, it's 11:15 Sunday morning. Nic just started cub scouts in September, with a pack that is accepting of special needs kids. I'd say about half the kids in the pack have something going on, and the other half don't. This weekend, our pack, and maybe a dozen others from the looks of it, camped out at the Franklin Institute. I … Read More …
I thought I could never accept my baby's autism. After 29 years there are times when I still wonder who my son might have been, and who might I have been as well. Sometimes it seems like only yesterday when I held Tariq for the first time. My heart pounded with excitement as I held his soft body next to my heart and our eyes met. Instantly he made me a father with visions of … Read More …
As Yogi Berra once said - "When you come to the fork in the road...take it". Well, a few years ago, my wife and I came to the fork in the road - send our son, Jesse, to an Autistic Support Classroom (ASC) out of the neighborhood or to a Regular Education (RE) classroom at our local public school. This seemed daunting in scope and we were overwhelmed with this decision. Like figuring out whether to … Read More …
My name is Diane Schlegel. My son's name is Kareem. Day to day, we concentrate on work, school, taking care of our home, and daily activities designed to keep us connected with people, burn calories, and to create opportunities to explore our community. Kareem and I have a dog named Chloe and a cat named Noah, who remind us of a "simpler" life. I'm not entirely sure why I agreed to journal. At the time, it … Read More …
Hi all my name is Christine Fleming and I have 3 wonderful boys Matt is 13, Connor is 5 and Nicholas is 9 and on the spectrum. I really feel blessed to have a great support system with a great husband and a loving and caring mother that really helps me with everything. This week however I am faced to handle the kids by myself as my aunt and grand-mom are in the hospital and my … Read More …
Although I am extremely backed up in work right now, I have to dash out a quick few lines about the weekend, because it was a good one.Friday night was the Center Square Fire Expo, and now that we had finally gotten around to doing the Fort Washington Expo (after living here six years), my boys are hooked on fire engines. They both are tactile learners, so the hands on experience in handling a fire extinguisher … Read More …
So I had a decision to make this week about how much to disclose about Nic and his autism to his classmates-not as if we are hiding in a closet, because there are maybe two people in the whole school left who don't know Nic is autistic. Anyway, he was cool dude of the week, sort of a Student of the Week, and as the parent part of the project, I had to write a page … Read More …
Apologies for the severe compression of life for the last couple of months-it's been a little crazy here at the ponderosa.Swim lessons kicked in at Variety a couple weeks ago. I requested and secured the best teachers for my two, since I want to make sure I have a pair of deep water swimmers this year.Gabe is getting there-he is down to two layers of floatie (from 4), and Miss Katherine has him swimming to the … Read More …
So far Nic's school year is going well-academically, his grades are all high As; socially, peer pressure is working in our favor. This time last year we were dealing with two hours in-class tantrums. This year, Nic is a hard worker spending nearly all of his day in his class with his peers, and his teacher is fully invested in his success.We have the aide, but he doesn't really need the aide. We'll keep her because … Read More …
Swim lessons start today, and I actually signed myself up for yoga-there are classes happening right around the corner-starting tonight. I need the Zen, I have been a yelling screaming maniac the last little while. And Nic's been running up his lunch account at school, so I've had to put a cash limit on it (he's gone through $30 in 9 days)-he was not happy to be cut off, but the next step is brown bagging … Read More …
Did I just say he was sitting with the AS kids at lunch? Now I'm not sure what's going on, but he reported sitting with B at lunch yesterday. OH, interesting wrinkle, apparently Nic was chasing B the other day and calling him a certifiable nutball (thanks Muppets), and B was understandably upset. But I wouldn't have found that out if I hadn't insisted the teacher birddog Nic at lunch to see what was happening. Andy … Read More …
Good weekend, we went to the ice cream social at school on Friday night and Nic was hanging out with a bunch of girls doing this rapel gadget (sort of like a monkey bar, but it has a handle and is on a runner and you launch yourself off and glide down to the other end). We swam on Saturday and got the rest of Nic's school supplies and yesterday we went to see the trains … Read More …
We went to Nic's new class yesterday and he really made himself at home. He's probably the least anxious of the AS kids coming back, believe it or not. I had a chat with his reg ed teacher and AS teacher both-got a good vibe from the reg ed teacher (she is tough, but Nic needs tough, and I was able to explain Nic to her, so I think she will handle him fine). The new … Read More …
We had the best weekend with my brother's family at the shore last weekend. A number of firsts, not the least of which was the water park, where both kids had a blast, but Nic shone. He and his cousin went on a number of rides together (G was angry that he was too small for some of these, but he did all right, playing in the kiddie area and doing his sprints).Notable, Nic went over … Read More …
Just a quick write up of the conference at PSU--great conference, we gave a great talk, and I make a cameo at the end of Webcast session 89 (Friday) at the hour 16-17 minute mark.The closing key note is in direct contradiction with my previous post. Apparently, I need to pursue B despite what his parents think. Man, that puts me in a tough place. I get what they say, he needs his peers and friends … Read More …
In the space of 10 days, an interesting picture has developed.B and his brother came to the pool with us last Monday (the 21st). I was elated and happy that everyone had a good time. Until B's mom called and informed me that Nic had dumped mud in their brand new inflatable pool. I guess that was the beginning of the end.B came alone with us on Thursday. That went okay. But more miscues with him … Read More …
I love my best friend, but her husband's friends are nuts. With one or two exceptions.And the only reason I comment is that when we get together at the annual fete that has become the Kiddie Gang Campout, we are thrown together with the mishmash of flotsam that comprise K and A's social circle. And it has become a somewhat dysfunctional family of sorts. The upside to this is the familiarity my kids have with the … Read More …
The only logical place to start is the beginning. The beginning of any one of these tales is an arbitrary one, as these are all ongoing stories, so let's just start with the IEP meeting.G's team delivered the draft IEP meeting precisely 20 hours before we were scheduled to have the meeting. I was relieved to see that services weren't going away, but annoyed to see that some much needed services were not getting added. So … Read More …
Or a dust buster or something. I have so much going on upstairs, so many things to do, so many deadlines to hit, and I can't focus on any single one long enough to get anything done. I need to finish the stuff on my plate before seeking other stuff out. And I will do that today. I have to or will be truly driven to distraction.An aside, went to the pool yesterday. Kids call out … Read More …
It's safe to say that neighbor relations have hit a nadir. The same kid who called Nic a butthead a couple nights ago called him a butthole last night.I know he has family issues, anger problems, etc, but Nic's done. I do have to step in. I couldn't even address the situation because the kid ran into his grandparent's house, his aunt showed up to get the twins, then Perky parked herself out front to see … Read More …
I have a hard time knowing whether Nic is being canny or clueless, because his cluelessness veers crazily toward genius when it comes to dealing with people. He gets off the bus announcing he told everyone he wouldn't be in on Friday because he's having a slumber party. I emailed his teacher and told her that yes, Nic will be in--out of town guests are coming, but they aren't due until Friday PM. She promptly emailed me … Read More …
I didn't mean for this to become a daily blog, but Nic has literally had something new and different happen every day this week. So we had the 4th parade as ever through our neighborhood, and we sat next to the perfect family next door (it's mindblowing how different their kids are in the presence of their parents--and yes, you can read that as they were VERY nice, faultlessly so, to my kids during the parade). … Read More …
Been spending a little too much time on the crazy, nasty and otherwise unpleasant. Yeah, I live next to white bread suburbanites from hell (not to mention a future criminal--I didn't mention this kid ripping up our masonary wall, did I? Whatever)Anyway, DH and I were having a late night chat early this am and we both had an epiphany. We don't like how these people treat our kids. BUT...we seem more bugged than our kids. … Read More …
Nic confuses as much as he amazes. He is a scary bright kid, with a wicked sense of humor, and the commentary he makes sounds precocious, but more often than not, it's said innocently--but people think he's a smartass. (I had the same problem)We've had a lot of good here the last few days. He and G did great at a wedding on Saturday, birthday party on Sunday, and his day yesterday--good overall, bad in other … Read More …
Grueling, not happy with autism day yesterday. My work is piling up, but had to take the boys out. Let's see. Meltdown at B&N? Check. Nic p*ssing in full view of anyone watching while I attempted to teach he and G some rudimentary tennis? Check. Nic disappearing in the midst of a meeting and stealing a couple pieces of cake (hence the disappearance)? Check. Oh, and lest we forget, Nic throwing a full bucket of sand … Read More …
I didn't bowl on my birthday; instead, I went for a hike/climb that kicked our collective butt. Most gratifying was watching Nic scramble up and down rocks with an alacrity that simply stunned me. Gabe required some hands-on assistance, but did pretty well himself.I get ahead of myself, though. I had to lector, and Andy brought the kids to church. Yes, my agnostic spouse crossed the threshold of a house of worship for me. (and it … Read More …
I am now officially in my 40s, or will be as of 8:56 local time tonight. I don't know why people make such a big deal of birthdays that end in 0 anyway since they are actually the last in the series and not the first, but I guess watching the numbers roll over instills a sense of awe (or panic).I for one don't have the age issues. Having lost my own father at 36, one … Read More …
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