hide-n-(sensory)-seeking

The last two months have been about as calm as a school of piranhas in a feeding frenzy. Yeah. I won't get into the grisly details about our visit from a stomach bug, or bore you with our loosing battle with allergies and house work. I'll skip right to the major changes. We have finally started therapy. We have had almost weekly visits from an Occupational Therapist who possesses a miraculous understanding of sensory issues and how connected they are to every other body and mind function. She does a lot of teaching me about specific reflexes and sensory integration, and each week gives me new protocols to use on Kit. One of the biggest things I learned? I was right on that her sensory issues are a major cause for many of her challanges, especially where her sleep and speech were concerned. But I would never have been able to address her issues on my own. I am working toward administering the protocols every day, or at least some every day, but real life application of the...

Good news!   Our sweet little rescue kitty, Ivan, had his check up with the vet Monday. He's a bit of a celebrity there, everyone is so excited to see him, pet his healthy kitten chunkiness, and check out his eyes. They are as happy as I am that he is growing and healing so well.      He got his vaccinations, which is a big deal, because the vet originally never saw him making it that far.   He gained 1 1/2 pounds since his visit three weeks ago!          And best of all, she was really excited by how amazing his eyes looked. All the swelling is gone, no infections, and he can open and close both his eyes now with no trouble whatsoever! The eyes are healing and as the scar tissue continues to grow, it provides more and more protection against further infection.   She said that he no longer is in danger from the damage, and so as long as they do not develop recurring and uncomfortable infections, then he...

When I first found out that my son has autism, I, like many others, went home and hit the internet. Hard! That evening I turned off my laptop, exhausted, a little tearful, and a lot angry! But not for the reason most people think. I was not angry that my son "has" autism. Rather, I was angry because over and over again autism was characterized like a disease. One that needed to be irradicated and destroyed. But that in turn meant destroying my son! Sitting in his psychologist's office as she walked me through the DSM IV's criteria for Asperger's, I suddenly saw all the little pieces fall into place. And the picture they formed was of a brilliant, inquisitive, loving, tender-hearted, dark haired, hazel eyed, slightly freckled, boy who I love so much my heart sometimes feels like it's going to explode! While my eyes that day were opened to the neuological wiring that he was born with and manifests at times differently than "normal", I also clearly ...

Scene: Our living room, preparing to watch an episode of Star Trek. Victor: Grace, can you turn on the VCR? Grace: The VSwhat? Me: He means the DVD player. Grace: Oh! Victor: What'd I say? Me: VCR. She has no idea what that even is. (Does this mean we are getting old?)

    Three weeks ago the big kids pulled a starving kitten with a raging eye infection out from under our house.        His birth mother, a local ferral cat, had given him up to his ailements, choosing to devote her energies to her remaining kittens.   The kids were in tears, litterally bawling over his sure demise, begging me to save him. Knowing that his mother had already given up, I felt responsible to at least get him into the hands of a vet, though I suspected he might not make it.   Had the kids not pulled him out when they did, he absolutely would not have made it another day.   He was so tiny he literaly fit in my hand!   I sustained him on cow's milk simply to help get some fluids in him for two nights until I could get him to the vet, though my research showed kittens can't get what they need from cow's milk. And I bathed him, soaked his eyes with warm compresses, and treated ...

I have no idea what it's like to have children who "eat like birds".   My children eat more like a ravenous pack of wolves! And they are home all day, and for every meal.   So, next to our house payment, our grocery bill is our biggest expense. (Technically it is our biggest expense because we overpay our house note each month.) We include paper products, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, and general use household items in this part of the budget, including occasional clothing items, just FYI. We call it our Food and Needs Fund.   Since our wolves eat so much, we really try to ensure that the majority of what they consume daily is real, wholsome food. Raising healthy eaters is one of the best investments we feel we can make as parents, not only to spare them the health and weight challenges that we have as adults, but also because it is so hard to break bad habits later, and we want their brains and bodies to have the best possible st...

  These punishments aren't even allowed to be used on the worst of criminals without the strictest regulations. Yet untrained and unsupervised teachers can use them at will with their students and are not always under obligation to disclose them to the parents. Keep in mind that there is a large number of autistic children who are non-verbal, or have very limited communication. They can't tell us what happened today at school.