On December 18, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 62/139 which declares April 2 as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) in perpetuity. The UN resolution is one of only three official 'disease-specific' United Nations Days and will bring the world's attention to autism, a pervasive disorder that affects tens of millions. The WAAD resolution encourages all Member States to take measures to raise awareness about autism throughout society and to encourage early diagnosis and intervention. It further expresses concern at the prevalence and high rate of autism in children in all regions of the world and the consequent developmental challenges.
Lets bring awareness to this disability and its causes. But lets also celebrate the wonderful special kids/people that living with autism!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Who's dog is this anyway?
Well I think Max has picked his favorite person. He gets along well with everyone. He thinks Gage is another puppy and thinks I'm his mom, and thinks Wes gives the best belly rubs.He follows me everywhere and whines if he can 't get to me. But when it comes time to settle down and snuggle with someone he is definitely Makinna's dog. When she sits on the floor to play in the evening Max always makes his way into her lap. And when its time for bed he thinks he should sleep with her. I've let him get up in her bed while we read stories. He crawls up beside her and lays his head on her pillow and nuzzles her in the neck while we read. Then when its time for her to go to sleep I tell him to come out of the room and he gives me this pathetic look like "but I want to sleep here!!"
As I type this this morning, Makinna is building blocks and Max is chewing on a toy.....with his head in her lap. Makinna definitely has a buddy for life.
I miss you Patti
This is a shout out to my friend Patti. I haven't talked to her for a while and missed sending her my Christmas card this year because I thought she moved. I know she reads this so I am sending her lots of love and we will talk soon! I miss you girl!
Monday, March 24, 2008
What sugar does to my kid.
This is Gage about an hour after eating about 10-15 Skittles he got for Easter. It was accompanied by wild crazy behavior and lots of whining and tantrums! He also had the same reaction yesterday after eating a small snack size pack of skittles. We have really kept Gage away from large amounts of sugar but with Easter we let him indulge. I think the Easter Bunny needs to bring just toys next year! This is just not good for him.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
I am so Proud!
I got the following e-mail from Gage's aide at school. I am indeed proud of him.
Hi Katrina,
I know M wrote in Gage's book today but I just have to tell how proud I am of him. At one time Gage used the bathrooms in the room. Since he is doing such a great job going to the potty we thought maybe he would like to go with the other boys. Well the other day we ask him and he didn't want to go. So then another day when we were in the hall we took him in to the boys bathroom. Then later I took a picture of the boys bathroom for his schedule card. We were standing inside waiting for all the kids to come today. I showed him the picture just to see if he would recognize it. Big mistake, MY mistake. He didn't want to come into the room, he wanted to go to the bathroom. Well we got him in the room, I showed him I put it on his schedule card. When M was having them line up we said Gage check schedule! The smile on his face. He got in line with th e other kids. He was so proud!!! He was so cute!! Standing there at the urinals with all the other boys. I showed him how to flush. Then he decided he wanted to take his pants down again, and peed a few drops, so HE could flush by himself! Then he checked out the plumbing and we were off. He is so darn cute!! You can be proud!
Hi Katrina,
I know M wrote in Gage's book today but I just have to tell how proud I am of him. At one time Gage used the bathrooms in the room. Since he is doing such a great job going to the potty we thought maybe he would like to go with the other boys. Well the other day we ask him and he didn't want to go. So then another day when we were in the hall we took him in to the boys bathroom. Then later I took a picture of the boys bathroom for his schedule card. We were standing inside waiting for all the kids to come today. I showed him the picture just to see if he would recognize it. Big mistake, MY mistake. He didn't want to come into the room, he wanted to go to the bathroom. Well we got him in the room, I showed him I put it on his schedule card. When M was having them line up we said Gage check schedule! The smile on his face. He got in line with th e other kids. He was so proud!!! He was so cute!! Standing there at the urinals with all the other boys. I showed him how to flush. Then he decided he wanted to take his pants down again, and peed a few drops, so HE could flush by himself! Then he checked out the plumbing and we were off. He is so darn cute!! You can be proud!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Meet our new baby!
Well we have a new baby! His name is Maxwell Scoobert Wolf, or just "Max" as we call him. We got Max from the local animal shelter. He is such a sweetie. He plays a little and sleeps alot. For now anyway. He is 10 weeks old and 1/2 german shepherd, and 1/2 bull mastif . So we figure by next year he may qualify as a pony! So far he has been a great addition to the family, although Gage is driving him a little bit crazy! We are currently house breaking him and he's doing pretty good. When we take him out he goes potty right away. What a smart boy! I'll have to admit that puppys are work, but nothing compared to taking care of a baby and it hasn't been that long since I had babies so it doesn't seem so bad to me.
Ok so expect him on next years Christmas card!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Why I Do IT.
Often I read blogs and writings by autistic adults . I like to have the perspective of autistics because I am not autistic and my son is. Mostly its thought provoking and enlightening to me. But quite often I come across opinions of adult autistics that say anyone persuing a"cure" or "recovery" is doing their child a disservice because you are not loveing the child for who they are and trying to change who the child really "is". I have heard that biomedical intereventions are "cruel".
Well here is my perspective and probably only the parents of autistics kids will appriciate this. I do follow the biomedical approach. First off I want to get my son's body as healthy as possible. If he is not feeling well then how can he function at his best, how can anyone? After removng dairy from his diet he became less aggressive. He stopped biting his sister and pulling her hair. If I add vitamens and minerals to his diet and remove foods that make him crazy how am I being cruel to my son? Not to mention the fact that he has been sick much less since starting the biomed approach. If I get him healthy, rid his body of yeast overgrowth, get all the alluminum out of him and he's still autistic, then fine at least he is a healthy autistic boy.
Then there is therapy. Some argue that ABA is cruel and mean. Well the ABA of today is a far cry from the ABA of 20 years ago when these adults were children. Its more friendly and less rigid. Lets face it its a cruel world out there. We could all hold hands and sing and wish everyone was nice and accepted everyone else for who they are, but that is just not reality. The reality is that I will not be around forever and my chidren have to be able to take care of themselves. I don't want Gage to be reliant on the state and caregivers and I don't want Makinna to have to take care of him, she has her own life to lead.
So I guess I am in persuit of a "cure" or "recovery" for my son. But its all relative. To me this means "functioning independantly and happy" To some it means to wipe out every trace of autism from thier child. Well I don't necesarily feel that way. I love Gage's little quirks. I just want him to be the best he can be. I want him to learn, be healthy and happy. When he is not able to communicate, when he feels bad physically, and he wants to socialize with other kids but doesn't know how and basically gets aggressive as his social overture, well I don't think he is happy. He has to function in an NT world. As his parent I will push him to do his best to make his way in the world we live in, and I will do the same for my daughter. I just have to go about it in a different way with Gage.
Well here is my perspective and probably only the parents of autistics kids will appriciate this. I do follow the biomedical approach. First off I want to get my son's body as healthy as possible. If he is not feeling well then how can he function at his best, how can anyone? After removng dairy from his diet he became less aggressive. He stopped biting his sister and pulling her hair. If I add vitamens and minerals to his diet and remove foods that make him crazy how am I being cruel to my son? Not to mention the fact that he has been sick much less since starting the biomed approach. If I get him healthy, rid his body of yeast overgrowth, get all the alluminum out of him and he's still autistic, then fine at least he is a healthy autistic boy.
Then there is therapy. Some argue that ABA is cruel and mean. Well the ABA of today is a far cry from the ABA of 20 years ago when these adults were children. Its more friendly and less rigid. Lets face it its a cruel world out there. We could all hold hands and sing and wish everyone was nice and accepted everyone else for who they are, but that is just not reality. The reality is that I will not be around forever and my chidren have to be able to take care of themselves. I don't want Gage to be reliant on the state and caregivers and I don't want Makinna to have to take care of him, she has her own life to lead.
So I guess I am in persuit of a "cure" or "recovery" for my son. But its all relative. To me this means "functioning independantly and happy" To some it means to wipe out every trace of autism from thier child. Well I don't necesarily feel that way. I love Gage's little quirks. I just want him to be the best he can be. I want him to learn, be healthy and happy. When he is not able to communicate, when he feels bad physically, and he wants to socialize with other kids but doesn't know how and basically gets aggressive as his social overture, well I don't think he is happy. He has to function in an NT world. As his parent I will push him to do his best to make his way in the world we live in, and I will do the same for my daughter. I just have to go about it in a different way with Gage.
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