One piece of our puzzle...

There are many pieces to our autism puzzle & one of the pieces that has a huge impact on our lives is school. We are blessed that our school district & the school Jack attends puts such an importance on special education & autism awareness. It's scary to send your child to school & even more so when your child has special needs. We place a great deal of trust in his teachers & administrators to not only educate our child, but to keep him safe. Jack still is very limited verbally & can not tell us about his day. He can't tell us any of the fun details of his day, if he enjoyed his lunch, and still requires assistance with personal care tasks. We spend lots of time in meetings talking with his teacher, writing notes & emailing to communicate how things are going in Jack's world. I am happy that his teacher, administrators and staff are willing to go the extra mile. I am thankful everyday for the talented educators in his life & how much progress he has made since he started school. 

Last Wednesday I sent his team a little treat for World Autism Awareness Day as a thank you & a reminder that they are an important piece of our autism puzzle!

Fundraiser canceled...

This week there has been lots of coverage over the fundraiser at Chili's to support the National Autism Association (NAA).  Chili's unfortunately decided to cancel the event suddenly due to feedback they received from guests.  I was very sad and disappointed in Chili's decision.  The fundraiser schedule for Monday was to fund the Big Red Box/ FOUND programs, which is a programs to help those with a loved one who is prone to wandering...  

"The National Autism Association is committed to those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who may be prone to wandering off or eloping from a safe environment, and may be unable to recognize danger and/or stay safe. Wandering, elopement, “running” or fleeing behaviors among those within our community not only present unique safety risks, but also create extraordinary worry and stress among caregivers. Drowning fatalities following wandering incidents remain a leading cause of death among those with ASD." 

Jack has made lots of progress in terms of wandering, but it's something that is still a major concern for our family.  Jack has wandered once in his lifetime and we are very grateful that we found him quickly and safe.  Some children and adults with ASD who elope are not as lucky.  

We have had to make adjustments to our home to hopefully prevent any further wandering incidents.  The exterior doors to our home have deadbolt locks that are placed high and out of reach, and are locked at all time when we are home. We recently had to install a lock on the door to the garage because we discovered Jack is now tall enough to reach the garage door button.  The back fence gate has a lock on it and can only be opened from the front yard side of the fence.  The windows in his room and playroom have safety locks in place that will only allow the windows to open to a safe distance.  

Jack doesn't have a sense of danger and he doesn't understand that leaving the safety of his home could be dangerous.  He is also unaware of the importance of not wandering away from us in public.  His lack of verbal and social skills can make situations like this even more terrifying.  This is the case with many individuals with Autism.  Wandering is not the result of bad or neglectful parenting, it is a reality for many families and can happen in the blink of an eye.

The NAA has many helpful programs for families living with Autism and work hard at providing families with helpful resources.  There stance on vaccine induced autism is only one aspect of this organization, and I do not wish to get into that debate at this time. There are many Autism organizations that collect thousands of dollars from fundraisers and the people who need help never see a dime of that money.  This organization helps in a real way and the money Chili's could have raised would have benefited many families.  

I am sorry Chili's got bullied into pulling out of this great fundraising opportunities and I hope they can do something in the future to make up for this (IMHO) mistake.  I believe the post the NAA put on there FB page spoke volumes about the type of organization they are and I plan to continue supporting them and other organizations that help families like ours!

Thank you to all of our supporters, and thank you to Chili's for taking a chance on us. Though NAA has changed our mission and efforts in recent years to focus on autism safety, namely wandering prevention, controversial views about vaccines remained on our website. Because of guest feedback about these views, Chili's has opted to cancel tomorrow's event. We respect their decision and ask everyone to please speak words of love and kindness. NAA has evolved as our children's needs have evolved. Our Big Red Safety Box Program very much helps protect children and adults with autism from wandering-related emergencies. We will continue to provide boxes as funding becomes available. Again, thank you for your support and your positive messages that represent our entire autism community.  #Love #Hope #NeverGiveUp

► Please note: Chili's leadership team has made the difficult decision to cancel Monday's Give Back Event. Chili's remains committed to supporting the children and families affected by autism and so this decision was not made lightly. As you know, Chili's wants to make every Guest feel special and that includes listening to feedback from their Guests about this event.

  

Click here to see an interview on the cancellation of the fundraiser with two amazing ASD mom's (one of who I have had the pleasure of meeting) 

Jack's in a singing mood today

Jack's been showing off his singing talents this morning &; his love for Taylor swift, haha. Enjoy!

World Autism Awareness Day!

World autism awareness day is here & one of the most important things about being aware is to know the signs of autism. If your child has any of these signs, don't wait, find help. It's a scary place to be & you might think "it's just a phase" or "they will grow out of it" but early intervention is so important. Contacting the early intervention program in your state (ECI) or talking with your Dr about your concerns will only help, it's never the wrong choice. You know your child best & if you feels something's not right, go with your gut. Just a little advice from this autism mom.

For additional information Click Here

I also want to thank my neighbor for the amazing gift she gave me this morning.  Its the kindness you receive from your friends and family that let you know awareness and acceptance is possible.

 

Welcome to April: Autism Awareness Month!

*In order to highlight the growing need for concern and awareness about autism, the Autism Society has been celebrating National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970's. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community .(National Autism Society) 

To start off the first day of April I want to give a few facts and a short look into our autism journey.  Jack was officially diagnosed with autism a few days after he turned 3, but we had many concerns before this specific moment in time.  When Jack was 18 months we noticed he stopped hitting developmental milestones typical for his age.  He did not respond to his name, he wouldn't make eye contact and he hadn't made any noticeable language progress (for more info on early warning signs click here).  We got him evaluated by ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) program when we moved to Texas and they reported he had a significant delay and qualified for services. Over the next 1.5 years Jack worked with a developmental therapist, SLP, and an OT.  When he turned 3 the ECI services ended and the school district took over. We got him evaluated by the school district and he started the fall semester at Lawson Early Childhood school in a STC-PPCD (Structured Teach Class-Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities).  After his first year of school we had our first summer break and life got kind of hectic.  Going from a highly structured routine of school to lots of down time, only 5 weeks of ESY (Extended School Year) services, the you know what hit the fan.  It was at this time we decided to find Jack an ABA therapist, and added a few hours of ABA therapy and Social skills therapy into his mix of treatment.  This past fall Jack started kindergarten at Willmeth Elementary school with a great new teacher and team.  He is still in a STC environment with a few minutes each day of inclusion time during specials (PE, Music and Art).

Jack has come a long way in his short little life, he is extremely smart and works hard every day at learning the skills he needs to function in the world.  He has come from being non-verbal and having practically no receptive language skills to being able to use some simple phrases to express some basic wants and needs, and to following some simple instructions.  His play skills have become much more appropriate and we even catch him pretending from time to time.  He loves to listen to music and recently got to experience going to see his first movie theater movie.  He still has a long way to go but we have found some wonderful people and organizations along the way that have helped make this very bumpy and unpredictable road a little easier.  

My opinion when it comes to spreading awareness is to do it daily. We do this by not shielding the world from our son and by taking every opportunity (within reason) to expose the world to him.  This does not always come easy and might require some creative planning on our part, but its the best way we know how to spread awareness for autism and for our family to enjoy life.  What I ask of those of you who might catch us on a bad day (and this one might be hard because its human nature) would be to please not judge and remember to treat others the way you would want to be treated.  Thank you and I hope we can continue to spread awareness and acceptance this April! 

 Here are some Autism Facts:

-Autism currently affects 1 in every 68 children today. 

-Autism affects each individual differently and at different levels of severity.

-Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the United States

If your looking to make a donation in honor of Autism Awareness month here are a few of the organizations that have become important of our lives and support our community:

TACA (Talk About Curing Autism)

National Autism Association of North Texas