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| Chillin in body sock with iPad |
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| Mitchell decided this was a good safe place for his sucker while jumping on the trampoline |
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| Move it Sista |
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| Bottom side of the couch is a great place to store my things. |
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| It was only a matter of time. |
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Fly On The Wall Friday
Monday, June 10, 2013
Super Funny Article that screams my name - not for the weak stomach
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kim-stagliano/the-crappy-life-of-the-au_b_37742.html
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Well, that title should set off alarm bells in the Neurodiverse (ND) autism world.
Autism is like a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (from the Harry Potter books.) Some autistics got the raspberry cream or root beer flavor. They can speak eloquently, write blogs, move out on their own, marry, have children and manage their autistic traits. Others with autism, like my three girls, got the ear wax/vomit/dog poop flavor. They need help 24/7 to navigate the world. When I talk about autism, I mean the version that my three girls got. I'm not talking about the sort of autism that encompasses quirky kids with some social deficits who are otherwise brilliant.
The ND community tells me and tens of thousands of other parents that we are disrespecting our kids by trying to help them. The ND blogs berate us as wanting to change our kids because we don't accept them. Here's a "taste" of what autism looks like in the Stagliano household. Would you want something better for your kids?
Twice last month, we had a "crapisode." What is a crapisode? (This is where you might want to stop eating and put down your beverage.) My 10 year old (#2, appropriately for the purposes of this entry) pooped in the toilet. That is reason to cheer, believe me. Toilet training is a major issue in my section of the autism community. Our kids can wear diapers into their teens and beyond. So Miss G pooped. Hooray! But Miss G forgets to flush. And she rarely closes the lid. Not hooray.
Miss Peanut, my 6 year old, seems to believe that being a Virgo means she simply MUST swim in any puddle larger than spit. The toilet is like an Olympic sized pool to her. So Peanut goes into the toilet after Miss G has had her, ah, success. Peanut flings kaka everywhere and gets it all over herself, the floor, the walls, the tub, the baseboards and the window. Wes Craven could not film anything scarier than what I saw that school morning, 35 minutes before the bus was due to arrive. That's a "crapisode." It happens in the blink of an eye while I'm washing dishes or doing laundry. I'm alerted by a splashing sound that drops a brick into my stomach. Miss G doesn't understand to flush and close the lid. Miss Peanut doesn't realize that a face full of feces is rarely considered a way to amuse oneself outside of the fetish community.
I will never stop trying to help my girls recover from their autism. I can not tell you what recovery means. It varies by kid and according to God's grace. If recovery means only that Peanut understands she should sit on the toilet, not play in the toilet, I'll take it.
Recovering your kids doesn't mean denying their value as people. To the contrary, it means we are willing to devote our lives, our savings, our sanity to their improved health, development and well being.
Maybe we need an expanded vocabulary. The ND's can keep the word autism and my kids get a new label. Fine by me. Just don't tell me to give up on my girls and accept their version of autism (remember the Bertie Bott's beans) as simply a different type of personality. Because THAT'S a load of crap.
Chef Mickeys
Sorry, when I use the laptop the apostrophe/quotation does not work. Bare with me.
My Disney World 2013 posts are going to be all the over the place because I will write when I find time.
I am feeling very sad that Mitchell and I need to sit out the special dinner at Chef Mickeys tonight. We tried breakfast at Ohana on Monday and lunch at 50s Prime Time Diner yesterday and they were both a bust so with a heavy heart I removed us from tonights reservation. :(
Mitchell is just chillin with the ipad, juice & freeze dried pineapple and Ive got the computer and Criminal Minds on the TV. Steve facetimed me so I could see the kids having a fantastic time and he reluctantly brought my camera to capture the magical moments. Here are the good times we missed but I know the fun would have been on the backburner if Mitchell melted down in the middle of it. I gave Steve a brief rundown of the camera before, his nighttime picture taking is a little rusty.
My Disney World 2013 posts are going to be all the over the place because I will write when I find time.
I am feeling very sad that Mitchell and I need to sit out the special dinner at Chef Mickeys tonight. We tried breakfast at Ohana on Monday and lunch at 50s Prime Time Diner yesterday and they were both a bust so with a heavy heart I removed us from tonights reservation. :(
Mitchell is just chillin with the ipad, juice & freeze dried pineapple and Ive got the computer and Criminal Minds on the TV. Steve facetimed me so I could see the kids having a fantastic time and he reluctantly brought my camera to capture the magical moments. Here are the good times we missed but I know the fun would have been on the backburner if Mitchell melted down in the middle of it. I gave Steve a brief rundown of the camera before, his nighttime picture taking is a little rusty.
Fresh Air
Today Mitchell started ESY (Extended School Year) in the morning then onto Tri-County SRA afterwards. It was such a good feeling to be able to walk around the house, remove the safety wedges from all the windows and open them wide.
In years past Mitchell would only pop out a screen on a window if it was open all the way and he REALLY wanted to get out but for the most part it was not an issue. Then he would try to get out more often but was not strong enough to lift the windows up further so as long as it was locked or only open a bit he could not get out. Starting last summer he began to raise the windows himself and even unlock them first if he was determined enough. He has popped out his bedroom window on the 2nd floor and sat watching the kids outside with his feet dangling down and even climbed out our bedroom window onto the new roof over the patio.
Starting this spring we installed wedges on all 20 windows and keep the windows open only far enough so Mitchell cannot get his head through. As you can imagine not much air comes through this tiny opening. If the wind is blowing right we get a little breeze but mostly we get hot, sticky air. At night we cannot leave the windows open at all so even if it has been nice all day the air conditioning comes on because there is no air circulating at all without it.
On a morning like today, when I know Mitchell will be gone for the majority, I can open the windows wide and get some nice fresh air and start to feel normally for a few hours.
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