Blogs

Tomorrow morning I will be heading out for Autism One. So excited to meet contacts I have made in the community and attend the many seminars.

I still remember that fateful day as if it were yesterday. It was the Friday before Labor day in 1995. Mark (my late husband) and I sat in the room at the Developmental Evaluation Center in Raleigh and heard the words “We suspect that your son is autistic” and then “He may never talk” and then “You will probably need to institutionalize him”. As the counselor continued with her dire predictions, I finally told her to “STOP!” and asked her to leave the room. I couldn’t stand to hear another word from her. Then I burst out sobbing.

Wow, for the last 20 minutes I have been typing trying to think how I should start. When I read my “cheat sheet” on blogging it said to treat it like a diary. So for right now that is what I am going to do.

My First Entry

I am thrilled to be a part of AutismOne and have the opportunity to help parents and anyone involved in the lives of children and adults with autism spectrum disorders. For the past 5 years I have been developing exercise programs for children on the spectrum and have witnessed children gain confidence, self-esteem and improve in the cognitive ability.

Hello Fellow Bloggers! Can't wait for this to explode! We are waiting in eager anticipation of all the information, tips, stories, and testimonials that are forthcoming! Our son Conner has made great strides since his diagnosis of PDD-NOS at age 3. He is shy, but bravely talks to strangers sometimes. He does well with his school work(home-schooled) though often seems confused in social situations. He likes video games and Spongebob, Crazy 8s, Spiderman and playing with his dog, Obi Wan.

I am about to attempt the impossible 3x over. Figure out what motivates people. Motivate them to action. Do it in 140 letters or less. When it comes to Autism there are many generic sayings and phases that mean little to the majority right now. "1 in 150" "1 every 20 minutes"? The odds say its time to make a difference? Its time to listen? well these do not make someone take action. It has been said people will not act until they feel the pain. That is my task.

My 4 year old twins were diagnosed when they were 2. I thank God everyday that Jenny McCarthy's book "Louder than Words' came out right after my girls were diagnosed. That book made me come out of denial. I would not accept that anything was wrong with my beautiful babies. I read Jenny's book and cried. How could I not see that there was something wrong with my girls. I started the biomedical path immediately and we have had great success. One of my girls will be starting regular preschool in the fall and the other is getting there a little slower than her sister.

I am very excited to be a new blogger on the Autism One Site. I bring to the table over six years of studying the Autism issues for approximately 100 hours a week. So I figure I have over 31,000 hours of study time in. I have read studies, blogs, emails, posts, books, and have lived with a non verbal son dealing with Autism all that time. I have been helping raise awareness on all fronts. We have many irons in the fire and need all hands on deck.

Fourteen years ago there was limited information available on autism. I found only two books that offered me any kind of hope. Thinking in Pictures by; Temple Grandin was one and Somebody Somewhere by; Donna Williams was the second. Both women are considered to have a high functioning autism.

Today, with the use of the Internet and the thousands of books being written on the subject of autism everyone is an expert. Parents have so much information available. How can you possibility decide what direction to take?

The mere diagnosis of a child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder can render a parent speechless. With the increase of Autism Awareness, diagnosis is becoming greater, however what to do once a child is diagnosed is often incomplete. One facet often overlooked is the siblings of the child with autism. How is autism affecting them and how should a family deal with the various issues which arise?