For years my  everyday has been filled with planning my son’s future; therapy, school, doctor visits, interventions, housing socialization, savings, special needs trusts, the list goes on. Always, always my focus has been building a good future for my son, and never once did I realize I could be fighting in vain, until I read this. My family has suffered a lot of losses over the past 6 years, including the death of my mom and sister. The loss created a pressing collective desire for the living adult women in my family to regularly connect, and check in with one another, encoura ..read more

Slow and steady and never give up!  When Nick was 8 years old a behavioral agency informed me they would be ending his program. When I asked why, I was told in their professional opinion he had plateaued. I will never forget how this so called expert stood before me, straight faced , emotionless and explained how children with Autism reach their potential around age 5 after which they don't expect to see much progress or significant change and they believed this to be he case with Nick. I was so angry. I literally yelled at her "Plateaued!!!. On what planet does any h ..read more

  This entire topic makes my head want to explode. This on top of Nick's autism is a lot to think about! But here goes!!! Since birth I have looked at my child, and labeled him all things associated with his sex assigned at birth, male.   As the parent of a child with autism, my child does not have the social, emotional or language skills to express feelings on everyday matters, much less something as complicated at this.  Nick's disability has removed him from typical social interactions. Nick goes no where alone and has no friends who are not family, thera ..read more

Two things that don't go together in our house, sleep and Nick! Never have, maybe one day they will!  A study published in  September's Sleep Medicine has developed and validated a new cut-off value for the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire for autism (CSHQ-autism), a common tool used to screen for sleep difficulties in autistic children and adolescents up to 17 years of age. Poor sleep is a side effect of  Autism you rarely hear about. Yet over time it drains a family as much as any aspect of autism and offers up a host of serious negative health consequences f ..read more

A great resource for families!   DDS Wellness Toolkit The DDS Wellness Toolkit is a new section of the DDS website focused on providing information and tools related to health and safety for self-advocates, direct support professionals, and vendors or providers. New topics, tools, and information will be added on an ongoing basis. To learn more, please visit: https://www.dds.ca.gov/consumers/wellness-toolkit/ You can also find information about the DDS Wellness Toolkit and emer ..read more

October is National Special Needs Law Month.  As a single mom and sole support for Nick I am always  concerned about protecting him while I am alive, and my concerns go even deeper when I think about what will happen to him when I am no longer here to protect him and be his advocate. Clearly I can't stay here forever, but I've learned that does not make me helpless when it comes to protecting him after I die. I hate thinking about his life when I'm not here, but I know ignoring the reality could have devastating consequences for him. So I think of it, knowing the legal planning I d ..read more

‘Sesame Street’ Expands Autism Resources by Shaun Heasley | October 7, 2021 "Sesame Street" Muppet Julia, who has autism, is central to the online initiative "See Amazing in All Children." (Richard Termine/Sesame Workshop) FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmail “Sesame Street” is offering up a host of new resources designed to help children with autism and their families. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind the television show, said it is expanding its collection of online materials featuring Julia, a 4-year-old Muppet with autism. The rollout includes an animated video where Julia l ..read more

Self stimulatory behaviors, obsession and narrow interest are cornerstone behaviors of Nick's autism that began before his diagnosis. I hoped with intervention he would outgrow these,  still they are in full effect today. This behavior has been described in many words that mean the same thing for us, including;  Repetitive Repeating Rumination  Obsessing Scripting Perseveration  Over stimulation  Stemming Echolalic  Self Stimulatory Behavior  Limited/Narrow Interest Over the years Nicks need to put his favorite topic's on auto repeat by any means po ..read more

We cannot tip toe around this topic. If like me, you don't want to be the person in pain saying "I knew something was wrong. I wish I had done something, I wish I had known what to do."  Read...share... do something!   Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JaxXH84MQvWoOf-laVMsBw   Join the Facebook Live event at: https://www.facebook.com/CAEducation/   This webinar is hosted by the California Department of Education ..read more

Nicholas cried so intensely and continually  as a new born that he herniated his belly button at 8 weeks. The doctors could not figure out why he was suffering and crying constantly, and told me he would have to have surgery to repair his belly button if the crying continued. I knew it had to do with his stomach, but I was not sure if that was the only factor. The thought of my infant having surgery was frightening and I wanted another solution. Finally, a nurse showed me how to take a silver dollar and tape down his belly button. She promised me it would work, and made me pr ..read more