How will YOU light it up BLUE?

 

 

So how will YOU light it up blue?

Tomorrow is World Autism Awareness Day. 

It’s a chance for all of us who love someone with autism to tell the world who we are.  Even if you think it’s just another quirky theme day, please add a little bit of blue to your day somewhere.  Families like mine around the world will be grateful for the acknowledgment and show of support.

xoxo

Cathy K.

What to tell your school districts about autism and violence

Dear Readers,

My friend Jill, who writes at Yeah. Good Times. has given all of us a tremendous gift.  In response to the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, she has written a brilliant letter explaining autism to her local school district and she has invited us to share it.

Jill’s entire post can be found here.

In the meantime, I feel so passionately about distributing this information to every teacher, counselor, parent, family, human being that I’m re-posting the entire letter below (with permission from Jill of course!)

Please, please, please share this.  Don’t do it for my Alex, don’t do it just for your kid or neighbor or student.  Do it for ALL kids everywhere.  Because every step toward greater understanding is a step toward peace.

Thanks for reading,

Cathy K.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dear (school) community:

There has been much discussion online and in the news about the connection between the Connecticut school shooting and the fact that the shooter may have been diagnosed with autism.  As our families and our community discuss this issue and try to find a reason for this heartbreaking tragedy, I feel that it is very important to remember the following:

There is no connection between planned, violent behavior and an autism spectrum diagnosis of any kind.

Autism is not a mental illness; it is a developmental disability.  Many autistic people may have emotional regulation problems, which are impulsive expressions of frustration and anger, that are immediate and disorganized.  They may lash out with threatening statements or behaviors, but these behaviors are impulsive reactions, they are not deliberate or organized plans.  Once the situation has been diffused, the behaviors will stop.

What happened in Connecticut required methodical planning of a deliberate and tremendously violent act; this is not typical behavior of an autistic person.

Right now we are all struggling to find a reason why this kind of atrocity would happen, and we can speculate about the mental state of the shooter; about gun control laws; about the current state of our country’s mental health system, or about whatever else might help us make some sense out of this.

Please know, and please tell your children, that even if the shooter was autistic, autism is not the explanation for this tragedy.

If anybody has any questions about autism, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you very much for your time,

Your name here

Coming soon…

I just wrote a post about autism and empathy and I am super-excited to share it with you! 

It’s coming right here to my cozy little Autism Home Rescue home page on Monday. 

So meet me back here first thing Monday morning!

And in the meantime…

please click on some of the nifty buttons over there —->

to the right on this page.

Like the Twitter button (so you can follow along)…

And the Facebook page…

“Top Mommy Blogs” is great.  “Top Autism Blogs“, too….

Heck, why don’t you just click them all?

 And sign up to receive posts via email while you’re at it

(at the top right up there —^)

Now I’m off to get my teeth cleaned…

See you on Monday!

~* Happy Two Year Anniversary, Dear Blog *~

On August 29th, 2010, I put up my first post and officially created “Autism Home Rescue.”  All of my readers were either sitting at my kitchen table with me, or were my Mom.  Still, it was an important beginning and I’m proud of how this little blog has grown, expanded horizons and become a place for reflection, celebration and sharing.

On this two year anniversary, I invite you to go back to the beginning and read my very first post.  Then please comment or email me at autismhomerescue@gmail.com to tell me what you think of my sticky, crumb covered first try.  All best wishes!

With love & gratitude,

Cathy K

August 29, 2010:  I am no warrior mom….

Par-Tay!!

Today’s the online launch party for “Be Like Buddy!”

Go on over there now (click here or on the picture above)

to join the celebration & get your free stuff!

overly ambitious good little homemaker? *guffaw & snort*

As you all know from my most recent post, I’ve been doing a lot of housecleaning and cathartic purging, discarding, shredding etc. etc. in the last few months.  Yesterday, while digging through the umpteenth file folder in a huge collection of “important papers” (hear the sarcasm in my voice), I came across a napkin.

Yes, you read that right.  A napkin.  From a Cracker Barrel restaurant somewhere on the East Coast between South Carolina and up North where I live.  It was a list I had written with my mom on the way back from a trip to Hilton Head when Alex was three months old.  I can still remember him sleeping contentedly in his baby bucket thing on the seat of the restaurant booth, tucked in next to me as I brainstormed and scribbled excitedly.

Why on earth would I have saved this napkin information, you ask?  Because it was a very important list– it contained 41 ways that I could save money, which put together I figured would give me enough of a cushion that I would be able to quit my job and become a stay-at-home mom.  A decision which would radically, completely change my life.  And one which I was hell bent on making despite my new-mama anxieties.

I look back now and realize how little I knew then and how many trials and tribulations were yet to come.  But I saved that silly napkin in a file labeled “Home” because when I read over it, I can still feel the optimism I felt taking action, being proactive, finding creative solutions to obstacles (real or imagined) so that I could follow my heart and my passion.  I still haven’t decided if it’s staying in the “important papers” pile or going to the circular file.  After you read this, please comment and let me know where you think it belongs.

Things to do to save money:

• make sandwiches for hubby’s work
• make baby food
• use coupons & research store specials
• sell quilts
• make baby clothes
• make baby toys (patterns from Mom)
• plant vegetables (tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, lettuce? green beans, zucchini)
• less driving
• make my clothes
• make cookies
• cook everything from scratch
• bake bread
• plan leftovers & plan meals for the week
• buy meat in bulk & pre-cook or pre-package & freeze (e.g. meatballs)
• freeze onions & peppers for stirfry & precook chicken & freeze
• shop more at the warehouse place
• make hankerchiefs
• switch electric companies
• turn heat down & monitor A/C
• turn hot water down a few degrees
• free dinners with Mom Mom on Sundays
• make baskets for gifts
• shop for gifts, socks, etc. at my favorite outdoor market
• feed & seed the lawn 2x / year
• buy large cans of cat food & separate
• wash my own car
• all phone calls after 7:00 pm
• internet after 7:00 pm
• make popsicles & snacks
• make trail mix & granola
• buy only washable clothes, not dry clean
• dry clean in dryer
• keep breastfeeding & pump extra milk to freeze
• shop in Delaware with Mom Mom
• lose weight (fit into existing clothes!)
• can veggies
• develop pics at warehouse place
• use the pizza stone– make & freeze dough & topping ahead of time (or make frozen pizzas)
• freeze beef & chicken strips
• letter to adoption agencies & advertising services for freelance opportunities to make money
• switch to cloth diapers

Are you laughing yet?  You can tell we were a family who spent a lot of money on food– good lord how many things did I think I could cook?  I must have been having nightmares about starving or something.  In reality, I was still the size of a small Volkswagon Bug (see item titled “lose weight!”) so I couldn’t have been too bad off.  Hmm… maybe I wrote this before our food arrived at Cracker Barrel and I was brainstorming while hungry… kinda like grocery shopping while hungry… is that a no-no?

Come to think of it, how the heck did I figure that losing weight was going to go along with all that frozen pizza dinner preparation anyhow?  But I digress….

Making baby clothes?  Making baby toys?  Okay, those suggestions clearly came from my mother.  She did all that stuff.  I remember she was almost as excited as I was to write this list because she wanted me to have the opportunity to stay home with my kids the way she stayed home with me and my brother.  (See item titled “free dinners with Mom Mom” for proof of her commitment to this idea.)

Feed & seed the lawn?  Wash my own car?  Make gift baskets?  Cloth diapers??

*snort & guffaw*

At least I was openminded.  My goal was to save $2000 a month.  You can tell by the items titled “phone calls & internet after 7:00 pm” how long ago this list was written and what our budget must have looked like.  Good thing I was shopping at the warehouse place.  And I know I keep coming back to this, but when exactly would this plan have allowed me time to actually leave the kitchen to do freelance work or pay attention to anything other than preserving vegetables and making meatballs?

Soooo…

I’m still undecided– do I keep it or toss it?  Will I ever need it again?  Will I regret it if I end up adding to my family someday and I start to feel nostalgic about those new mommy brainstorms driven by wild hormonal changes and suddenly I realize I discarded a napkin list which was such an integral part of Alex’s infancy?

Is it completely disgusting to keep a Cracker Barrel napkin for 11 years?

… Wait.  Don’t answer that last one.  Just comment and tell me what you would do.

:~) Quote for the Moment (~:

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face… do the thing you think you cannot do.”

~Eleanor Roosevelt

For women in challenging circumstances ~

It’s okay to begin again ~

 

 

Please feel free to message me, too!

 

 

 

The word behind the words: MOTORCYCLE

Me:  “Yo, dude.  What do you want to do today?”

Alex:  “Motorcycle.”  (tilts chair back, sits in relaxed too-cool-kid pose, looks at me with mock serious slightly emo expression)

Me:  “Motorcycle?  You wanna ride a motorcycle?”

Alex:  “Yes.”  (slight smile forming, but still staring me down trying to get across the seriousness of his request, seeing if I’ll take the bait.)

Me:  “Dude *you* have to have a driver’s license first to drive a motorcycle.”

Alex:  (smiling, walks up to me, clears his expression & gets serious again– looking me right in the eye, almost nose to nose)  “Mom.”

Me:  “Yes?”

Alex:  “Bring motorcycle.”

Me:  “Dude, I don’t have a motorcycle.”  (thinks a minute)  “But Aubrey actually has one…”

Alex:  “Mom.  Bring Aubrey’s motorcycle to drive for Alex.”

The WORD behind the words:

Me:  “Yo, dude.  What do you want to do today?”

Alex:  “Motorcycle.” 

translation:  “I wanna go out, I wanna *move* and go fast.  I know Mom would be with me on this one, I just have to get her attention.”

Me:  “Motorcycle?  You wanna ride a motorcycle?”

Alex:  “Yes.” 

translation:  “You know I’m really gonna try for this, don’t you?  I know it sounds extreme, but trust me, Mom, this is gonna rock!”

Me:  “Dude *you* have to have a driver’s license first to drive a motorcycle.”

Alex:  “Mom.”

translation:  “Do you see how serious I am?”

Me:  “Yes?”

Alex:  “Bring motorcycle.”

translation:  “Mom, seriously.  I know you can get us transportation.  I’m counting on you.”

Me:  “Dude, I don’t have a motorcycle… But Aubrey actually has one…”

Alex:  “Mom.  Bring Aubrey’s motorcycle to drive for Alex.”

translation:  “Aha!  Now we’re talking!  Bring it over, let’s make a break for it.  I am so down with that.”

 

Do you have the “WORD behind the words” for a kid you love? 

Please do comment & share!

Funny things. Please.

I often write when I feel sentimental.  I write tributes to people who have touched my life, I write gratitude lists.  Sometimes I write funny things, silly things, cute things that make people go “awwwww…” with a little head tilt.  Rarely do I write when I am supremely pissed off.  But today is one of those days.  Lucky you.  Read on.

I love to laugh.  When I am laughing so hard my cheekbones feel stuck in a smile, my stomach hurts and I’m having trouble breathing, well that is just *the* BEST.  People put funny “posters” on facebook, they share cartoons & crazy out-of-context quotes.  There are tons of funny things out there.  And if you do an image search (try goodsearch before those other search engines– money gets raised for good causes) you can surely find enough pictures to crack you up for a good hour or two.

Today I did an image search for “autism funny” and you know what?  It made me angry.  Apparently, the people who think they have a sense of humor when it comes to autism like to post pictures of kids who look like mine with terms like “a$$hole” in the caption.  Or “joke” quotes degrading or humiliating people with autism and their families.

Or maybe it’s the search engines who just don’t freaking get it.  When I type “autism funny” I want Big Daddy’s cartoons or Autism Army Mom’s photos.  I want stuff that is fun, that we all can laugh at, that’s not insensitive, intolerant junk.  Is that too much to ask??

Sheesh :S  … and Grrrrrr…. and all that.

Soooooo…. Here’s what I’m asking for today:

Send me something that is “autism funny” to you.  Find me things that celebrate kids like mine, that will make me smile or belly laugh, that are *specifically* under the category “autism funny.”  Because let’s face it… if we can’t laugh through this strange world we’re all navigating… then what’s it really about?

Okay, enough reading my rant.  Go search, find & report back.  Post in comments or email please (autismhomerescue@gmail.com).

… What are you still doing here?  Go find stuff– go now!

Oh yeah… and wishing you all a Happy New Year with plenty of things to smile about!

An experiment in interactive posting…

Okay, people, listen up.  This one is an * INTERACTIVE POST *  so look alive out there.  WordPress keeps posing these cool questions for the Post-a-Week challenge.  My email inbox has been flooded with all sorts of writing topics that are taking me on more mental tangents than I’m usually allowed.  (To paraphrase a good friend of mine:  “I do not have attention deficit disor– hey look!!  Another blog about art!”)

In order to keep myself focused at work, being the clever little problem-solver I am, I am turning this post over to YOU.  I’ll answer the question first.  Then you all answer in the comments.  If you’re too shy to comment yourself, no worries.  Just email me at autismhomerescue@gmail.com and I’ll add your answer anonymously. 

Are you all ready??  REALLY?  Okay then.  LET’S GO! 

What’s the single most important thing you accomplished in 2010?   And how do you plan to top it in 2011?

The single most important thing I accomplished in 2010 was definitely learning to stay in the moment, especially with my kids.  As far as topping that, I don’t think I could.  But I would like to run my first 5K race in 2011.  Does that count?

Your turn.  🙂