Autism Love Story

Check out this cute autism couple when you have time!

Their love story in Glamour Magazine and a video from Good Morning America.

Mercury in Foods

Who knows the cause of autism, I don't claim to have the answer. But, mercury levels are often associated with autism and at least a delay in brain development. I've often thought there must be some damage from the change in our food, diets. Well, there are two new studies pointing to mercury traces in popular kids snacks. Read about it here and write your representative demanding accountability!

Christmas Bummer!

Shopping for Dylan and trying to make his Christmas list can really bum me out. When I look at toys appopriate for his age, I realize how far behind he is and get down. Dylan would really just like to ask for toy trains year after year. We are trying to teach him that he's growing up and needs to play with toys and read books for his age level. He sometimes gets it, but more often goes back to his old stuff. I was with Dylan at Target and he picked out this game for his Wii game that uses a mat with the game. When I got home, I realized he couldn't co-ordinate looking at the mat and the TV while doing motions -- entirely above him. So, that spun me into a "poor me" mentality -- will he ever get caught up? Will he ever be ready for toys and games and sports for his age group? The Chicago Tribune wrote about this topic of buying toys for autism kids. They summed it up, it's no fun buying toys that are way too young for your child and realizing how far behind they really are! Bah hum bug!

Cool Autism Moms Feature

Redbook magazine has a cool feature about 10 moms changing the face of autism.

Arthur's Underwear

I have to write this one down before I forget... it goes into the chapters of my book called "You really owe me one some day, kid!" One of Dylan's favorite books is 'Arthur's Underwear' where the main character has a dream that he forgets to wear his pants to school. Well, letting him read this has officially come back to bite me in the butt! On Sunday, Dylan was having a really "off" day where he was restless and needed constant movement and could not settle into much of anything at church. So, I was walking the halls with him when I let him go by himself into the boy's bathroom. BIG MISTAKE! He comes running out in just his underwear and dashes down the hall yelling "he forgot his pants!" Two older gentlemen from another congregation come running after him saying "here's your pants!" I wanted to pretend it wasn't my child. The men managed to convince him that they found his pants and he should put them back on. These are the times you can either laugh or cry! This is so how raising a child with autism goes. The day before was Saturday and we were at the park with some kids. He was interacting and playing and being such a typical child. I thought for a moment, "wow, he's come so far!" And enjoyed the short moment of him being barely indistinguishable from the other kids. The next day he was so in his own world and streaking down the halls of church in his underewear! Now some of you may say, that's every boy's dream. But, how many of you have actually seen a boy do that???!?!!!!!

I May Have to Go to Georgia!

This is my dream high school, one that employs the philosophies of "Floortime" therapy, my very favorite. I may just have to move there for Dylan's high school, or start my own here, we'll see! Check it out in the NY Times article.

Who Else Cries at Presidential Debates?

No matter what the pundits say about tonight's presidential debates, Sen. McCain brought me to tears with this one statement "I will spend whatever it takes to find the cure for autism." At least he brought it up, then Obama talked about it too. After a day of these thoughts: "What's wrong with my son's stomach" and "Are his reading scores keeping pace?" and "Should I push him harder?" or "Does he need a big break from therapies, vitamins, school?" ... it was somehow comforting to curl up to the TV and hear someone say that they'd fight to stop this awful condition. It must be stopped. I spent time today reading about more potential causes and feeling the guilt: Was it the first vaccine he received as a newborn when I wasn't even in the room? Was it teflon in any pans we used? Was it metals in drinking water? Was it construction dust or other environmental hazards that contributed to this? Who knows! Why don't we know more? It's appaling to me that President Bush, the NIH, CDC and other health organizations have NEVER declared a war on autism. Why not? It impacts more children than childhood obesity or leukemia. Why do the parents have to fight so hard without the support of any health organizations? I'm tired today. I need someone else to fight the fight. I felt like giving grumpy ole McCain a big hug. Thank you for recognizing that this too is a drain on our schools. Thank you for acknowledging that it needs to get better. Thank you for recognizing that parents aren't the only ones responsible for finding a cause. Thank you for acknowledging my pain! There's a child upstairs who thanks you too!