Hoping my father in law will post about wrestling:)

Let it Skype Let it Skype Let it Skype!

http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home  Last year I proposed that our family use Skype and this year I received Skype equipment/program for Christmas:)

Parenting:Autism and Holidays

There are many autism sites geared toward helping caregivers and this site is one of my favorites (http://www.nlconcepts.com) This article might be of interest to you if you deal with "sensory...and emotional overload." When my son was 2, he screamed at the Christmas tree and at the fire in the fireplace. We ended up caving and putting his train table in the kitchen! After systematically and gradually making changes in our home, I have been able to decorate for the holidays...and he even enjoys helping me:-) How do you manage the holidays, with all of its traveling, decorating, gifting, baking, parenting???? I would love to learn from you.

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: The Heart of Autism: Motivational Intervention Strategies for Caregivers & Professionals

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: The Heart of Autism: Motivational Intervention Strategies for Caregivers & Professionals

The Heart of Autism: Motivational Intervention Strategies for Caregivers & Professionals

The Heart of Autism: Motivational Intervention Strategies for Caregivers & Professionals

Please, check out this link regarding Strategies. We can all use more info on how to motivate our loved ones toward excellence, rather than to frighten them away from a non-preferred consequence. Natural consequences are important for learning, but we need to include positive reinforcers.

Gel Pro Mats: Great for Variety of Standing Activities

What activities do you do that require you to stand for extended time periods? Is it cooking? Surgery? Cashier? Teaching? For me it's pad printing. Printing images onto charms requires me to stand in front of the printer for up to 5 hours at a time. Gel Pro mats are a great way to ease the aches and pains one gets in the feet, legs and back. Check out their website. Or you may also want to try smaller versions of anti-fatigue mats. Sometimes I wish all of the floors in my house were covered with Gel Pro mats:-) Can you imagine that?!

Parenting: Reality vs. Fantasy

I have been reading about the possibility of an official day for parents of children with special needs (similar to mother's day, Autism Awareness Day, etc).(See Rare Gems Blog on twitter.) Every issue has 2 sides: one suggests this could segregate parents of children with special needs even further from parents of "typical" children and the other side suggests this day could highlight the different challenges and health risks we parents face.What do you think??

In any case, I have also read that caregivers of loved ones with special needs suffer with compromised immune systems related to the chronic stress. Think about what you see and read in the news. Take sports for example... I am amazed at how much attention is generated when a team's big play maker is injured. One can see the injury update on the TV screen crawler plus watch an interview with the team's coach and other players regarding how the loss of this injured player will impact their game plan. Imagine this...what if our health status was respected and cherished as much as that of a pro or top rated collegiate athlete? Can you see the crawler now? "Denise Meissner's back injury has forced her to slow down and delegate household and work duties. However, she  fully expects to start in today's game." Also, imagine that with an injury, the parent becomes surrounded by a team of highly trained medical personnel, whose focus is to get the parent "good as new" as quickly as possible.

It might be fun to have a digital message crawling across a screen (ie. like the kind you see in store windows) for all to see when they walk into the house. :-) And, it might be nice to have a day dedicated to honoring parents with special needs...especially if the day becomes an opportunity for fund raising, etc. (See also Rare Gems Blog on twitter.) I would love to hear from you re: your opinions.

Holiday Lights

Lighting is a beautiful way to decorate for the holidays and it's also a functional way to keep our children safe. One product I found (and use) is the Handi-Light hands-free lighting device. With a simple snap you can clasp it onto your wrist, a door knob, or other objects in order to see in dim light or to be seen. So when you and your children are enjoying quiet/dim light time at home or taking evening walks around the neighborhood, you can still have a subtle clue as to where your child is. Also, you can use the light to reference visual cues (ie. for those who use pictures to communicate) in dim light or dark rooms. Check out http://www.handi-lights.com to see this product.

Light Therapy for Winter "Duldrums"

www.sltbr.org/sadfaq.htm

Check out this site for info regarding using light to increase one's mood. Let me know what you think.

Activities to Jump Start Your Day

To help you get more oxygen to your brain (which is crucial for concentration, creativity, stress reduction), here are some ways I help my son get ready for school (and he gets picked up by the school bus at 7:00 am!): 1) Lighting~20 minutes before I ask him to get out of bed, I turn on his room's light to get the wake-up hormones flowing; 2) Aromas~ Each night we wash dishes and take out trash so there are no nasty odors to trigger an outburst...from either him or me:-); 3)Routine~Each morning we go through the same routine...as closely as possible...so he knows what to expect and so he can cheerfully transition out of the house to the bus; 4)Oxygen~Lately he and I have been playing ping pong to increase his breathing and blood circulation (which increases brain power and mood). Please share your ideas!