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!

Check Out Designmom.com Blog

While searching for holiday design ideas (to help my son with autism enjoy the sensory processing work that he needs), I stumbled across this blog: http://www.designmom.com. I hope to learn from her and translate/adapt her ideas and recommendations into design and crafts to do with my son. You may want to learn from her and get inspired to increase your child's tolerance for various textures, smells, lighting, changes in environment, and task sequencing.

HGTV's Mike Holmes & Innovative Accessibility Solutions

Check out the video to see the shower rim that keeps water in the shower stall and collapses when you roll a wheelchair over it. This is soooooo much safer than having a person and their caregiver risk slipping and falling when transferring in and out of the stall. If you have ever tried to use correct body mechanics while helping someone wash, dry and dress themselves in a shower stall, you will appreciate this solution. Let me know your solutions and comments!

Lego Building for Learning

My son is obsessed with Lego sets. He has dog-eared every page in our Lego catalog and asked to receive each set for Christmas:) We even cleared out the guest room to create his own Lego building play room. Even though we have a strong focus on Lego sets, I just discovered that Lego has education centers. Lego also offers professional development courses! Who knew?? Please share your Lego stories and comments.

Legos for Learning

My son is obsessed with Lego sets. He has dog-eared every page of the Lego catalog and asked to receive each set for Christmas:) We even cleared out the guest room in order to create his very own Lego play room. Despite all of the Lego products & catalogs we have, I just discovered that Lego has education centers! The centers focus on increasing a child's learning through hands-on building. They even offer professional education courses...who knew??? If you are familiar with these programs, please share your comments.

http://www.lego.com/education/centers/default.asp?pagename=about_centers&l2id=5_5

Being thankful: easier said then done

http://http://www.123greetings.com/events/thanksgiving/

Several years ago, when my husband and I were going through marriage counseling, I realized something: It is important for me (us) to be thankful for the challenges in our lives because those times bring opportunity for learning and for forgiveness. For example, if someone's hurtful behavior emerges (again!) then we can use that situation to tackle the issue. I had to train myself to say "thank you" when my husband and I would argue or when our son with autism would throw a day-long tantrum. Then I forced myself to say "thank you"  to the universe for not allowing me to win the essay contest with its trip to NYC. As it turns out, the time I would have been in NYC needed to be the time I had to undergo medical testing and ultimately prep for surgery. Now I just say "thank you" (even if I am angry) and then wait to see what comes next. Maybe this is a technique you have already tried to do or that you may want to try. If you haven't already tried saying thank you when you are mad, start off with easy issues. Example, "thank you for making me late to get out the door...turns out I could have been in the car accident that was just ahead of me". Please tell your stories.

http://www.scienceofeverydaylife.com/families/

Check out this link for 3M's Discovery Education portion of their website. Looks like they have excellent ideas for learning by exploring your environment. This could be helpful with those who need practice processing sensory input.

3M's Amazing Solutions

http://www.command.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/NACommand/Command/

Between creating a school supply/mud room, decorating for the holidays and posting visual cues to help our son with autism (and us) enjoy the holidays, I find 3M hooks to be brilliant. As our family and son's needs change, so can our display areas. Since I just finished painting most of the rooms in the house, I don't want to ruin the walls with nails. For decorating, I don't want to be limited by the location of electrical outlets or previous nail locations. Now I don't have to worry! Let your creativity flow and create a serene yet functional home setting.

Toys R Us & Autism products

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4089811

Toys R Us has been featuring products for those caring for someone with autism. Their newest product is the book by the football star Rodney Peete. I plan to get this for myself...I am putting it on my Christmas list. You may want to check it out since insight from others often gives us at least one bright idea or aha! moment. If you have read the book, I would love to hear your feedback and ideas, insights.

Good Nite Lite: Helps Keep Children in Bed

Especially with Daylight Savings time changes, this Good Nite Lite is what my son with autism LOVES! He is so proud when he stays in bed until the "sun comes up" and he knows it's time to wind down and prep for bed when the "moon lights up." On the back of this light is an easy to set clock for the current time, the morning time you want the sun to light up and the evening time you want to moon to light up. It also comes with excellent ideas for how to introduce the use of the light. For transitions such as waking up and going to bed, this really works for us. Check it out!! Who knows? Maybe you can sleep in a little this weekend.
Good Nite Lite: Helps Keep Children in Bed

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers

QCharm Cares for Caregivers: Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers: "Check out this water container with the friendly reminder to keep your cool during stressful times. Who knows, maybe someone else will notic..."

Visual Cue for Stressed Out Caregivers

Check out this water container with the friendly reminder to keep your cool during stressful times. Who knows, maybe someone else will notice you and your visual cue and take the message to heart?! 

http://www.solutions.com/jump.jsp?itemID=16013&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=16013

Pumpkins anyone?

My son loves to play the online game Poptropica (http://www.poptropica.com). For the Halloween/autumn season, one of the games involves having your character roll pumpkins up a hill and through a log. My son was getting frustrated with this so I brought him outside to roll our own pumpkins (up the sidewalk and steps to our front door.) One way to work through a computer or pen and paper task is to add movement. Give it a try! You will be surprised at how creative you can be and how much fun you and your loved one can have. Remember: it's not that you get into a conflict...it's what you do to get out that matters most.

Lessons from Horses

I'm all about capitalizing on naturally occurring events by turning them into life lessons. Coincidentally, on the very same day that my son threw an outrageous tantrum at school, a horse that another girl was riding during my son's lesson time also threw a bit of a fit. Once it was determined that the girl was alright, I took my son aside and showed him how the horse was quickly recovering from his fit. Plus, my son had witnessed first hand the fit so I pointed out how it looks/feels like to be around someone throwing a fit. We talked about using calm voice and quiet hands (rather than throwing furniture!). I couldn't have planned and timed that scene if I tried and I'm grateful the trainer worked quietly and calmly with the horse. Keep your eyes open for teachable moments and be creative with your approach. I'd love to hear your stories:-)

Horses and Autism

Looking forward to tonight's horse lessons with my son. We discovered many benefits of horse riding and care: increased language; eye contact; following directions; sitting balance; right and left orientation; social interaction with teacher and peers; and of course the ever challenging task of transitioning out of this preferred activity and into the task of returning home. Also, he gets so hungry that he is more willing to try new foods for dinner and snack! Last night he ate his very first bite of fish (Chilean Sea Bass). Check with your local resources to see if there are programs that work with those with special needs.

Cool Catalogs

Check out http://www.homeimprovements.com for a variety of holiday and everyday products to make life easier. Also check out http://www.bhg.com/  for more ideas, including recipes.

Any Day Can Be Spooky

This week started with my son (the one with autism) throwing a major tantrum at school. Because the teachers had to resort to using restraint, I wondered what in the world triggered the outburst. My Occupational Therapy training taught me to ask, "Why?" "What is bothering this child?" So along with continued use of behavior modification and visual cues, I took my son to see the doctor. I suspected his allergies/nasal congestion might be causing an infection or pain. Turns out he has a sinus infection + his ear drums were in spasms. We added antibiotics and ear drops and what do you know...the next day he was his usual happy self. :-) When your child is acting up, just remember to ask yourself, "Why?" Then keep an open mind and follow the leads.

military families with autism

Just saw an ad on tv for http://www.acttodayformilitaryfamilies.org. Can you imagine the situation (or maybe you already live the situation) in which one spouse stays home with a child with autism while the other spouse is deployed??? Either one of those roles is extremely stressful so the combination must be over-the-top stressful.

Anti Anxiety Lotion & Mist

Massage Therapist recommended I try the lotion or mist version of her newly discovered Sparitual Geranium product. (70% organic). I purchased the mist bottle ($28.00) and it does smell very good. She sprays it on her son's pillow at night. I sprayed some on my shirt this afternoon and I can still smell it. On really stressful days maybe I'll use it as an air freshener:-)

Solutions

For the holiday season, our son with autism used to literally freak out with changes in decor, lights, fireplace...and that giant pine tree! Check http://www.solutions.com for a wide variety of alternative decor ideas and products. Also check http://www.potterybarn.com for the no-flame candles that run on batteries. You can set them to come on automatically and they turn off automatically after several hours.

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