A Request For Autism Awareness Month

As we get closer to Autism Awareness Month and World Autism Day I am asking the autism community to stop using the phrase “losing a child to autism”.

It is an insult to the person with autism and takes away from what the person with autism is capable of. It robs people with autism of hope and undervalues their growth and accomplishments past, present and future. It is also a slap in the face to parents who have children facing life threatening and terminal illnesses, something I hope no parent has to face. Most children with autism will make progress. You may not see it day to day and it may be hard but it is important to acknowledge the growth and the progress no matter how small it may seem at the time.

Grieve as you will but use care when choosing your words. Words are powerful and best used to build not destroy. Give your child a hug and know that no matter how bad the day has been that your child will not die. Know that with time your child will grow in his or her own way.

I ask, for every child with a life threatening or terminal illness, for every parent that has had to bury a child and for every child who has experienced the death of a sibling, please do not use the term "losing a child to autism".

Thank you,

An adult with autism who is mom to a child with autism who is in the process of being diagnosed with a life threatening illness

World War II Unit Study

Cowboy has been asking to learn about World War II. I have to admit I have been very reluctant. How does one even start to approach this topic with a 7 year old? I spent weeks wondering about this. I had tried a few different methods but not with any passion on my part. I did not want to downplay any part of the war and the devastation but I did not feel my 7 year old was ready and able to understand and handle it.

I finally found a solution, historical fiction. I went on the hunt for books from different perspectives, I tried to get picture and audio books about children so that Cowboy could relate. I want stories about life before the war, during the war and after the war. I want the stories to be through the eyes of people from all over the world.

Book list:

-The Bicycle Man by Allen Say

-World War II: an interactive history adventure by Elizabeth, Raum

-A Picture Book of Anne Frank  by David A. Adler

-Number the Stars [sound recording] by Lois Lowry

-The Yellow Star: the legend of King Christian X of Denmark by Carmen Agra Deedy

-The Ring and the Window Seat by Amy, Hest

-You Wouldn't Want to be a World War II Pilot! : Air Battles You Might Not Survive by Graham

-Snow Treasure [sound recording] by Marie McSwigan

-World War II. The Eastern Front, 1941-1945 by Robert John O'Neill

-World War II (DK Eyewitness Books)
-The Battle of the Bulge: turning back Hitler's final push by Bill Cain
-The attack on Pearl Harbor: an interactive history adventure by Allison Lassieur

-Code talker [sound recording]: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac
-The battle of Iwo Jima: guerilla warfare in the Pacific  by Larry Hama
-D-Day: the liberation of Europe begins by Doug Murray
-Across the blue Pacific: a World War II story by Louise Borden

Web Resources:

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/worldwarii.htm (I read some of this to Cowboy, I do not recommend this for younger children)

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/worldwarii/preview.weml

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory/worldwariicauses/preview.weml

Field Trips:

Truman Home

Truman Library

Adventures in Independence

It truly feels like spring! The days are warmer and along with the warmth comes the desire to explore and to have an adventure! With minimal notice we decided to head to Independence, Missouri to explore a city rich in history.

It was a fitting trip and one I had meant to make last October when Cowboy decided he wanted to be Harry S. Truman for Halloween. We had talked about Harry Truman and on our trips through Independence and Cowboy and seen the many silhouette images of President Truman around town. His interest was further deepened when he learned of President Truman’s role in World War II.

We went to the Truman Home Ticket Center to enquire about tour times. It turned out we had just over 2 hours before the next tour so Cowboy picked up his Junior Ranger book and we headed out to explore the square. We walked about 5 feet before we found our first activity.

Pioneer Trails Adventures is a covered wagon pulled by two Missouri mules and we were given a wonderful oral history of Independence and it’s importance in the Civil War, the westward expansion and of course President Harry S. Truman. (We did the 60-75 minute tour)

For lunch we ate at Square Pizza because Clinton’s Soda was closed for renovations. From there we walked down to the Truman Home for the tour. We both greatly enjoyed the tour and would like to do it again in the future.

Unbeknownst to me they were having a St. Patrick’s Day parade around the square. The timing was perfect and we stopped and watched the parade on the way back to the ticket center. At the end of the parade they were encouraging people to join in the parade. Cowboy wanted to and I figured why not.

After the parade we went back to the ticket center we watched the movie and Cowboy received his Junior Ranger badge. We spent over 4 hours in Independence before we had to head back home. We did not have enough time to visit the Truman Library so that will have to be an adventure for another day.

Truman Home National Park

http://www.nps.gov/hstr/index.htm

Pioneer Trails Adventures

http://www.pioneertrailsadventures.com/

Mother Knows Best

For years I have been concerned about Cowboy. His fingers turn blue with frightening frequency. He has sores on the tips of his finger that just do not heal. His left hip is really tight. He has complained of leg pain since he could talk and has never been able to keep up with other children his age despite being very active.

We took him to the children’s hospital in February because his hands and feet were swollen and one arm was turning dark purple, almost black. It was nice to be taken seriously and the ER consulted with a pediatric Rheumatologist and ordered a bunch of tests. Cowboy was seen by the Rheumatology clinic within two weeks. After a thorough exam and more blood tests we have answers. Cowboy has one other test to go through before his next appointment. I will post more then.

The good news is that all his organs are functioning really well. The bad news is that I was right. I have been right for years. My goal is to not to focus on what could have been had I been listened to 3 years ago when this all started but to focus on educating myself and Cowboy and helping him. 

Socialization

This question comes up often when homeschooling is mentioned. I usually brush it because if it was a real concern they would already know the answer and not need to ask. I almost always have Cowboy with me and he is more the willing to have a conversation. For those of you looking for the answer, I am not going to answer it here. Instead I am going to share two experiences we had at the ice rink. Both days we went to the rink not knowing any one else.

We went up to the ice rink in the afternoon for Cowboy to get used to skating in his hockey gear and for me to practice my ice skating. When we arrived we were surprised to see a lot of families there. I asked one of the moms and she said it was homeschool skate day. I had no idea they even had a homeschool skate day but I was thrilled to find out there was.

I would say there were about 30 homeschool children at the rink from about 5 years up through 15 with a large concentration of 6-9 year olds. The 6-9 years all got along really well together and spent the time skating together. Cowboy showed two siblings how to skate since it was their first time ever out on the ice. At one point they formed a human chain and tried skating down the ice. It did not work out well but judging by the laughter it did not matter. The children did not stay together in one large group; instead they frequently skated in smaller groups of 2-4. These groups changed depending on various factors such as the speed of the skating and the conversation at the time. There was no ill will when the groups changed and no one was ever excluded. Cowboy was sad to see everyone leave and has asked me to make sure the next homeschool skate is on our calendar so we can come back.

The next day we went back to the ice rink. They were having a special extended session because several local school districts were out of school. There was about the same number of children on the ice and again a large number of 6-9 year olds. In the first few minutes I saw Cowboy talking with a few other children his age. They had never skated before and he had slowed to match their speed. He went around the rink a couple of times with them but then left them and spent the rest of the time skating alone. In less then an hour Cowboy asked to leave because he was not having fun. He had no one to skate with because the other children would not talk to him because they did not know him.

The most amazing difference between the two skating sessions happened whenever someone would fall. During the homeschool session if someone fell on the ice the nearest skaters would stop and make sure they were ok and help them up and encourage them to try again. During the public skate no one stopped and that person was pretty much on their own.

A Cowboy in Hockey

Our life has changed drastically since the week before Christmas. I finally signed Cowboy up for hockey. He has only been asking since before he turned 3. He couldn’t really talk so he only said “ice kate” over and over and over. I did try him in lessons around that time but for many reasons it was not a good fit. He has asked every autumn since then and I finally gave in and enrolled him.

He loves it.

Our local rink has holiday camps where the children go every day for 3 to 4 days. He enjoyed it so much that I enrolled him both the morning and the evening the week before Christmas and he passed. We tried the camps the week after Christmas but he got really sick and had to drop out of that class. He was sick enough that he didn’t care.

The good news is that the next week he was well enough to join two classed that met once a week for 6 weeks. In addition to the public sessions on the day of his class I took him skating one other day of the week each week. He worked very hard and is a pretty good ice skater because of his hard work. He just finished those classes and is now ready to learn more about the game of hockey. I bought him some gear and a stick and he had his first session on the ice with his stick. He is still enthusiastic and I am so proud with all his hard work. I am even taking lessons now. *gulp*

Gluten Free/Casin Free/Corn Free/Soy Free/Peanut free Chocolate Cheesecake

I adapted this cheesecake recipe for a friend. I am sharing it here because I know many people with multiple food allergies and tend to do without treats because it is hard to find safe options. If a suitable egg substitute is figured out I will update this and include the egg alternative.

16 oz. Vanilla flavored Coconut yogurt (I used SO Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. arrowroot
2 eggs, lightly beaten (Whole eggs yield a creamier cheesecake)
1 cup Chocolate chips. Melted (Enjoy Life brand is gluten free, casin free, soy free)

Drain yogurt for 2-3 days before by putting the yogurt into a clean cotton cloth and hanging it in a bowl to make the yogurt cheese. I have tried several different types of material and I am satisfied with a cotton bandana. I tried cheese cloth but it was a mess.

Lightly grease an 8 inch pie pan or 7 inch spring form pan (I used glass and did not grease the pan).

Place cheese in food processor; add sugar, arrowroot, and melted chocolate then pulse until well blended.

Add in eggs and pulse until blended.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Bake in 325 degree oven until center is set, about 25-30 minutes.

Cool slightly on wire rack. Refrigerate.

Serves 4 (if shared).