tiny update time!

Hey guys.  Just a brief update.  Alden is doing fantastic in school.  We have his IEP coming up next month and I expect he will need a completely different set of goals at the rate he is going.  He is SUPER into Christmas and he's excited to get Skylanders Swap Force.  We made him wait until Christmas because when Skylanders came out we had JUST purchased him Disney Infinity not even a month before and we told him he'd have to choose which one he wanted to get for Christmas.

He's been taking and singing up a storm lately and I actually started a Twitter account where I post the hilarious stuff he comes up with.

I hope you and yours have a happy holiday season!

Summer is coming

There are four days left in the school year for Alden.  He's ready to be done.  He's excited about being in the 4th grade.  Since he is in a 3-5 self contained classroom we will have the same teacher again next year.  He actually went up a class a year early (grade 2) because he was the top of his old class and they had a lot of kids moving into the K-2 class.  So he's had this teacher for two years now and she has been the best thing to happen to him as far as academics go.

With summer of course comes the opportunity for trips, learning outside the classroom, and doing lots of fun hobbies.  So far we have two things lined up for June.  We will be going to Botanical Gardens at the beginning of June and then to the High Museum.  Then one weekend we will be attending Repticon to look at all the cool creepy crawly critters that they have on display.  He's really excited about it so I'm sure it will be a blast.

He received A TON of science experiments for Christmas and his birthday that we have been waiting to go outside to do because they are messy and fun or just call for not being inside.  I'm sure we'll do lots of crafts and painting as usual.

Today I showed him some really cool and fun educational YouTube videos and we're going to learn the following songs this summer.

I have wanted to take the time to learn The Elements Song for ages but I thought this would be a great teaching moment if we learned it together.

This one is just too cool.

I also plan to teach him the 50 states in alphabetical order song that I learned as a kid but don't know the name of.

So that's what we have going on right now.  See you guys in the summer time!

small update

It's the end of the school year and things have been crazy.  At least one field trip a week, Special Olympics, bookfair, Field Day, Mother's Day, etc.  Alden had a substitute today too so I'm sure that was an interesting change of pace.

Anyway, a brief update and bit of good news.  Alden's Speech Therapist called today and asked if we could update his IEP.  We had his IEP meeting a few months ago so it surprised me that she was calling.  (Plus, as a parent you are always like "OH SHIT WHAT DID HE DO?" when you see that it's the school that is calling.)  Apparently he's started speaking louder, having conversations, and talking more in general at school.  They have noticed he has articulation problems.  This might sound like a bad thing to most people but it's actually pretty terrific.  His IEP will be updated and one of the focuses will be articulation.  A couple years ago this would have been something I didn't think would ever happen, we were just trying to get him to talk TO us instead of AT us.  So anyway YAY ALDEN!  Kicking ass and taking names!!!

It's Autism Awareness Day

It's been a long time.  I hope this finds everyone well.  Today is autism awareness day and the month of April is autism awareness month.  As most of you know, my son Alden has PDD-NOS which is a form of autism.  He has really come into his own the past year or so.  His sense of humor and his attitude are really taking shape and I have to say that MOST of the time I'm pretty pleased with his behavior.  He's a funny, intelligent, wonderful kid with more potential in his little finger than I have in my entire body.  He is reading at (and sometimes above) his grade level, he's already doing better in math than I do, and he's still obsessed with anything involving computers.  He's just absolutely fantastic.

That said, he still struggles, and he's still in a self contained classroom.  It's likely that he will be in self contained until he's out of elementary school and moves on to whatever lies ahead once he gets to junior high.  I am hoping SURELY by that time they will have some sort of similar program in place for kids like him, especially since there are so many of them getting to that age level in the next couple of years.  

Right now his big triggers for meltdowns are all auditory related.  He can't stand music or TV that he isn't specifically in control of.  This obviously SEVERELY limits our options of taking him places.  It had never occurred to me just how much we are exposed to those things in daily life until he started freaking out about them.

It actually kind of annoys me, to be honest.  I think it'd be nice to go out to dinner without being surrounded by televisions and being forced to listen to whatever radio station that establishment feels like playing that day. Why do we need so much input all the time?  Why the constant need for distraction  That's just the society we live in, and like I said, I had never thought twice about any of it until he started having issues.

I try not to get soapboxy here too often but today and for the rest of the month when you hear people on the TV/radio/in person saying "Well they are just better at diagnosing it, autism isn't necessarily on the rise" please ask them how many of their peers growing up had the typical autistic traits.  How many children in their class were screaming, flapping, covering their ears, rocking back and forth, unable to speak or pay attention in class.  If they give you a number then please inform them that the rate of autism RIGHT NOW is 1 in 50 children.  ONE IN FIFTY CHILDREN.  Those odds are staggering and CLEARLY on the rise.  Anyone who says otherwise is frankly an ignorant twat.

This month is Autism Awareness month. If you have the money to spare, please consider donating to an autism organization.  I don't tell people what sites to donate to because everyone is trying to help these kids.  While we might not all agree on the causes, therapies, or protocols we all share a common goal and that is to help these kids grow into happy, healthy, productive adults.  Here are some suggestions for those who are interested.

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Generation Rescue

Autism Society

Autism Speaks

TACA

I have developed a crush on Louis Theroux If you have the time I beg you all to watch this segment he did on living with autism.  It says part 1 of 2 but it's just one big video.  I assume that caption is because he's probably planning to go back and revisit them later which he often does a few years down the road.  This is seriously the most accurate portrayal of autism that I have ever seen.  It gives a great look at meltdowns, the struggle for control, and just how broad the spectrum truly is.  Anyway if you have a bit of time please watch and share.  People need to see this.

I can't believe he's 9 years old!

We just got back from Alden's birthday adventure.  We went to Wonderworks and MagiQuest and had an absolute blast! I highly recommend both to anyone who likes science and magic.  Now we're sitting at the house unwinding before company comes by.

Tomorrow I have to clean the house up and make decorations and a pinata for his birthday party on Saturday. The theme this year is Skylanders. It should be a lot of fun!  That's pretty much it.  All the photos from our trip can be found on my Facebook page.

I hope everyone had a happy new year!