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!

just a little update

It's been a while...like a long while.  So brief update before I move along into what I want to discuss.  Alden is back in school now.  He is kicking ass and taking names in 3rd grade (thankfully not literally 'kicking ass' so far this year).  He had a super-huge, ridiculously awesome Christmas and his birthday is right around the corner.  So basically we need a bigger house to hold all his new stuff and all his upcoming stuff.  Thankfully we are actually talking about looking for a new house within the next year!

Today I want to talk about the holidays and something that grates on my nerves. I hate when people act like I'm some sort of patron saint for taking care of my child because he's got autism. I am just doing what every other parent does. I am doing my best. I am struggling. I am hoping. His autism doesn't change things.  I'd raise any other kid in the same exact way as I am raising him. I don't think of him as different because he is MY normal.  Oh, & just because he doesn't talk much doesn't mean he doesn't hear everything you are saying.  You making a big deal over my not being some Mommy Dearest isn't going unnoticed.  I think the main reason it bothers me is because I have never heard anyone say things like that to the parent of a non-special needs child.

I am not a saint, I am not a miracle worker.  I do what I can to give my son the best life possible.  He makes me laugh, cry, and tear out my hair, just like every other child.  Stop making it a big deal.  It isn't a big deal.  I love him and I'm doing my best to take care of him.  That's it.

HE is the one doing all the hard work. Why don't you praise him instead?  Like I said, he DOES hear you.

super quick update

We had a great time on vacation.  Alden rode his first big kid rollercoaster at Six Flags and loved it.  He had a blast @ LegoLand too.  I thought LegoLand was overpriced for the attraction itself. but their store was cool.

He went canoeing for the first time last week and had a lot of fun.  He was so cute with his little life vest and paddle.

Other than that we've been doing more summer reading and brushing up on his school words.

Summer has been pretty fun.  He has picked up a new stim or habit or something where he chews the skin on his fingers that is pretty gross but if I catch him & tell him to stop he will.  I think it's a "bored" habit kind of thing.  I emailed his OT about it but I haven't heard back yet.

That's it for now.  I have to go do dishes.  I'll be back with a bigger update sometime soon. 

a brief summer update

If you read my other blog you already know the reason I haven't been around much is because I'm in school and it's taking over my life.  The summer semesters are quite short so they shove twice the normal amount of work on you and yeah, it's a lot of work.

Anyway Alden is doing great.  He signed up for the Summer Reading Club at the local library.  If he reads 35 books before the end of July he will get a prize.  He is really excited about it and I'm sure he'll reach that goal quite easily.  He read 10 books in the first 24 hours of signing up.

He also has to read 30 books for school and also do spelling words.  He does his spelling words on the computer because he hates writing.  His handwriting has majorly improved over what it was a year ago and lately he's even been writing things voluntarily.  He made his own videogames.  He had markers & paper and he drew himself & a bunch of his favorite characters and wrote the game titles, consoles, and the rating on them. Then he stuck them in some old DVD cases we had lying around and put them with our other videogames.  I love that he's so creative.  Creativity and reading are the two things I hoped he would really be passionate about and I feel really lucky that he loves them both so much.

When I finally get done with my evil schoolwork we've been doing fun summer projects.  So far we have splatter painted, finger painted, built a fort, had a picnic, played with squirt guns, played in the sprinkler, hula hooped and today we started one of those little crystal growing kits.  It's from the dollar store so I have no idea if it will work but it will be neat if it does.

We tried the "glow stick lantern" thing I saw on Pinterest but I think maybe the glow sticks we had kind of sucked because it didn't do much.  Maybe you're supposed to use the big ones?  I have no idea.  We'll try again with the bigger ones and see if that works better.

His new thing is answering questions in a super high pitched fake scream voice which I would call "annoying" but I'll take high pitched screamy talking over no talking any day.  We've been there and we don't take anything he says for granted.  We cherish every single word, even the smart-ass "whatever!" and "I don't think so!" are more than welcome in this house.

Checking in with Alden mid-2012

I try to do this every so often so I can keep track of what he liked. Sometimes his answers surprise me


Color: Yellow
Song: Happy Happy Joy Joy
Book: Clash of Kings (This is actually what I am currently reading but sometimes he wants to hear part of it for bedtime. I skip the bad parts when reading to him.)
TV Show: Angry Beavers
Movie: The Lorax
App: Angry Birds Space
Website: Google "so I can look at anything!"
Videogame: Super Smash Brothers
Toy: Star Wars Lego Kits

tiny update

The school year is winding down but they have packed as much as possible into the last few weeks.  I've been to the Special Olympics, a field trip, and Field Day in the past few weeks.  Our school photo for spring finally arrived and it's adorable of course.  I just wish I'd known Alden wanted to do a sitting pose because I dressed him in jeans with ankle socks so you can see his ankles in the photos.  Which is no big deal, just kind of funny.

Everyone has been impressed by his academic performance this year.  Especially since the teacher he had last year wasn't a particularly good teacher.  His learning plateaued last year but this year he's been doing amazingly well at catching up.

We'll be doing a lot of fun projects this summer.  Lots of science experiments and arts and crafts things. I'll try to remember to post them here.  We'll also probably go on at least one "get away" and do some local fun things too.  I really want to go to LegoLand this summer, so hopefully we'll be able to do that soon.

I hope everyone else is enjoying the end of their school year! 

"I'M TELLING MOM!!!"

"I'm telling mom!" was something that I heard a lot growing up.  My sister & I, being only two years apart, were constantly fighting and blackmailing each other.  One actual exchange that I remember vividly was "If you tell mom what I did then I will tell her about the time in first grade that you didn't even BUY a milk!" Yes, in grade one my darkest secret was that one day at lunch I skipped buying milk and yes, I let my sister hold that shameful day over my head until 3 years later.  So when she used the previously stated threat and I was a fourth grader I said "Go right ahead! Tell her!"  By this age we should have probably stopped blackmailing one another, but the look on my mother's face when she heard that three years before I didn't purchase a milk at school was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen.

I bring this up because my son doesn't have a sibling.  He doesn't have someone to rat him out when he does things he knows he isn't supposed to.  He doesn't have someone to tell on him for lying.  Yes, my son is capable of lying, he didn't get the "everything is literal" autism symptom, which I guess could be seen as either a blessing or a curse.

Yesterday when I got him off the bus he started talking like a maniac.  He does this a lot, he is telling you a story but his brain gets ahead of him so the story might not make sense if you aren't paying very close attention.   His story went something like this:

"Miss Whittle istompedon her foot somadandIwassosorry and I was bad and had to gototimeout."

To the casual listener this would sound like "Miss Whittle -jibberish- her foot -jibberisth, and I was bad."

The story he was trying to convey was that he had gotten frustrated with his teacher (Miss Whittle) and stomped on her foot.  He was really sorry about it, he knew that was bad, and he had to go to time out.  His brain moves at such a quick rate that he often says words smooshed together so quickly that to the casual observer they sound like jibberish.  It takes him half as long to tell a story sometimes because his words come out faster than normal.  This tends to happen most often when he is upset about something.

He might not have a sibling to rat him out but he ratted himself out.  This is the first time he's ever admitted to doing something bad at school.  His teacher called after school to explain the incident and there were only two extra details added in "the teacher in question was wearing flip flops" *ouch!* and that "he was supposed to be doing schoolwork but he wouldn't stop bouncing around".  So he told me everything that was important in the story and I'm really proud of him.

I am going to make the assumption that the task in question had something to do with writing, which he absolutely abhors.  He can write every single letter of the alphabet, and his vocabulary is huge but getting him to write anything is damn near impossible.  He doesn't even like coloring.  He likes to paint but he hates anything involving a writing instrument.  His spelling tests are done on the computer because he KNOWS how to spell things, he just refuses to write them.

So that is the story of how Alden told on himself for the first time and I was really proud of him!

For more stories about my hilarious childhood, nerd things, and my life in general visit my other blog.

World Autism Awareness Day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day.  In case you have been hiding under a rock the past week let me bring you up to date, the CDC (who I am not particularly fond of) has finally updated their severely outdated statistics to say that 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have autism. That brings the "boys" statistic up to 1 in 54 since boys are more likely to have autism.

These statistics are startling to say the least.  I don't care what your opinions are on where the 78% increase over the last decade came from, what matters is that we make sure that our next generation are able to live full, productive, happy lives.  It could be vaccines, it could be the environment, it could be pollution, or some chemical in food, or that they have just gotten better at diagnosing it.  It could even just be the next step in human evolution, I mean really with all this texting and typing how much do we actually talk to one another anyway?

Regardless of why or how, we need to make sure that these children have the help they need.  Some of the cases are severe and some of them are going to end up in homes but there are also a lot of them are on the higher end of the spectrum and they are likely to grow up to lead normal lives.  We just need to make sure that all of them get the best shot they can get as early as possible.

Diagnosis is lengthy and expensive, occupational therapy is expensive, ABA is expensive, physical therapy is expensive, speech therapy is expensive, special foods are expensive, sensory equipment is expensive, and yes medications are expensive.  Another blow to families affected by autism is that a lot of the time one parent stays home or works very few hours a week because no one else understand's the child's specific needs and how to handle them.  None of us have the luxury of calling up just anyone who is willing to babysit for a few bucks an hour for a night out.

 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 I 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
lend4health
TACA Now!

it's raining pills

Being in online groups for things is so brilliant.  You don't have to interact with people and you can just scroll past the conversations you have no interest in.  Okay, so I'm obviously on the spectrum too, or I just hate people, or both.  In these groups I have recently seen a whole bunch of parents who are new to the diagnosis, or having new issues.  We all know this disorder evolves in strange ways.  One second your kid is in love with Spongebob and the next second you'd think Spongebob was the anti-christ the way the kid is screaming.  Anyway, these parents are asking for help and do you know what 99% of the replies have been?

"I'll message you a list of medications that my child is on for insert issue here."

Here is a list of why I find those responses absolutely terrifying:

• The person asking for help (especially the newly diagnosed ones) might not realize there are other options if they don't know to look.
•  I am the only person who has suggested anything other than drugging their children...at all. In any of the posts like this.  No one else have suggested a certain doctor to help them, a certain school, a certain therapy, a treatment, a diet. These people are only suggesting drugs.  No other help at all.
•  Messaging someone a list of drugs implies that you know anything about THEIR child's problems.  Each case is unique and you don't know what their child specifically is dealing with. If you aren't a doctor you have no business telling someone that it's okay for their child to take something...EVER.
•  Not one of these people has said "We use ______", they are all talking about drug cocktails.  They all offer to send  "a list".

I get so disheartened when I see things like this.  I've talked many times on here about how I don't think medication is BAD, it DOES help some people.  Some people need it, but a lot of people who are medicated don't.  It just scares me that this is the advice these groups all seem to be dishing out and it breaks my heart for their children.

P.S. 

If you haven't seen "The Medicated Child" do yourself a favor and watch it.  I always recommend this to people when these debates start.

reading rainbowwwww

As a self proclaimed "Geek Family" it's probably no surprise that we have books absolutely everywhere.   Three bookshelves packed full, shelves that aren't specifically for books with stacks, stacks all over our bedroom, and some pretty awesome 1970s vintage bookends proudly displayed on our dresser with my favorite books wedged between them.  Not to mention over 150 on my e-reader and over a gig and a half of digital comics on my old harddrive.  Basically, we REALLY love reading in this house.

We have always read to Alden, since he was a baby.  We've always encouraged reading and we're all always reading something (though I'm dyslexic making me a rather slow reader) Now Alden is getting to the age where he's starting to enjoy reading to us.  He goes to the library alone every day at school and he checks out 2 books to bring home and read.  He has to read them before his bath and playtime because they are his "homework" and homework gets done before anything else.  He also goes to the public library once every two weeks and brings home anywhere between 7-11 books each time.

Our bedtime schedule goes something like this: Josh & Alden play videogames for an hour, then I go in and read to him until he falls asleep, usually 30-40 minutes of reading.  Then he will finally go to sleep.  With his growing attention span and insistence on not wanting to go to sleep we've recently started reading chapter books.  So far this month we've finished Matilda, Freddy Fonortner and the Fantastic Flying Bicycle, Pickle Juice on a Cookie, Ramona Quimby Age 8, and we're about halfway through Pippi Longstocking.  He always remembers where he fell asleep (which is good because I'm really bad about forgetting to bookmark things) and we pick up from there each night.

There are three books we have to read before we read the chapter books each night.  They are his absolute favorites.

Silly Rhymes for Belligerent Children - Trace Beauleiu (yes, it's by the guy from MST3K)

Goodnight iPad - Ann Droyd   far superior to Goodnight Moon (which sucks IMO)

The Space Child's Mother Goose - Frederick Winsor nursery rhymes with a scientific twist.

If anyone has a child with an interest in science or electronics these books are all absolutely fantastic and fun.  I can't recommend them highly enough.

He's also really loving Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day  (this is my favorite childhood book) and anything involving Calvin & Hobbes.

Happy Women's Day!

Today is International Women's Day and I feel that it is very important to raise my son to respect women, and be a male feminist. We let him do his own thing, he is creating his own path and we're all very happy about it.  He has fairy tale books, comic books, action figures, and Disney Princess toys, he loves My Little Pony, Spongebob, Batman, and Hello Kitty.  He reads books about space and silly poems.  His favorite color is yellow.  He has never heard the terms "girl toy" or "boy toy" from us, though he does see them online when he looks for toys.  He has a broad range of interests and he honestly doesn't care what anyone has to say about it (which I'm proud to say he definitely got from me).

I feel like it's important to let children be who they need to be.  I don't understand parents who get upset over their children wanting certain toys.  IT IS A PIECE OF PLASTIC IN A DIFFERENT COLOR & MOLD.  I mean honestly, people who get bent out of shape about this need some serious therapy.

My parents let me dress up as Peter Pan for Halloween when I was six years old. I wanted to be Peter Pan because Peter Pan was my favorite story.  They didn't try to talk me into being Wendy or Tinkerbell. They let me be Peter Pan because it's a costume and a character and most importantly it's what I wanted to dress as.

I'll leave you with this clip from the TED event about a brilliant documentary called "Miss Representation". Everyone should see this movie.


I have this documentary as well as other female targeted things I've enjoyed listed over at my other blog.  Feel free to recommend things to me there as well as here.

try it like this, not like that

I just completed a parent survey for a local autism group and it made me start thinking a lot about how people (usually strangers but sometimes acquaintances) react when then find out that Alden has autism.

• The "I am SO sorry." person.

Why are you sorry? All I can figure is that these people think they are being nice by feeling sorry for him? Or are they saying they are sorry for ME for having to "deal with it"? Either way I find it off-putting.

I AM SO SORRY that your child is different! Really? Because I'm not. I wish he didn't struggle with socialization but I bet you wish your kid didn't struggle in math, or sports, or whatever they don't excel at. I don't really see his autism as a handicap. He's healthy, he's happy, and he's probably smarter than you and I could ever hope to be. I worry about him like the mother of a neurotypical (that's "normal" for you laymen) child worries about her kid, no more, no less.

• The "He has autism? I couldn't even tell!!!" person.

First off thank you, he has worked his ass off to get to that point!

You couldn't even tell? Well how about that! I am NOT going to act like Alden hasn't progressed to the point where his diagnosis could be in danger if they change the Diagnostic Criteria, he has. He's excelling like crazy in all areas right now and he's getting close to being caught up with his neurotypical peers.

Here is reason #1 that this bothers me. You can't tell because you don't know what to look for. He doesn't wear a sign that says "I HAVE PDD-NOS!" He does however flap his arms, not respond to YOUR questions until *I* repeat them to him, and he doesn't make eye contact. You don't know he has autism because you don't know what to look for.

Reason #2 this bothers me is because when Alden was a lot lower functioning when he was younger not ONE person who didn't know his diagnosis EVER said "Oh, does he have autism?" or "I understand what you are going through". They said "Can't you control your kid?' , "What is his problem?", or "Nothing a spanking wouldn't fix". This was back when you assume that you would have been able to tell, but there's a 98% chance unless you KNOW what to look for that you would have thought he was just another bratty kid.

I'm not BLAMING these people, I'm saying it bothers me. People DON'T know what to look for. They think of Rainman, they think of kids staring into space not even in contact with this world. They don't understand what autism is because they don't deal with it. They "have a cousin who's little boy has it too" and that is the extent of their knowledge.

• The "what medication is he on" people.

To me, these are the worst. Not only are they assuming that he's medicated because he's acting "normal" but they also assume that I'm like the hoards of others who drug their kids into oblivion to get them to sit down and shut up. I'm not. I'm not saying that he will never need medication, I am not saying that people who medicate their children are evil, and I'm not saying that some people don't need to be medicated. I'm disgusted that we live in a nation where the first thing people assume is that "we throw pills at it to make it go away".

As I said before I don't blame these people, they just don't get it. Part of the problem is that people are uneducated about autism. Something needs to fix that.

When you find out my child has autism ask me questions about it. How old was he when we found out? What is he doing right now that would tip a person who is familiar with it off? Educate yourself, don't feel sorry for us. We are fine, we are happy, and we don't know any different.

tiny update

We had Alden's annual IEP meeting yesterday. Thankfully it went very smoothly & everyone is one the same page. He is really thriving in his new classroom and I really like his teacher. He has been having a lot of fun this year and actually seems to be enjoying school.

He finished his February reading chart in 7 days! I'm really proud to be raising a fellow bookworm!

Not much else going on at the moment, just hanging out watching him watch America's Funniest Home Videos right now (his commentary is SO much funnier than the show itself), while I sit here and read my book.

if it's not one thing....

Alden was out of school for two days the first week back after the holiday because he caught head lice from his best friend at school. Thankfully we nipped it in the bud and he didn't have it very long. Then Tuesday night he had a fever so I kept him out of school Wednesday and he was sick until Saturday. So he missed 5 days this month.

I finally got him well and sent him back to school today and around 10:30 this morning his teacher called and said he had an accident resulting in a head injury and that they would like us to come pick him up. She said he was skipping (I am guessing she means his little gallop stim because I've NEVER seen him skip) and that the carpet came up under his foot and he fell down hitting his head really hard on the wall on way down. The nurse was concerned because there wasn't a knot coming up but by the time Josh got him home there was a knot forming. He's been fine so far as I can tell all day. His eyes are normal and he hasn't been tired or pukey.

Serious head injuries signs & symptoms are pretty interesting. They say things like "if your child's speech becomes garbled or slurry", "if your child acts strangely", and "if your child has strange body movements", um, those are basically symptoms of autism too. So it's always kind of scary because while his speech is improving drastically sometimes he still struggles with making his words clear, and of course all the stimming could be the other two symptoms.

Anyway I am hoping he's okay. He said it still hurts but he keeps touching it so that certainly isn't helping anything.

If all goes well he'll be going back to school tomorrow and HOPEFULLY this week will be better. He has missed more days in January than are allowed for the entire 9 weeks but the school has been really good about it. Probably because the lice thing was kind of their fault and also the head injury. Anyway I just want things to get back to normal, we are both worn out.

Christmas & Birthday

We had a wonderful Christmas. Alden is REALLY enjoying his Skylanders game from Santa. We've been playing all of his new games and having a blast. Tomorrow is his birthday party (his actual birthday is on Monday and he has to go back to school!) . It will be his first party with his peers instead of just family so I'm hoping for a smooth transition.

He'll be turning 8 Monday so I'm sending his school class some cupcakes to celebrate! Then when he gets home I'm going to (HOPEFULLY) do something really cool with his room.'

I hope everyone had a great holiday and has a fantastic New Year celebration. Please be safe!