Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's Autism

As many of you know sometimes it's so very hard to buy for a child on the spectrum. There have been several years now where I thought I got the perfect gift for Doodle only to find out that was a big fat nope.

This year it's a bit small for her for Christmas. I didn't buy any art supplies which is new for me. Normally, I get her tons of art supplies and they normally last for the entire year until next Christmas. But the problem I've been having for the past couple of months is she using drawing and painting as a way to fight sleep. And what would normally take about 10 - 20 minutes for her to fall asleep takes about 2-3 hours. Well, I'm not into that.

Doodle loves animals so this year I got what I know she loves and that would be toy animals. No cages for them though, cause of the snake incident. And if she has any art supplies they would have come from the school. I requested no paints because I'm tired of multicolored bedding. I bought her a new bedding set cause she ripped up her other one in a meltdown. I also got her a few sensory toys. I got her a sound machine and I'm hoping she might enjoy that. If not that's okay, it can be used at a later time, I guess.

Most of what Doodle is getting for Christmas has all been purchased throughout the year. Little by little. And yes, I cheated at it. If it went on sale at 60-70% off at work that's when I bought it. Mainly the high dollar items we had last year for the Christmas season. Toys and clays, things I know she loves playing with. At Toy's R Us I went and got the Chipmunk plastic toys. I used to get Doodle the plushes but she just started cutting them open. So, no not gonna waste money on things that will end up in my bed. Those pellets for their butts hurt! Did you know that if you find the toys you are trying to purchase cheaper on Amazon, you pay the Amazon price at Toys R US? You can and I have been making out like a bandit! For the whole collection of the Chipmunks and the Chipette's I paid $10.00 instead of $20.00

For her Christmas stocking Santa is bringing Care Bears and cousins blind bags. Doodle absolutely loves opening those so she's getting that too. And she's getting a lot of movies that were released throughout the year. Boss Baby, Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3. I would have gotten Dory but she just wasn't interested in this movie like she was with Finding Nemo. I was hoping she would want that one but she wasn't. During the summer at Michaels we did a lot of crafts for Dory. I liked Hank the octopus. I was looking forward to seeing the adventure with him.

From her God father Doodle is getting a STEM activity where she makes a video game. She loves art and might just be interested in programming so this is something that she and I will do together. There is a Mc2 bag that's programmable she was playing with in Walmart so if she is interested in that she should be interested in this. She's smart enough for it. I will keep her thinking during winter break.

And Doodle really enjoys the 24th tradition. Opening a gift before Christmas day. She's got a new set of jammies, The Labyrinth the movie, cause Doodle loves anything Jim Henson. She's got an eight pack of gourmet cocoa's that I picked up at work for $5.99. I'm making a sleep mask for her and slippers to go with it and she's got a bag of popcorn to pop for the night of Christmas Eve to go with the movie.

I'm actually writing this blog the day the last blog went up because Christmas Day for us is spending it together as a family. And if you guys happen to read this, cool. If you spend the day with your family and miss it but catch it Tuesday that's fine too.

As for the Christmas shopping. Doodle didn't do any. She just didn't want to shop. But I did manage to get everything that I needed we had run out of. Instead of shopping at the health food store I decided that I needed to trying something different. I didn't want to spend $80.00 this time around. I found way better deals at Big Lots. The soap we use that has no sls in it they have it as a 4 pack for $3.50. I found sls free shampoo for $2.00. At Publix I found that the Jason company makes tooth paste now and they have a berry mint flavor. Doodle hasn't had a berry flavored tooth paste in a long time.

I got the last of the Christmas shopping done. Purchased Ice wine for my best friend. Found a few odds and ends that I needed. So my Monday has been pretty good so far. And I did get a new battery for my vehicle. That was almost a fight. My current battery which is still basically brand new has gone bad. Walmart wouldn't take responsibility for it. They held on to the belief that it was still good because it was brand new. I had it tested by Walmart and they said it was good, went to Pep Boys and they said they couldn't figure out what it was but to come back if I had anymore issues. This was last week this happened because it refused to crank and I had to get it jump started. Today I went to auto zone and had them run a diagnostic on it. Guess what, it came back as a bad battery. Went back to Walmart and told them the battery was bad. Dude said nope it's new. But they put it on the big machine to prove to me it was a good battery. After being there for over an hour waiting, it came back the battery was bad. If only the guy has listened to me to begin with. I was not a happy camper. Doodle kept saying she wanted the minivan. Which meant she was tired of being in Walmart. And I don't blame her. I really don't care to shop there.

I still have to go back to Auto Zone tomorrow and make sure that this new battery is good cause Walmart has made me very paranoid about my car. It's the only vehicle I have. I want it to work. Heck I need it to work so that I can work and be able to get to Doodle's school. Before winter break I was at the school every single day the last week. Well, everyday but Friday.

And on that note it's time for me to get other things done. Doodle and I hope that you and your family are having a stress free Holiday and a very Merry Christmas.

See you guys on the flip side.

Since the intruder incident Autism

I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what has happened since Doodle had let an intruder into the house. How could this have happened? Children are suppose to know better then to allow this to happen.

Since Doodle's last regression which put her back mentally to a 2 year old, things like this could happen not only to a special needs child but to regular functioning little's as well. This could happen to anyone at anytime.

So what has happened since? Well, our county school system held an autism training for parents, which I had signed up for the month before the incident in question happened. One thing that you have got to remember is that children on the spectrum have no fear and that was one thing that was not in the seminar. How do we deal with that one? Know your fears, know what you need to teach at home.

Doodle's school is out this week. That means that it's officially winter break and with winter break you are either going to have tons of t.v. time or you will have iPad time. Those things aren't so appealing to me for my child. I'm not raising a screen zombie. I'm raising a child that has to be taught something over a thousand times before she gets it. This is why picture schedules and social stories work so well. As I have mentioned on the last blog I have been following @theautismhelper on Instagram. There you can find lots of sheets that you can use to help your child to continue to learn while they are out on break.

So again, what has changed? I've become a bit more strict in my parenting. I'm also reinforcing good behavior, because her behavior has been a bit bad since her last regression and I have been just picking my battles. Sometimes when we are dealing with issues of autism we often forget to reinforce good behavior because we have some many other things going on.

I don't have a social story but I do have a picture with a snake crossed out on it and a cartoon picture of a house under that. Will it last long? No because now we are on break and I need to make sure that what the school was doing to teach her that we don't do snakes needs to be continued right now. I can contact Doodle's teacher and see if she can email me something. Or I can research it.

Before I went to the last even before our classroom closed down for the holiday's on Sunday Doodle yelled out that she wanted a corn snake. I yelled right back, NO! She did say she was sorry. So during the break I have to have things to keep her busy. Like severely busy. I guess it's time to take her Christmas shopping and let her buy something for me for Christmas. I mean I have hers all taken care of. There is not a single thing left to get for her. And they are all wrapped. So we can do that. And I can have her place it in Christmas bags. I don't have time this week to teach her how to wrap. I still have a computer to get online and to get my publishing program on it.

I still have a magazine to get out. So here we are. Two weeks after the incident and my friends still think it's freaking hilarious. Me on the other hand not so much. Doodle, she's dealing with a very strict mother and I've been reinforcing good behavior. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to create a social story but that's copyrighted. So that's no help for me. Time for me to come up with my own way of doing things. Things that will help other parents in the same boat I find myself in.

On that note I've got lots of things to do. It's a busy week and my autism Facebook group, the admins and I are about to redo it so that parents will have better access to things that they want or need and have faster access to help when the admins and I are not available.

See you guys on the flip side.

School obligations Autism

It's the holiday season here and this week is the last week of school before Winter Break. I've got to get everything ready for when Doodle is home and not doing much during the season. I have been following theautismhelper on instagram and there are tons of work sheets that I plan on downloading so Doodle can continue keeping her brain sharp during the break. I don't want her to just watch the ipad all day. I do want her to work on thinking skills while she is home. This weekend is the last weekend that I will be working before the classroom closes for the Holiday season. I will be returning after the new year. Which it will be nice to have a two week break. They won't see me much at work during that time. Which I'm sure everyone will be thankful for.

The last week of school is the Holiday parties and Holiday school programs. About 2 years ago I was a classroom mom and it was my job to get everything for the kids party. Let me make this as clear as I possibly can. Do not forget to pay when they ask you for money for the party. All the money comes out of someones pocket and it needs to be recouped. If that makes sense. I spent over $150.00 on my childs party and only 2 parents paid the $5.00 for the party. There were about 12 kids in the class and I knew everything I was getting I would not get the full amount back. But that's okay. It didn't bother me, but what did bother me is the fact that parents didn't want to pay. Heck parents came to the party and gripped because I didn't have a rotisserie chicken spread.

Yeah I'm going to buy that for a kids party where everyone is a picky eater and no one brings anything else. Just the kids and their parents and people wanting to stuff their faces. At a school party it's not about the parents it's about the kids.

Also if you can make sure that you can get the kids little gifts before they leave for the holidays. Some kids won't get presents during the holiday break. And you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on gifts. This year I hit up dirt cheap and found some bling bags that were of doggies and kitties. I went to Dollar General and found a large package of cars, where the kids got 3 vehicles each in their bags, some Shopkins activity bags and of course you can't forget the candy canes. I got holiday bags 6 to a pack for $1.00. And that's all it takes. Doodle really likes cars still and blind bags are her favorite thing to open. I don't think it really matters what the blind bags are just a surprise to open.

And of course the teacher and some of staff will be receiving presents as well. The teachers work really hard ever year with our kids. For the past two weeks I've been working on DIY holiday gifts. When the magazine is finally uploaded you will see all those gifts. I had a lot of fun making them and they were very easy and simple to make. A lot of what I made I already had in the house and some of the left overs went to other projects. So it made it very affordable to make gifts that are from the heart and able to be used.

See you guys on the flip side.

Why did you let an intruder into the house Autism

I guess this one is another day in the life of an autism mom. And I have never hated my child's autism a day in her life until Saturday when I came home from work. And yes, I've dealt with the poop smear years. Lived those bad boys for 6 long years. I hated those years and don't ever want to go back to them but I would have gladly handled a poop smear versus what I walked into on Saturday.

I mean this was so bad I had to contact Doodle's teacher. And she called back immediately cause it severely upset her. So what could be so bad that it made me hate living the life of an autism parent? Well, let me just tell you.

Saturday I worked kids club at Michaels craft store and the Gingerbread event. Doodle was with my parents at home. The day was pretty normal. Kids begging for the rest of my slime and not caring about any other customers that wanted to participate in the event. They were 11 years old. Where were the parents? Off shopping through the store, though they didn't really buy anything.

At the Gingerbread event a parent brought in a gingerbread house that had to be put together. Not to be decorated only. But put together piece by piece. And the icing was not doing it's job by acting as a glue. This was not a Wilton product. Took me just a moment to come up with a solution and the customer went from angry to happy and her product came out far better then other customers who were in the event. We were all very proud of the end product. For the first time of this customer and her daughter creating a gingerbread house she was happy and became a firm believer of Wilton icing. Once she learned all the tips and tricks there were to using the icing.

After I got home from work, tired and ready to finish all my work for my other weekend job I walked into my room. And there was Doodle playing on the bed holding out something that was long and different looking. I asked her what it was and she threw it in a turtle container for a toy turtle I bought last Christmas for her. I asked her again what she had and she responded with, "Nuffin'". I asked for what she had and she finally handed me the turtle container. And that's when I saw what I knew was not a toy and was as real as I was standing in the room.

I screamed. Screamed like I was being murdered. Because well, my safe haven of peacefulness was stripped from me. There was a live snake in the bedroom and I had no clue if she had brought in some of his friends and was just playing with the one or oh God I can't. I can't think about that.

I ran from the room. Panic mode as if this thing could fly and was chasing me with a knife. I was no longer safe in my own home. Look I can deal with toads, frogs, lizards and spiders. Snakes, that's a big ole NOPE!!! I couldn't go back into the room. It took me a bit to even get back to being close enough to get to the bedroom door.  I tried calling my male best friend and he didn't answer. So I called my female best friend. She lives on a farm. She has to deal with these things every single day. I called her and panic stricken screamed into the phone, "Get to my house right now!" She asked if I was okay. I replied, "Get here as fast as you can! It's not good. I'm about to have a stroke!" She said she was in the long line at work but as soon as she checked out with her stuff she would head to my house.

At this point Doodle was in sheer panic. She was upset and crying. She came out of the room upset and crying. I asked where is the snake??? She pointed to my bed. Oh sweet Jesus in Heaven rapture me now!!! Praying she hadn't put the snake in my bed I screamed and ran from the room again. I some how found the courage to make it back to the bedroom to ask where the snake was. By this time my dad was by the bedrooms waiting for the snake to be found so he could find out what it was and get it out of the house. I asked Doodle several times where the snake was. She kept telling me she didn't know. Oh this was so not helping. My mother was chiming that she wanted Doodle to get the snake right now. All this frustration poor Doodle was starting to meltdown. I took a deep breath and told Doodle it would be okay, show momma where the snake was. Doodle led me back to the bedroom and pointed to the bedroom window.

The courage I had to muster just to try to get the blinds up. Normally, this is super easy for me. Saturday it was not. I couldn't touch the bottom of the blinds or even open the slates of the blinds to find out where it was. After what felt like years and my muscles not wanting to work properly I finally got the blinds up enough to see if there was a snake in the windowsill. Nope, no snake.

At this point Doodle kept saying snake outside. Snake outside. Considering that it would be easier on my anxiety to be outside verses inside this tiny box where a snake could find me so much faster. Not really but this is how I was feeling at the time. I walked out the back door and headed to the bedroom window. And before I even got close enough I could see it. My heart dropped to my feet. There I stood frozen unable to move. My mother came up behind me and said, "Well, is it out here?" I said, "Yes, there it is. Can you see it?" She couldn't and walked closer to the window. I said it's on the bricks on the ground, look down. And that's when she spotted it and ran inside to get my dad.

Thankfully it was a corn snake. Doodle had poked a hole in the window screen and slide the snake outside that way. I'm not a happy camper and I'm not happy at all with the situation that I found myself in. After the snake was moved to the back part of the yard, mainly in someone else's yard.

I had to go sit on the front porch and I waited on my friend to come to the house. I live 8 minutes from work and she took over 20 minutes to get to my home. We sat on the front porch and she tried her hardest to get me calm again after I told her what happened.

That night it took me until well after 3am to get to sleep and that's with the help of 10 mg of melatonin. And 3 hours of Alvin and the chipmunk episodes on the nick app. I'm still not fully over the incident and am practically bathing in frankincense oil which helps with my anxiety. And I was begging for rapture after I figured I couldn't sleep in my office chair and had to check my bed for snakes. And yes, I did debate on just sleeping in my car that night. I found a feather that was brown and beige and curled on my bed under my covers. I wasn't wearing my glasses and everything was a little blurry. But it was something curled up under my covers. "Jesus, take me now. JESUS!!!" I'm sure Jesus heard me but wasn't willing to help me out. Still love him though.

I feel like there is something that is slithering over my feet and touching my ankles. I can't handle this. I told Doodle the next day there might be a possibility she would lose Christmas cause she knows mommy hates snakes. Yes, I will be one of those parents. I have everything already purchased but she can get her Christmas on her birthday in January. That's the way I'm pretty much feeling right now. Thankfully, Christmas is a good ways off and I know I will calm down by then. God, I feel like this experience was just 20 minutes ago.

Currently the house smells like moth balls. Cause I need security in my life. I no longer feel as if I'm smelling a snake cause the smell of moth balls is overwhelming. And there's a bit of peacefulness but not much. My eyes are burning from the smell. But I'm reminded of my grandmother and her wardrobe from years ago, so there's that.

Monday morning I will be taking Doodle to school myself to get a social story about not going after snakes. I refuse to leave the school until I have that in my hands for the house. If she's brave enough to go after a snake the next one might be dangerous. She has no clue cause she has no fear. And it's that no fear that most children on the spectrum have. And that's the part of autism I hate right now. Doodle's teacher was concerned that Doodle might have brought said thing to school. Doodle's obsession has gone from looking at pictures of snakes and drawing pictures of them to now bringing a snake in the house. Nope, nope, NOPE! Yes, her teacher asked me if I checked her book bag to make sure there was no snake in there. I told her no I haven't, you're on your own for that check! I told her I'm trying to convince my friend to come over and check over the room with me cause I need someone to throw on the snake so I can get to safety. She laughed. I'm not joking.

So that's where we stand and right now I'm still popping melatonin cause I can't get to sleep because of the fear.

If I come home from working another event at Michaels and find my kid playing with another snake I will be quitting my job. I just can't handle that. Everyone at work has been well informed. They think it's funny and don't take me seriously. But I'm not kidding. Told Doodle's father that he needed to make sure there is life insurance on me cause I will be 6 feet under if there is another incident.

See you guys on the flip side.

New round of IEP's Autism

Yeah, I know it's been awhile. I think the last time you heard from me was November the 7th. Right after I posted the blog it's one of those things where everything crashed down all at once.

I have another round of IEP's. In the state where I live we have to do an evaluation every three years to make sure that a child on the spectrum is allowed Autism Services. No matter how much Doodle will progress in life, she will always have autism. Just like she will always have a birth mark. Most parents don't want their child to have autism and it's something they think of as a stigma. To me I don't feel that way. Maybe in the future I can say she made it to where she is because of her autism. She sees the world differently. She feels the world differently. She is in this world and experiences it far differently then I do.

Last month 4 days before the Thanksgiving holiday I was in an IEP meeting to assess if Doodle would be eligible for Autism Services. Reviewing all the paperwork, she was no longer eligible do to the testing scores that were submitted from the school that I bent over backwards to get Doodle out of. It was a horrible school. I'll just admit it here, cluesslessness all the way around! From the principal to the teacher and para's. There are people out there that have a heart for it but aren't doing it for the right reason's. If that makes sense. Doodle's true miracle worker of a teacher changed her view not for just trying to teach children with disabilities but to actually help children with disabilities. She wanted her children to be able to help themselves in the event that they found themselves in an emergency situation.

Doodle used to know her telephone number and tell you the names of her parents. She was also able to tell you her name and where she lived. Yeah, it took a bit for the info to come out and you had to be patient. But it's something that every child should be able to do if they can. Doodle used to be one of those children that couldn't speak. She had to be pushed even on days that she didn't want to be pushed, she was still pushed to learn, to speak to write to think. And for that I am eternally grateful. I still insist on that to this day. I don't care if she wants to draw all day and screech, it's not something I want her to do. Disruptions like that in a regular ed classroom is not tolerated. And it shouldn't be tolerated in a special ed classroom.

Back to the task at hand. The previous school submitted testing scores from regular ed tests. Doodle is suppose to be tested on special ed test. They are geared towards the child's disability. If the child has no speech and can't use their hands but can look at specific things with their eyes, that's how they are to be tested. If a child on the spectrum can't read but can relate through pictures, that's how they are to be tested. If they don't test well and need to have the questions read to them, that's how they are to be tested. And so on and so on. It's testing but geared to the disability. And with the testing that was submitted it meant that I would have to start the process all over again every 3 years, instead of just reviewing it and saying yes or no.

Paperwork, seriously all the paperwork. And that's what I had to do. Redo all the paperwork that was related all the way back to when Doodle was first diagnosed. Doodle was diagnosed at age 3 and next month she will be turning 12. That's a long time to remember back and the way my memory seems to be going now it's not so cool since my accident last year around this time or just a little after this time. I've lost a lot of memory at the time of the accident. There is no way I can keep doing that every three years. So yeah the old school screwed me over. They screwed Doodle over by not teaching her but taught her aggression and violence that wasn't cool.

And now you see why parents have to fight so much. Hey I did get the paperwork in before Thanksgiving, though I will admit it like to have killed me. (Not really, but I hate doing paperwork that has been done before). So the paperwork was turned in and Doodle was retested correctly. All info will stay on file and it will be used to review as in, we have progressed from here let's try another level or she didn't do to hot on this level let's make sure she stays at the level that she does well at. Cause the testing for special ed is done at levels. And if I remember correctly I have gone over all this before.

Yesterday when Doodle came home from school I received that IEP request that the testing had been completed and it was time to come in and say yes or no on if Doodle is still eligible for Autism Services. I can't complain about this process, as I have a friend who's children are being tested just to see if they are eligible for Doodle's school. And that's why there is a 2 year waiting list. Again, I didn't have to wait on a two year waiting list. I pushed and I pushed hard to get Doodle out of that school. I didn't have to wait on the list for two years. And yeah, I have friends who are waiting to get into Doodle's school because it's the best in the county for special needs children.

Anyways, the testing is done and next week I will be having my actual IEP to see if she still qualifies. I know that she will because she's still riding on a bad regression. She's not fully out of it and I'm not happy. Well, now you are all caught up and I need to get back to making products for the magazine.

See you guys on the flip side.

Misadventures of a mom, Autism

Yes, I know it's been two weeks since you guys have heard from me. It's been a hectic, to say the least, two weeks for me with working, doing the magazine, trying to figure out my website and Halloween. It's just been crazy!

Doodle went as Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks for Halloween. And no one had an issue with my daughter dressing as a boy character for Halloween. But if anyone said anything, I was raised as a tomboy and dressed as a Ghostbuster. And this was way before the female Ghostbusters came out. I never did the girly girly stuff. In my opinion, just let kids be kids. Let their imaginations take them places we can barely go. It's much like reading a book. That's what the imagination is about. Being someone your not.

So I'm trying to get the magazine for November out. I want to get on a schedule for getting the magazine out on the 5th of the month and considering that today is the 6th. Hey look at that I already missed my deadline.

But now the magazine is fully setup in the way that I want it with room to grow, which is a plus. And I've already picked up almost everything I need to work on November and December at the same time.

But this blog post is about my misadventures. So let's just jump into that.

Today I went into work to buy some floral fall things. Wouldn't you know it. The moment November hits, bam Christmas stuff everywhere! No more Thanksgiving and fall stuff can be found, unless in clearance. But I did find a few things. And they will do nicely if I can get the magazine done in a few days time. Not likely as there is a huge project that has to be created but I'm going to try my best.

I was offered a spot to teach a make it class that the original instructor turned down, last minute. Which is cool with me cause I wanted this class since I heard about it in September. So I'm teaching hand lettering! I'm so happy about that one.

I went to Toys R Us to purchase some Alvin and the Chipmunk dolls that Doodle won't tear up. Plastic toys! Works for me! While at the register I pulled up Amazon and found the same set for $10.80. Did you know that Toys R Us does price matching with Amazon? If you didn't now you know! Guy that got behind me at the register wanted to chat but I had already been behind a couple that kept changing their minds about having an item on layaway or paying in full for it. When I finally spoke with him he wanted to know the team I was rooting for. And when I told him, he promptly told me that our rival team was going to beat us coming up. One thing you don't discuss with me is religion, politics or football. Cause those are the three things that cause physical fights where I live.

After leaving there I went to Walmart. The store I hate to be the most. I can count on one hand how many times a year I go to Walmart. It's like a freak show almost every time I go there. Nothing exciting happened there. Other then I got one piece for the magazine and I found the movie that needed to be replaced. If you are an autism parent you know the struggles of replacing movies that our kids watch over and over and over again. Chipwrecked got ruined. Found that out Thursday night so it had to be replaced. I found the movie along with the original, the squeakquel, chipwrecked and road chip as a 4 pack for $12.98. Not passing that up. Not sure if the other movies will met the fate of chipwrecked later or not. It's best to prepare for these things.

Headed to the Dollar tree to pick up a few things that were needed for other projects and decided that I needed a buggy, trolley, shopping cart what ever you want to call it. Headed up to the front to get it and a woman comes in yelling, you don't need a cupcake. You have too many sweets already. I'm thinking she's on a blue tooth talking to someone on the phone. Nope, she was yelling at her mini dog that's sticking it's head out of her purse. Why me??? She was on the hunt for a party hat with a little bear on it for the dog's birthday. And she let every one know it was the dogs' birthday.

I ended up behind the lady at the register. It didn't get any better. Letting everyone know they were heading to Hardee's to get a bacon burger so she could take photo's for his birthday. Actually, I might like to see this dog eat a Hardee's burger for it's birthday, wearing a party hat. Kind of makes me wish I had stopped by Hardee's to get something to eat for myself.

One of the other cashiers opened up another register and I was able to purchase my stuff and get out the door. The dog mom was covered head to toe in Louis Vuitton. Not including the purse the dog was in. He had his own carry all. But her big bulky purse was Louis Vuitton. As I headed to my car,  she came out behind me and yelled out, "You're a turd!" I thought to myself, just keep walking almost there! She followed up with, "You don't need 4 cupcakes. I don't care if it is your birthday." Okay, that's way too much crazy wrapped up in that package.

Good news is I'm now home, typing all this up for you guys. I think I'm going to go ahead and do a load of laundry cause school is out on Friday and Doodle has to have her Friday shirt on Thursday. Plus because prism pencils are crappy Doodle has withered them down to nubs cause they break so often. The shavings, well those are in my bed as of last night. Oh and grasshopper body parts. CAn't forget about that one! So time to wash my sheets again, cause I'm in love with that purple bedding set. Thinking for Christmas I'm going to go after another bedding set. I have plenty right now but I don't feel like having ruined bedding sheets on my bed, thank you Doodle. These sheets are almost in mint condition as of right now. You know the struggle with kids. Can't have anything nice!

See you guys on the flip side.

She had pox, Autism

Monday was one of those days where you just look at your life and think, well, that's interesting. And that's the way I felt when Doodle got off the bus. Covered in spots. Telling me she was sick. I'm thinking she was ready to not go back to school the next day. But as I approached the door of the bus, her saying, "Momma, I sick!" I just stood there and stared at her for a moment.  Taking in the whole image of what I was seeing. Both her arms and hands covered in dots. Red and black dots.

I wanted to laugh but the mother in me knew better. I have to be a bit strict. I have to stand firm because I've let a few things slide and picture day was fast approaching. "You aren't sick. You did that to yourself."

That's when the bus driver informed me that Doodle kept saying it was skittles. I standing there thinking she made those dots with skittles? I'm impressed. Nope, it was marker. Doodle was telling everyone that she had skittles box.

That's it's the child has too much time on her hands at school. All of her teachers, cause she has three this year, say that they make sure that she has plenty of work that she has to do. They keep her busy or else she will go wild in class and start messing with everything. And coloring and drawing on everything. Yeah, that sounds about right. I made Doodle head straight inside and wash her skittle pox off.

Tuesday I headed into work and bought a few more items for Halloween day. Yeah, I know I'm super early on class gift bags but I would rather be early then late to the party. And that's what happened last year. It's about remembering that I won't be sent a message home that I need to send treats to school. That other parents will send them and the kids will have a good time. And since Michaels was having a 50% off all Halloween goodies I stocked up. I got two bags full for under $20.00. My employee discount really helped out though! And just like that I realized that I needed to buy some classroom crafts. Cause my child has way too much time on her hands.

Banners and bookmark crafts. And just for the heck of it, pipe cleaners and pom poms and googly eyes. Cause hey, you never know when you need a good pipe cleaner craft.

The good news is that she didn't come home with any other illnesses until Thursday. She was turning into a zombie that day. And I'm hoping pictures had already been taken when she markered herself up again for the second time this week. If not the pictures will be really interesting.

We had a really bad sensory meltdown that afternoon. Took a bit longer to get her to calm down but I was able to shop through Publix without any incidences. Her hearing sensory is getting worse. That I'm noticing. It's something that we are going to have to work through, little by little. But we will get there. Everything in her life has to be taught. But I'm patient enough to work with her. Heck, Rome wasn't build in a day.

Great news is I finally got the magazine finished. Bad news is when I sent it over to my computer guy to get it put on the site he said I needed to have an over haul of my website. Duh, I've needed that for awhile. I picked new templates and everything but couldn't figure out how to activate them myself. So the website is still left in the "stone ages" for right now.

And on that note, because there is still so much to be done. I'll see you on the flip side.

It's coming along Autism

Well, it's Friday night where I live and nope, I haven't worked on the blog at all this week. It's been one of those busy busy weeks for me. Being an instructor for a major craft store means that yeah there is a lot of work to do and a lot to prepare for.

I got a few things for Doodle's Halloween costume. I'm on the hunt for a pea coat. I will so rock that thing. I have a few items left to get for Doodle's Christmas and then I will be done with Christmas shopping.

We had speech homework that came home last week and I needed to buy the books this week. She's to read. That's her homework for this month. Read about 5 books. One thing I have noticed is that her reading is very slow now. Which is good because she's not over looking the words. So we have progress in reading. She not skipping words and she's actually taking the words on the page in. That I am very proud of.

This morning as Doodle and I were brushing our teeth I thought I heard what sounded like the bus. Once we were done we were running out the door. That's when the phone started ringing. It was the bus driver wondering where we were. Um trying to get out the front door, that's where we were.

It was a new bus driver and I wasn't expecting anyone that early this morning. Not for a Friday the 13th. And no I didn't have a chance to do laundry this week being so busy, so Doodle wore her Friday shirt from last year. But that's okay. I try to be the best parent that I can possibly be and sometimes that means I won't be able to get it all done. Side note, new bus driver today.

Don't ever beat yourself up as an Autism parent. If you are doing everything for your child and stretching yourself 3 ways to Sunday. It's okay. The world will continue revolving and life will keep going. Just set aside some money for take out or fast food during the week. Cause it's all gonna be fine. You are only human and not super human. Learn to tell people no. That's what I'm learning this week. Also take time to nap. It's worth it!!!

See you guys on the flip side.

Something happened, Autism

So it's Thursday and today is the day the magazine is to go live. I'm not done with the magazine and I am going to be busy all day tomorrow so there will be no blog post so it has to go up today. I really feel stretched again. I should have been done with the magazine two days ago. But work needed a poster and I'm the graphic designer and artist of the store so it fell on my shoulders. The only problem is that they gave me less then 24 hours to get it together. All night Monday I worked on the image. On Tuesday the file in Photoshop became corrupt and wouldn't print. And I had to get the poster into work by at least noon.

I don't work well under stress but that is how it all boils down. Last minute for everything. So there I was sitting at the computer huffing under my breath that this 27.2 X 17.2 image wouldn't print. And I had to redo the whole thing all over again, from scratch at 8 in the morning. And that's when the school called. There was a bruise on Doodle's face. Now on Monday afternoon when she came home from school the bus driver informed me that Doodle had hit a child on the bus. The child went to a different school. Which didn't make sense, as the other school doesn't get picked up until after they drop Doodle off in the afternoons. Nothing seemed right about how exasperated the bus driver was and the whole situation, and Doodle having a fresh section of skin missing on her face. So I sent Doodle's teacher a message about it. Because it's best that her teacher be made aware. This is a safety issue and it really needs to be addressed. Yes, a safety issue for other children on the bus because hitting other kids just isn't cool in my book. Even if my child is being the aggressor. It's just not cool.

Doodle lost the iPad, which is her most favorite thing in the world. I got to ride the emotional roller coaster until it was bedtime all while trying to get my graphics together for the poster for work. When the poster was completed and drying in the car as I rushed into work. I was just sick to my stomach over this situation with the Doodle and the bus. She knows better not to hit anyone. And I have never personally seen her hit another child unless she was in full blown sensory over load. That's also when she tries to rip her skin off. Which I assumed had happened. Doodle is a self harmer. But only during sensory meltdowns.

After I left work my next stop was to the school. And I wanted to speak with the principal. I met with her and told her of my concerns. And she called in the vice principal who is in charge of the buses. When he came in he said he had become familiar with Doodle because of the phone issue on the bus. Wait, what??? The only thing he was made aware of was not about Doodle hitting another child but the bus drivers phone coming up missing and they believed it was either Doodle or another child on the bus. The other child in question was the one who Doodle hit. After my meeting with the principal I requested to see Doodle. When she came into the office, yep you could see a bruise on her cheek right under the mark on her face. Like I said in my last post, bruises take time to come up.

Well, this is becoming interesting. By the time Doodle got home that afternoon the bus driver was again flustered and asked me did I know what happened to Doodle's face. I told her no, that she got off the bus with that scratch. She then told me that I needed to ask Doodle, that she would tell me. Okay, that's the funniest thing I've heard my entire life. My kid mimics what she sees and it's usually a video on YouTube that she's seen thousands of times. The only time that she can honestly answer a question is if the question is How are you? And her automatic response is good, how are you. And she will answer yes on cake and ice cream. But hey I do too. I love a piece of cake twice a month.

I really don't understand how a child that doesn't understand questions can answer questions. I did ask and her responses were playing Mar Mar. And she also said ant bite. I had also been informed by Doodle about a child in class hitting the teacher. And last night which was Wednesday the vice principal called to let me know what all he had found out about the incident of hitting. I could care less about the phone at this point because the phone has nothing to do with me. It's not in my house, Doodle didn't take it, which I know my child. When my friends drop their phones she picks it up and hands it to them. She doesn't try to take off with it. She's pretty honest when it comes to it. Anyways, he informed me that Doodle got on the bus Monday morning with that scratch on her face. Um no, she didn't. She was perfectly fine and had no markings on her. Because she is on my watch and if she acts strange I am the first to try to identify the issue. So this is boiling down to a he said she said issue.

My problem is I can make sure my child is safe by taking her to school myself if she is having issues on the bus. And it will also make sure that other kids are safe as well if she's trying to be Mike Tyson again. I want the other kids to feel safe and I want Doodle to feel safe. So this is where I am at. If someone thinks they can slander my reputation on my child I will make sure someone looses her job, cause I don't play. When Doodle gets in trouble I get her right with what she loves the most. The stuffed animal or the iPad. Those are the two things that I will take away. That gets my point across the most and that's how she learns. I don't have to spank my child. Timeouts with objects she loves more then anything work way better.

And now that I've procrastinated enough I need to get back to work. I have 5 recipes to write down and two craft projects to finish up. And then the proofing of all the info and from there it gets put where it goes in the magazine. So back to work before a three day weekend from the neither world. This is not gonna be fun. If you are interested in the magazine you will be able to see it for free at jsncreative.com/ezine. This is where the magazine will be located. If it doesn't go live today, then it won't go live until Monday, my only day off.

See you guys on the flip side.

After I left work

School abuse of Special Needs and what you need to do, Autism.

Well, that's another story that has come across my Facebook feed. Only it was a live video from a school board press release in Florida. Normally, I would just ignore it but it was at a school board and it peeked my interest. A few comments I could see scrolling through were, is this about my friends son? And then the news center posted that it was concerning abuse allegations. So I clicked the link. It doesn't tell you until you click the story headline that the abuse was a child with autism. I had to read the article to find that out what exactly happened. The allegations against the teacher is that she sprayed the child with a spray bottle like a dog when the child did something wrong. But it's not just that. She had also pushed the child down with her foot and she also kneed him in the chin.

So there it is, a nonverbal child with autism was being abused by a teacher. What are the signs as a parent you should be looking for? Coming from experience of a parent whose child was abused in the classroom who had little speech, let me break it down for you. What to look for and what to do.

You know your child. You know every aspect of your child. If their mood is changing at home. That's a sign that something isn't right. This is your first sign. It starts small but the behavior will escalate. If your child is normally a loving sweet child, that will change. Normally, your child will become aggressive. An almost complete 360 of what you are used to. You will start to notice a regression. Sometimes a regression will happen and it will happen pretty quickly. But it starts out small. Little things, but you need to keep an eye out for changes. As my child was abused it started as a small regression. We started loosing speech and what sign language she had, she started loosing that as well.

Most children if they come home wet or "sweaty" looking, smell for different scents. Have your child change and smell the clothing. If it's "sweat" of the day, you know how your child smells when they've been running or playing. If it doesn't have a smell you can guarantee it's water that's been splashed or sprayed on them. If it's in the seat area, well you know what pee smells like. If your child is potty trained and doesn't normally pee themselves. That's the biggest red flag you can get.

Look for bruises or marks on your child. Check them the moment they get home. Check your child again when you give them a bath or before bed. And check them again in the morning before you get them dressed for school. The reason you have to keep checking is because bruising will appear in gradual stages. Sometimes a bruise won't appear until the next day. But red marks will appear and stay for several hours at a time. But will be gone by the next day. Look for scratches. Sometimes when someone man handles your child, they will end up scratching them.

If you are being contacted by the school for behavior that is not typical of your child and it ends up in an emergency room visit. That's your other red flag. Let the doctors know it happened at school. If the school report and what the nurse said and the teacher said do not match up at the least little bit, let the hospital know. Let them also know that you want to file a police report. If possible have to hospital contact the sheriff's department to file the police report.

If you have great rapport with your pediatrician like I do, contact them immediately. You pediatrician will help walk you through not only trying to get your child out of the school to one that is safer but they will make sure that everything is documented properly and getting that police report will be a breeze, as the dates and times will already be charted in your child's file. If you are already seeing a regression or a small regression, head to the pediatrician. If you have a doctor that you don't trust, you really need to get on the ball and get a new pediatrician. I didn't see the regression happening, but I did go to the pediatrician and she went through Doodle's file and told me that Doodle was regressing. Because she's been charting everything from the time Doodle was born. Our pediatrician even made notes about the services we were receiving for speech and OT and charted her progress. When Doodle got into the first bad school because we were zoned for it, it was our pediatrician that wrote letters to get Doodle out of the school and notated incidences of previous abuse from that school and how Doodle was regressing. Of course that letter didn't work but she was willing to fight for us. And that's what mattered. FYI, Doodle was in that first bad school for less then 6 months before a tornado wiped the school off the map. For me I'm either going to fight or stand back and let God fight the battles for me.

Go to your local sheriffs department to file a report against the school, if you have any of the above signs that something isn't right. Let them know what's going on. File a report of abuse and make sure that you have all of your times and dates of the incidences. I would make sure that I have at least 3 incidences as the third strike rule is my favorite rule to go with. As you want to make sure your child is being abused. But if your child has hand prints on them or bruising or scratches go ahead and file immediately.

Apparently, in this story the school was notified of the incident's and they did their own investigation. Which resulted in the school board and school trying to cover it up. That's a rookie move. Three people have been placed on leave, but because the sheriff's department was contacted all three have been arrested.  I never let a school know what's going on when it comes to blindsiding them. In the past I've always made sure the school was the last to find out. As I am one of those underhanded parents, you never know what I'm going to do. Hence the reason why I'm a level up mom. I get people fired for infractions against my kid or myself. Read through my past blogs. I'm proud to get para educators, bus drivers and teachers fired. Heck if we would have spent another year in the second bad school the principal was already on my target list. I don't play.

As I call it, leveling up gives me the biggest thrill. Cause I'm the parent they have to give everything to. When it comes to an IEP, I'm a stickler that it be followed to a T.  You never hear from me cause I'm always researching. But that moment I strike, they are blindsided, and don't know what to do with themselves. Of course it never hurts to always remember that your IEP is a corner to corner contract between you, the school and the State that you live in and even if you write in crayon on that IEP, it can't be broken.

With more school systems going to having special needs children in regular education classrooms we will see an increase of teachers abusing our children. Regular education teachers aren't trained to handle our children. They aren't trained to teach our children. What they are allowing is our children to fall through the cracks and breaking IEP's. Because our children have a right to a free and public education. Which is what is being denied.

Document, conquer and divide!

See you guys on the flip side.

Our emergency room visit because my child "ran into a pole".

How to make you mad Autism

Well, that can't be good. Fall is this Friday. The day this blog will be posting. This week is just flying by and Doodle is fast asleep in her bed. Monday and Tuesday have been a flip flop, 30 minutes before the bus showed up. Monday she didn't want to get ready for school. Just sat there like a lump on a log. When she was ready we went outside to wait. The moment the bus showed up I thought I was raising little Miss Sunshine. She was all smiles and told the bus Good Morning. Got on the bus and acknowledged every single child.

Tuesday not so much. Happy to get ready for school but the moment that the bus showed up she was not a happy camper.  Here it is already Wednesday and I didn't even check her book bag when she came home. I spent the day cleaning up the bedroom. Because spoons are missing and the bedroom lost about a foot of room because the bed was moved too far away from the wall.

I had to make today laundry day because I didn't have enough time to do it on Monday. And Tuesday, well I didn't feel well so laundry just didn't get done. Wednesday was my laundry day. I washed all of our dirty laundry. Found lots of missing socks and washed all of our bedding. I pretty much stayed off social media. I finished my dead fairy, though not the way that I wanted too. But it's finished. I cleaned so much of the bedroom but I didn't get to dust all the shelves and other things. But I got the floor cleaned and the ceiling fan cleaned and the white noise fans cleaned. So there was that. When Doodle got off the bus and saw the room was in disarray because I was still folding and putting away laundry and pillows were all over her bed, she was pretty mad. Refused to be in the room until it was finished.

She seems fine now but she was pretty mad for a couple of hours. And at one point she asked, "Momma, where did my bed go?" I'm magic! Best magician in town.

Thursday was just a pinterest day and today a Friday, well it's a cupcake day. I've been trying to get to treats all week. I've switched to taking some B2 vitamins cause I just have no energy. And I'm noticing that it's helping with keeping me awake. Doodle is at this stage where she's pretty chill. No eloping anymore. So there is no chasing her down.

I still have tons of projects that need to be done and taken care of. Hoping to spend a good bit of the weekend baking. Cause, why not? Doodle loves cakes and other sweets. Great way to get her to obey. Good girls get treats. What do you say? Say, Thank you. Yeah, that type of reinforcement.

See you guys on the flip side.

Almost forgot about today, Autism

It's been a long week. Yes, you didn't hear from me on Wednesday. Like I said, it's been a long week. Doodle's behavior has been off and I've heard from the school nurse 3 times this week. I might have to take her to get a frosted coffee, cause we are almost on BFF terms at this point.

So some of the notes coming home shows that Doodle is being a bit defiant. She's loosing points in some of her classes. Refusing to participate. Slapping a student. Behavior preventing her from doing math class. I couldn't figure out what on earth was going on. Until the very last call from the school RN. Doodle got kicked by one of the kids in class. And this is what happened. There is a child that is lower functioning in the classroom. He was trying to take his seat and just kicked Doodle. I asked if they knew why the kid had kicked her and that's when I found out it was another child with autism and he was lower functioning then Doodle.

And that made me think about the other school 3 years ago. In that school (with the bad teacher) there was a lower functioning child with autism. And Doodle mimicked all of this kids mannerisms. The severe stemming, flapping and slapping himself. Things Doodle has never really done. Well, she's done it just so fast that if you blink you would miss it. And it was extremely rare she would do these stems. But the boy in that class had a problem. He liked to hit people. The whole class that year was wild. All the kids hit one another. Of course Doodle did take it to the extreme and went after the adults that were hitting and man handling her. But the worst incident was one day Doodle had just had enough and beat the snot out of the kid.

So I text her teacher and told her about that incident and made her aware that Doodle does have a temper like her daddy and she will go after the kid. Just so she was aware of the situation that can transpire possibly in the future. So now I know why Doodle is off on her behavior. It does make sense. I just have to keep her focused and keep her on task.

Once we get this all done and settled everything should go back to normal.

Now that this is out of the way on keeping you aware of what's going on with Doodle it's time we discuss the blog. For right now I'm just going to post once a week until further notice. My work schedule is increasing greatly especially with the magazine and all the crafts and foods that have to be done. That's a lot of cooking and a lot of pictures that are taking place. So as of right now I will be posting on Friday's only. Friday's will be better for me as I can jot down what I want to discuss regarding our lives throughout the week and I can focus more time on all the work that I have to do.

Sorry it has to be this way. I'm hoping it's for a short time. This magazine has been a dream of mine for so long and it's time it got off on at least a fair track.

See you guys on the flip side next Friday.

Really that type of Monday Autism

So this morning Doodle was running around the front yard as we waited for the bus to show up. She was looking at the iPad and not paying attention. And that's why she fell. She cried out that she hurt her leg but I felt that it was her ankle. She wasn't screaming bloody murder. Just crying. When she gets hurt really bad she cries and nothing can calm her down. Like hours worth of a meltdown. That's the way that she acts when she's really hurt and we need to head to the emergency room.

But she didn't cry like that. Just a little whimper and kept saying she hurt her leg. So before the bus pulled up I asked her to get up so I could see. She put full weight on her leg with no issues. And just hobbled to the porch.

By the time the bus showed up she hobbled to the bus. According to the school when they called an hour and a half later, she was crying and wouldn't let the nurse check her leg. She was in so much pain and couldn't walk. So the school gave her a wheelchair to be able to get to the first aid office. Well, that just added fuel to the fire.

I get to the school and I'm able to touch her leg and all Doodle wants is to go home. You know, where the iPad is. That she thinks is waiting on her to come play it. I think she is officially addicted to the iPad and it's time to put a limit on it. I was able to check her ankle again and applied a bit of pressure cause her shoe was off along with her sock. And she was chilling in a wheelchair still. She wasn't upset, she wasn't crying, she was happy and all smiles.

So what's a parent to do? My kid, even though she has autism is a drama llama. So overly dramatic. I know she's not really hurt. She just wants more attention and to go home to play on the iPad. I told Doodle that if she went home now she would lose the iPad for the entire day and wouldn't get it back until tomorrow. That if she wanted the iPad at home she would have to stay at school and work. Her Principal told her that she needed to get back to class cause there was a lot of work that she had to do today, Doodle chose to stay at school and work on the school iPad.

That's what I thought. And the school was short staffed of nurses today. There were only 3 today. Normally our school has 6. We have nurses that are LPN's and RN's. They take care of trac's and kids who are pickers. Those are the ones who pick holes in their skin like Doodle did 3 years ago. Every child at the school has some form of sever disability. And they need expert care.

And with that note, I'm out cause though I was thrown off track today I still have to worry about pictures and content for the magazine. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow. And all I really need is for Publix to open back up.

See you guys on the flip side!

Low Functioning Autism

Thursday we were off schedule. And as you know the old saying. When you've met one person with Autism, you've met one person with autism. Cause they are not all the same. Though a child can be high functioning, they can also have low functioning tendencies.

Well, on Thursday we were off schedule because I had to pick up Doodle's best friend from her school. Her mother forgot she had a project that had to be completed after school, so it took awhile to find her. During this time, Doodle was freaking out. Screeching, slapping herself and refused to speak words. Only wanted to speak in gibberish, baby talk. Now when Doodle was a baby she spoke a strange baby language and it was back to that type of baby language.

So that's what my afternoon and evening was like. It took so long for Doodle to even go to sleep with melatonin in her system. Last time that happened, Doodle regressed. So I've reached out to the school. I'm to write down my concerns and they are going to come up with a game plan to help me to be able to stop this behavior and get Doodle back on track. Things I can help her with at home.

I would have more of a discussion here today but it's Friday and I've been helping a friend out just about all day and have yet to get any of my work done. And I have my weekend work and Open House to deal with tomorrow and for that I'm not prepared. So it's a short one.

See you on the flip side.

Special Tuesday Blog. It's Freddie for a Day, Autism

This is a special day for me. Today is the day that is celebrating the day that Freddy Mercury was born as Farrokh Bulsara better known as the Queen front man Freddie Mercury. We celebrate his life, his voice and his message of Love.

Back when Doodle had really no speech she would at least try to sing Queen songs. It started with I want to break free. She was obsessed with the video. And she played this video a lot! Once she got into the really good school where she learned to read, write and do math, her speech was finally coming in. And with that her choice in songs changed. The next song was somebody to love. But if you really break down the song and listen to the words to could hear what she was trying to say. Can anybody find me? When I really heard that sentence it moved me. But this was as her speech was starting to come in. She may not have had 20 words at 6 at the time but this really meant a lot to hear.

The next song she began to sing was Break Throu. Yes I know that's not spelled correctly but that's the title of the song and how it's written. And boy did she break through. Her speech was amazing and it was only 6 months worth of time that she went from no speech to a good portion of speech. There was a time I never thought that she would be able to speak. Seriously, I didn't think that she would be able to read or write or do math. And now she's a little math genius. It's rare that a child on the spectrum would ever be able to have the art thing and the math thing. I'm still hoping that she might still want to be a doctor. Prayers up for that one.

So we love Freddie Mercury in our home. Heck, love him so much he's on the back of my vehicle. When she couldn't speak she was able to sing. He helped to give her a voice that I never thought she would be able to have.

And even though I have skipped a post on Monday, you get the surprise blog post for today. A Tuesday, which is a day off of schedule that's still okay. I hope you guys had a relaxed Monday.

So in honor of FFAD I submit to you a picture of Doodle dressed up as Freddie Mercury and our new Freddie Mercury shirts to celebrate today.

See you on the flip side.

Blah kind of day, Autism

This morning Doodle decided that she would be dragging today. Didn't want to get out of bed and didn't want to get ready for school. And yes she resorted to screaming. So there was that. But it's because she went to bed kind of late. It took several hours before her melatonin kicked in.

So needless to say she was tire. But that's okay because the bus showed up early this morning. Yay, for having no time for meltdowns. But she was having a hard time buckling her seat belt because she was tired this morning. That's okay. If she needs to nap at school she has that option. So it's all good. I doubt she will nap but if need be she can. Tonight she will be going to bed a little earlier.

I have a huge project I'm dreading for next week and there is a possibility that I might skip a day. I don't want to but like I said the project is pretty massive. Maybe I will just post some pictures and call it a day on that post. But there is a possibility that I will be partaking in Labor Day and you just won't hear from me that day.

So what's my day look like? It's the first so there are bills that have to be paid. Supplies to be gathered for the project. Going to see a friend today and get her house in order. The magazine layout is coming along pretty well. I'm pleased with how it's turning out. Now the articles need to be written and the pictures need to be taken. I still have so many things that need to be done so I will be releasing the magazine in October.

Timelines are a fickle thing to deal with. And hey, Monday is a holiday! I'm not gonna brace for it cause we need to make sure that we roll with the punches. An extra day for Doodle to hunt in the yard for bugs and frogs. Okay, that so much is not what I am looking forward to so I think I might be able to get her to build a froggy habitat that way she can leave them alone for awhile. Fingers crossed that it works.

What started out as writing this morning has turned into night and I am now full to my eye balls with work. So there isn't much to say today.

See you guys on the flip side.

Let's talk about segregation, Autism

Yes, we are going right back to Ella Bell and this should be my last post about this. You guys read in my post the IEP fights that I had when it came to Doodle and her education. We have moved to a new school system and they didn't believe in allowing my child to have rights. This momma doesn't do babysitters. I fought for FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) LRE (Lease Restrictive Environment) and IDEA (Individual with Disabilities Education Act). That school didn't get it. I also did what most parents would do and fought for a better school. My child deserved to be taught and though she was falling through the cracks, but thrived at the previous school, my voice for her was not heard. It just fell on deaf ears.

So, let's discuss what happened at Open House that I touched on a bit on Monday's blog. Doodle is now switching classes like regular ed 6th graders her age. She has a home room teacher and has to report to two other classes, which are reading and math. In math class they also teach how to interact with others in social settings. That was one of the things I was demanding at the bad school. The teacher she had previous had been doing that in the classroom with her kids. She had even taught them how to play and interact with one another. What comes normally to most kids doesn't come naturally to mine. Her math teacher hands her the work sheets to do in class and before instruction can be given to all, Doodle is just about finished with the work. And in order to keep Doodle on pace she's already farther ahead of her classmates. She gets the math and it clicks with her. This is thanks in part to the good school and the fantastic teacher and para that we had. In math Doodle doesn't really need one on one help. Reading she's a little bit slower and Doodle might need a bit more help. She's always rushed through reading. If she slows it down she will get it. Another issue where she needs to be taught to slow it down and focus on the words in front of her.

I really have no dog in the fight regarding Ella Bell because I did exactly as she's proposing. I segregated my child to an all special needs school. Would I do it again? In a heart beat! She is now being taught and her peers are all special needs of all forms of disabilities. She's allowed computer lab, art classes (she was denied this at the bad school), library and eating lunch without being hidden away in a classroom. She's treated as if she's a regular ed student.

Our school now has an ABA classroom where the students who need ABA can be taught in a least restrictive environment. They get lots of therapy, distraction and positive reinforcement. Now Doodle did have ABA in her IEP last year. And it was removed off of her IEP at the end of the school year because here in the county that we live in ABA is for aggressive behavior. If you go back to the beginning of the blogs you see the behavior go from mild behavior and about the middle it will hit that she's become like Mike Tyson in the ring. Her teacher last year knew how to handle a child on the spectrum and had no issues with keeping Doodle on task and pushing her in the work. Unlike the bad school who kept her on kindergarten classwork which peeved Doodle off to no end. So yeah my kid railed against the machine. No shock. But we longer receive ABA because like I said, she got a teacher last year that didn't babysit.

Our school offers music therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy. I'm sure they even offer feeding therapy but my child doesn't need it so I'm not 100% sure on that. Our school is advancing every single day and year. Our principal believes in a clean well taken care of school that encourages, enlightens and lifts up the students. She keeps illness away by making sure that every inch of the school is clean, from classrooms to hallways. Even the gym doesn't have one speck of dirt on the bleachers or floor. And it almost smells like a doctors office when you walk in the door.

Doodle is kept on task. She is allowed breaks when she needs it and they have laying areas with pillows where the kids can stop and take a break and take a nap if needed and she gets up and gets back to work. They work her hard. When I say they work her hard I mean if she already knows the work, they give her the next lesson. Doodle's match class is on 10's integers. Please don't ask me what that is. I'm horrible at math. Doodle is already on hundreds. So she's pretty far ahead. (Side note: contacted friend who knows math, math by whole number.) Doodle is already doing this math for 100's. So that should tell you that they teach by ability. She's not stuck with you have to keep up with everyone else. She's taught at her pace. And that's what all parents even those with regular ed students want. And guess what, I got it!! Which is why I don't see a problem with what Ella Bell is suggesting.

Now we all know that there are reports of kids with special needs being bullied. The horror stories that come across our Facebook feeds. Do I have to worry about that anymore. Nope! And that's the biggest worry lifted off my shoulder. Will I have to worry about Doodle being slapped by a teacher ever again? Nope, the principal monitors that school like a hawk! First indiscretion and the teacher is gone! There is no if's, and's or but's about it! This principal doesn't play. Of course the bad teacher learned the hard way that you don't hit Doodle as it turned her into Tyson. Doodle hit one para so hard it put her on disability. And this is why you don't slap kids in the classroom or in the halls of the school. You don't lay your hands on a child what so ever! I still blame the teacher for the cut on Doodle's forehead. My child is not so wild that she would run into a pole. That's excuses of a victim. Doodle said she was pushed, though she didn't know who pushed her into the metal pole. I have my suspicions and God knows the truth. I never trusted the woman ever again.

So let's boil it down. I did what Ella Bell is proposing. And I'm not the only parent who has done so. Did we make the right choice? Yes, and we will do it again. We will place our children where they are better accommodated and are taught at their capacity. We no longer have to fight on our contracts what we want for our children. We now have more time to enjoy being parents and enjoying the time that we have with our children. It's that peace of mind that matters the most. If the schools that Ella Bell is proposing and they are set up like Doodle's current school. I am all for it. No more having to pay for outside services. Saving us on co-pays or out of pockets if most don't have insurance.

If you have a child that is special needs and goes to a public school, look at what your school is offering and tell me if you are truly happy with services and education compared to the other students? Are you allowed everything that you have requested for each IEP? Are the notes in the IEP matching up with what you've asked for?

If you want your child to have everything that is a right through IEP's then you have to work for it. It's almost like a full time business. If you don't put in the work you don't get to have the benefits. This goes back to the parents that like to just complain and not do anything about the situations. Put in the work, reap the benefits. That's all there is to it.

See you guys on the flip side.

Another busy Monday, Autism

Last week wasn't the most fun week of my life. But just like I've said before it's just a drop in the bucket. So what made it so bad besides Ella Bell? Heck, even she wasn't so bad. That is an opportunity to bring to light that children with special needs are falling through the cracks. It's possibly an opportunity to get a lot of what we need. Back to getting teachers who want to teach and not want to babysit. So many opportunities if only one takes the chance.

Anyway, Wednesday was not my day. I went to get my first cup of coffee for the day and discovered that my coffee maker, though on, was not working. So I had to pull out my dad's old coffee maker. He doesn't do coffee since his first heart attack and whenever I need coffee I'm able to use his coffee maker. I had plans with my bestie to go to her house and dig through her fabric stash. She lucked out when Hancock Fabric went out of business. I should have cleaned them out of wool when I had the chance. My own fault. Doodle had had a fit getting on the bus because I wouldn't let her catch and keep a toad. So I was already stressed. And my day was to go as follows. Either dig through fabric or do a hair appointment. Since Stace showed up, I moved my hair appointment for Thursday, the next day.

I rode with her cause she lives out in the middle of nowhere. I don't even get phone service at her house. I pulled down the passenger side visor and the clip on it broke. Man, I feel so awful cause this is her brand new car! We get to her house and she's showing me her duck and duck pond and some of her favorite things on her farm. I wasn't paying attention and stepped on one of her solar lights. I was not graceful and Wednesday was not my day at all. By lunch time the day was looking up and was getting so much better.

She had to go get her husband after she got off work that night. I was thinking of going with her but when one of her family said they would go with her, I decided that there was no guarantee that we would be back in time to get Doodle up and on the bus at 6:30 that I just couldn't go. 

When I woke up at 6:15 that morning I saw a text that I had missed from Stace. She let me know she was in an accident and a picture of the car on fire. Well, that was not a good start to Thursday. It's a miracle that she was able to hobble away from that. She was hit head on by someone who was either falling asleep at the wheel or was driving drunk. We don't know for sure. She couldn't move off from the road because there was water/marsh on each side of the road.

I did manage to make it to my hair appointment on Thursday but it was rushed because the moment that Stace was back in our town I had to go see her. So it was a rush to get to her, when she stopped by work on her way home and dropped off the paperwork from the hospital. 

Today was a bit better. I replaced the coffee pot, bought some flowers and went to visit my friend. I didn't get anything on my list accomplished except the coffee pot but that's okay. As soon as Doodle was home from school I started laundry cause I just wasn't able to get to that over the weekend. Currently as I type the laundry still has the be finished and I'm sitting in the parking lot of the school because tonight is open house. And wouldn't you know I would show up an hour early for open house. There is suppose to be a spaghetti dinner and I think that might be at 5:30. But hey look at me typing on my blog while trying to multitask because like I said there is no service at my friends house and I couldn't do the blog there. When you go visit a friend who has been in a terrible accident it's best to actually spend time with them and talk face to face. Not stare at phones and hope for the best in a relationship.

Not an hour ago there were maybe 5 cars in the parking lot and everyone is starting to arrive. Now I don't feel so silly. I had been pestering people via text when I first arrived and it dawned on me to try to see if I could just go ahead and see if I could get into my blogger account. That really saves me some time and less stress if I can get this thing finished and out to you.

You know as an autism mom dealing with working part time as an instructor and as a full time entrepreneur sometimes life is hectic and the question of what on earth have I gotten myself into pops into my head on occasion. Yeah today is one of those days but only because there is so much that has to be done. And so very little time to do it in. A visit with flowers, candy and replacement solar lights, laundry, dinner because there is no way that I can bring Doodle to the school after hours. The last time she threw a hissy fit and didn't want to leave. I had to drag her out of the school crying. That was embarrassing. Lesson learned. When I get home I should be able to double check this blog and post. Finish up the laundry and start on some graphic design things that have to be taken care of. I have a magazine that I want to get published that needs to be out by at least the 5th. I'm still on the fence if it's going to be September 5th for Freddie Mercury's birthday or October 5th. The first magazine focuses on fall and basically Halloween. Guess I will just wait and see how far along I get that will determine what month it will be posted on. Heck maybe I will post the announcement on Freddy for day and make final decisions on the magazine until the 5th of October.

Well the parking lot is really starting to fill up now. I have yet to see parents with kids so I can only assume that most of the people showing up are teachers. Hey, what is that? It's a kid in our school uniforms. So it's time to head in.

See you guys on the flip side.

Let's discuss slime and Ella B. Bell, Autism

Friday's are suppose to be great days. The day that kick starts the weekend. For me I work on Friday's and all through the weekend. This weekend at work we have two events and one I'm working. The slime event. So Saturday, if you are able to go by Michaels craft store I suggest you do. Slime is great for sensory play with your child on the spectrum. The event is free, the slime is free. You don't have to make it and if you don't want anything like glitter or foam balls, eyeballs, the things that make crunchy slime, you don't have to. At least in my store if they just want a bag of slime that's their choice. They don't have to "decorate" up slime.

And yes I will be bringing home a little bag of slime for Doodle. She loves the slime and I love for her to be content and happy. I mean seriously, this is the best thing for parents on the spectrum. Depending on your store depends on how fast you can get in and out. Our store; it's a revolving door. Everyone wants to participate so sometimes the classroom can become packed. Kids and parents alike decorate slime and head out because there's tons more people that want to have a chance too. In one side and out the other. Everyone has a wonderful time.

The other event is the rock event. That's where you come in and paint a rock. So it's a double event and with double events it's gonna be hectic. I'm not sure how Saturday will go or how chaotic it's going to be. Just like our life with kids on the spectrum we need to remember to take one moment at a time. Our kids can sometimes end up tearing up multiple things at once. One child can feel like a whole classroom of kids. I have to remember that the rock event is not my event. I'm going to be there for slime only. Focus on one thing at a time. The slime event has to be a success, like it always is in our store.

Read this section carefully. And keep in mind it is as a parents choice.

Now down to the nitty gritty of what this blog was not going to be about, but due to an incident that has been brought to my attention it needs to be addressed. In the State of Alabama where I live there is a woman who is running for Mayor of Montgomery. Right now she is a board member on the BOE (board of education). AL.com posted that she stated she wanted kids with special needs institutionalized so that the test scores could be brought up. That she feels that kids with special needs were bringing down all the test scores for the schools. She asked if special ed kids could be placed in academies. Now what I got from that is the reason why I pulled Doodle from regular public school and placed her in the special needs school where she thrives currently. If they created academies more for kids with disabilities and it be pubic school then yeah I'm all for more schools like what Doodle currently goes to. Schools geared to her disability. Currently and even where we used to live if you wanted to send your child to the best Autism school, they had to be committed. And that was a big no go.

At the school Doodle went to two and three years ago the lack of education she received there caused her regression. Doodle is higher functioning but has to have one on one help. That's the best way for her to learn. Though the classroom had 2 para educators and a teacher, they didn't know how to correctly handle Doodle. And like most teachers they didn't listen to the parent either. Doodle tests very high. She can blow the test scores out of the water and make higher marks then kids in a higher grade then her. When she was in second grade transitioning to 3rd grade, she tested better then the 5th graders. Her teacher from the middle of kindergarten to 2nd grade worked very hard to get her to that point. And I made sure that the school and teacher knew it. Did they listen? No, and that's the problem with schools in my opinion. Where we had come from, the teacher continued to work with the other school and teacher to make sure that the students stayed on track. They did field trips together, sometimes her teacher would go to the other school and have lunch with the kids. This is the teacher who cared.

At our new school because we are now over 400 miles away from the old school, old routine and structure they were surprised when Doodle took the state tests that are required. Her new teacher was so excited and surprised when she told me that the principal asked whose paper it was that had the best score on it and it was Doodle's. Well, that's no shock to me and I had already informed them of that. However for 4th grade that teacher got moved and a new one was brought in. That was the teacher from HELL. I still don't care for that woman. Doodle wasn't being tested. She wasn't participating in the school like the regular ed kids. She wasn't doing reading time or the library. And the school didn't allow the special ed kids to participate in computer lab. But I had already started my end of the IEP process to get Doodle moved to the school for special needs children that I had been hearing so much about. Kids were progressing and enjoying their time at the school. They gardened just like at the school where Doodle learned to read and write and do math. They had their own Mardi Gras parade, Choir, special talent shows where the local news came in and filmed. They even did special holiday shows in the gym/auditorium. The holiday events and talent shows were things that Doodle did from middle kindergarten to second grade but was denied 3rd-4th grade. Now how can a school stay compliant with IDEA if they are not allowed to participate with the regular ed kids? They don't. And the school was tired of me saying this is a violation of IDEA and her corner to corner contract. Because that's what an IEP is, a corner to corner contract.

The tour of our current school was awesome. You see the computer lab on the first hall. Library when you walk through the door. Green houses with plants of plenty. Kids play basket ball and enjoyed themselves, wheel chair or no wheel chair. And the play ground! Oh don't get me started on all the pieces that were conformed to each type of disability!! Kids could play and be kids and didn't have to feel left out. And the teacher not only took their notes for the gold folder but made sure that each and every child in their care got one on one time to learn all their lessons. It's back to the dream come true!

Now back on task. Was Ms. Bells' wording wrong. Yes, on so many levels yes. Was she missing a point here? Yes, that she did. She's concerned about the test scores. What she's not seeing is that children with special needs are falling through the cracks. The tests are set up to include children with special needs and it goes 1-4 on levels. Doodle takes the test at levels 3 and 4. There are no other levels, next up is taking it like the regular ed kids. But the test is geared to disabilities. 1 is for those who can not communicate, feed themselves, write or do anything for themselves. Level two is a step up but not by much. And levels 3 and 4 are for the kids who can communicate, read, write and do math. The main point is that she missed the key component. The school system is letting down our children.

Now I have heard that there is no such thing as the self contained classes anymore since Doodle left "the bad school". Special ed kids are now thrown in with regular ed children. That should make for a lot of para's. But we also have to keep in mind regular ed classes are over flowing as it is and these are teachers that aren't able to make sure that a special ed child will have their IEP followed to a T. But then again, at the bad school, the parents of the self contained class liked to complain but didn't care to take action. I took action and they swiftly got me into the school of my choice for my child. No two year waiting list for me. I'm really hard on a school. I have time on my hands. I can do 5 IEP's a week. It doesn't bother me. My child's education is my top priority. And I know what you're thinking. 5 IEP's a week, your child can't learn if the teacher isn't in the classroom. One: my child wasn't being taught and 2, it was an IEP meeting a week. I did come close with 3 in a week. But that was unavoidable. That happened to be ABA IEP meeting, testing and assessment IEP meeting and updating her IEP for lack of education. And there were certain heads of the school board that had to be brought in for all meetings.

Wow, I'm just about writing a tome on this one. Let me summarize this up. Now if by academy she is referring to opening the schools that are tops for our children where we don't have to pay private school prices and they don't have to be committed and can attend them like it's a regular school. I'm all for it. Parents with children with disabilities deserve the fighting chance at an actual quality education as it states in the rules and regulations. Of course they would have to provide bus service, like what Doodle gets currently. Because there is no longer no child left behind to fall back on.

In her follow up from AL.com she did state what I had suspected. Schools geared to children with special needs. At a regular public school here children are only allowed occupational therapy and speech therapy. At Doodle's current school we have that and much much more.

As I type this Ella B Bell is currently facebook fighting in her threads on her page. And in all honesty I don't want to discuss anymore of this. People pretty much have facebook pitch forks out on her on her own page. But think about this. Yes, she is suppose to be a representative of our school system. Is attacking people on her page a smart thing to do? No, it's not but when someone attacks me on my turf you better believe I'm not going to take it. And I will dish it out faster then they can but with a twist. Cause I can be a bit rough when it comes to someone attacking me or my child. And my friends who notice when I get in a facebook fight like to watch. Not comment on the thread but just watch cause it's comical. Normally I try to be rational and clear headed but when it comes to facebook fighting I'm like an animal in the zoo. No holds bar. I will fling poop like the monkeys. If you find yourself in such a situation, trying to do what's best for regular ed but miss the billboard in front of you regarding special needs. You just sink with the ship. There's no way around it.

So why was I not up in arms to begin with when the first article broke? I don't trust the media. I am considered media in my business, but I know not to trust them. They've turned from the days of what Ben Franklin did in place of his brother who was jailed for criticizing the King. This was before the Revolution. The media has taken a down hill swing maybe 4-5 years ago. It's become let's pit so and so against such and such. Because you know, violence sells. But what's the point in living in a world of violence. I stopped watching the news personally maybe 18 year ago. If I want to see violence I will turn on a t.v. show. I would like for there to be some good stories out there. Find the good and you find the story. Tear everyone down and you find you can't trust anyone.

To me if this is like getting more schools who make sure our kids don't fall through the cracks and get the help they need and its exactly like Doodle's current school. Where children of all disabilities are included and treated just as if they are regular ed students. Again, I'm for that. I am living the dream because my child is being taught again. Not falling through the cracks, not regressing. I'm cool with it. But it should be parents choice.

And as of the the whole conflict of should I sign to have her removed. I'm going to continue to observing and researching. There has got to be more to this then meets the eye. And at this point we need to have a clear and level head about us. I will update you guys later on further developments. Because I promise you, there will be.

See you guys on the flip side. And have a fantastic weekend.