Awesome day Autism

So Doodle was not the best behaved today but that's every day. Don't put Mardi Gras beads in your mouth, don't play in the dirt, don't tear up your slide, leave the dog alone, don't put dirt on the trampoline, get back here and so on. That's everyday for me but it's not really bad. Her substitute para educator told me on Friday that Doodle was really bad at school. I think she just didn't know how to handle a special child like Doodle. She has more energy then the energizer bunny. Everyone that knows her knows that.

You have to be really strict with her. She's a fun loving child and so funny to be around. Tonight, we went to a new yogurt shop. Doodle was a little perplexed over this shop. It wasn't her normal place that she loves with all her heart. By the time that she finished she was happy and content. She danced in her seat which gave everyone at the table a good laugh, including myself.

I love that child she is too funny. And depending on the level of autism that your child is on. Language can be easy for them to mimic. Case in point. Doodle loves and I mean loves watching youtube video. Lately she's been watching Japanese video and has learned at least one video by heart. After we returned home from the the new yogurt shop she began speaking word for word this commercial. Mimicking is how babies learn to speak so it's no surprise that she would start this. So since she has an ear for picking up a new language maybe it's time to start teaching her Japanese.

Now I will admit that I don't know Japanese but I'm willing to get some things for her to learn the language. I still want her to know Greek. That's my favorite foreign language. Tried to teach the step kids for years how to speak greek but they weren't having it. The only way that I could get around that was naming my dog a Greek word. Yasas, is Greek for hello. So at least they all learned a greeting.

I have gotten so much done today but for some reason I feel like I have done nothing. I don't know why that is. Considering that for two days I was down with the flu and wasn't able to barely do anything. Thank The Lord for essential oils. I would still be down. Doodle's para was still out sick from the flu on Friday. A whole weeks worth of missed work and having to be miserable. That's got to suck. I only had to deal with 2 days of misery. And luckily for me Doodle did not catch it.

And I did get some OT work on her today too. Working on teaching her how to use chop sticks. She needs to work on those fine motor skills and chop sticks and cupcakes work great! You can also use the chop sticks to eat regular food too. She's getting the hang of it, which is pretty awesome.

And it's at this point I think I might push too much. But we've had several years where she couldn't be taught anything. I remember speaking with her pediatrician about it. She said that Doodle was the only child with autism that she had that has so much therapy and doesn't make any progress. That's when I knew something needed to change. I couldn't live with her basically being a toddler for the rest of her life. She was going to be pushed whether she wanted to or not. Now she's a very verbal child. Her speech is up there with first grader but she's getting there. Her reading is about the same grade level but I know it will start to pick up. I just have to work a little harder.

And on that note I've got things to do and places to see. Have a fantastic day!

It's the flu and Autism

I'm sure some have noticed that I missed two days of keeping up with this blog. Well, something more important came up. It's called the flu and I got it. I went into the school on Monday to talk to Doodle's teacher about some speech help. Remember, this is a free service for you. Use it! Well, Doodle's Para Educator was there and she looked rough! So rough I made a comment that the weekend did not due her justice. In which she promptly informed me that she was sick.

Tuesday morning I woke with a sore throat. And it was very painful. I did two drops of my thieves oil with no effect to this sore throat. By that afternoon my voice was in and out and I looked and sounded rough. Even with makeup on. Wednesday morning I didn't have enough strength to barely get Doodle ready to go to school. When she came home I had enough energy to help her with her homework and get to the health food store. I needed lavender oil so I could make some Vapor Rub.

I'm sure you guys have read or seen photo's circulating social media that Vick's Vapor Rub smeared on the bottom of your feet will help you breath at night so you can sleep. I can confirm that yes it will do that. But you can make your own if you have the correct essential oils. I make my own vaseline for Doodle. This stuff helps to keep the moisture in. And it worked perfectly for keeping my nose from getting chapped as I was blowing my nose a lot! All I needed was lavender oil, rosemary oil and eucalyptus oil to got in the vaseline and I had some true Vapor rub to stick to my feet. The last two oils I still have plenty of but the first one I was out of. I told the girl that I was coming down with the flu and I felt miserable. She recommended that I try these packets that are called greens. At first they tasted pretty good. But by the time I made it to my 3rd packet I just couldn't stomach anymore. While there I also bought some local honey.

The honey soothed my throat, the greens boosted my immune system. Wednesday I still didn't feel very well. I was battling chills. They would come and go every couple of hours. So when Publix opened I ran over there and picked up some yellow onions. Those I put on my feet inside my socks. I took a full day of rest on Thursday feeling much better, but still needed to rest. I tried to rest on Wednesday but that day I just wasn't able to get any rest.

Today, I feel so great that I picked up some tea with elderberry in it to continue building my immune system. Elderberry is suppose to be something that works great with getting rid of flu systems. The tea is much better than the greens. I was able to take Doodle for a walk this afternoon before the sun went down. We sang some TobyMac from memory. Laughed and enjoyed our afternoon together. So I beat the flu in two days. And yes it's true though it sounds weird about the onion. I had some cut up onion which stayed beside my bed. Two days sick. I can live with that. Doodle's Para was out half of Monday and all the rest of the week.

Doodle never did get sick. When I started putting the Vapor rub on her feet her asthma congestion cleared up. She's always had congestion since she was itty bitty. Our pediatrician could only figure that it was from her asthma and it always got worse as the weather changes. The old saying is that you learn something new every single day. And right now I can contest to that. Three years almost four years doing essential oils I'm still learning new things every single day. And everything that benefits Doodle is always a plus in my book.

I hope you have a fantastic day. And for those that are curious about some of the things I got during two days of desperation I'm including the pictures.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today marks 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz during WWII. Anyone that was deemed unfit for survival of Nazi Germany were locked in concentration camps. Mentally and Physically handicapped, Jews, Artist, Educators, Gypsy's, Communists and Homosexuals. If you don't know about the Holocaust I suggest you read Anne Franks diary so you can see why her family was in hiding and I also suggest that you study up on it. Why does it matter, you might say? Well, in order to keep from repeating the past you must learn about the past. What is that old saying? Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And there is nothing more powerful then knowledge. Only this time I think that drama llama's would end up there too. A drama llama is someone who has to stir the pot over anything negative because they have to have attention.

If you head over to Google they have under the search area the link to find out lots of information. It's heart wrenching. Children lost their parents. Lots a children watched the death marched as they had to march into large crematoriums or ovens as some called them and burned to death. Many people lost loved ones. Siblings, parents, aunts, uncles, friends. 1.5 million lost their lives. So today's blog is short because today whether you realize it or not there are people in the world who would love more then anything that children and adults with autism would end up with this same fate. These are heartless individuals with no spines.

Have a moment of silence and be thankful for your life.

Autism is not a disease, it's a state of mind.

Okay, so there are a few things that people tell me that will "ruffle my feathers" and this morning was no exception. And the words, did you really just say that? hit me quick. So in the school office there is a new secretary and I needed to walk Doodle to class. There are a few words that I'm having trouble correcting and that's where the speech therapist comes in handy. The only one that can relay that message for me is her teacher. It's very rare that I need to walk Doodle to class. She has a Para Educator that comes out to get her every single morning. Since I needed to discuss with her teacher the few words that needed correcting, something they probably don't ask of her to say. That and this weekend Doodle had a play date with 2 other special needs children and she really wasn't playing correctly. She's basically an only child and there for I don't have the luxury of having other children around all the time to have her interact with.

And being the correct type parent that I am I signed in at the office to walk her to class. The receptionist looked at me and said you can't come in the building without an appointment. My reply was harsh and rebuffed. As the, did you really just say that to me? look came across my face. I looked her squarely in the eye and said,  "You do realize this is the special needs class right?" And I promptly walked off.

Doodle is entitle to free and fair education. Every child is, but Doodle's is written in my parental rights form as her voice. If she wanted to go further with the discussion she would have found herself in a world of verbal hurt. I'm not saying I would verbally accost her but I would make it very clear my rights as a parent and care giver of a special needs child. Something not a lot of regular teachers or even receptionist know. Remember, your child is a rock star. You're entitled to therapy and services that kids who don't have "issues" like my child does. It's not like Doodle can go to school and say, "Hey mom says she's having a hard time correcting the way I say usmic." Yeah, that's how she says music. And when she sings Jesus loves me it sounds like Jesus lurshs me. Yeah, cute to me but now she's 9 and that has to go too. She needs to be able to pronounce it correctly. And I've been through these words a thousand times and she just won't correct.

You have more rights then you realize. Your trying to get help for your child through free services that are provided through the school. I have a friend that can't use her services at her school. She can't utilize speech therapy because her child is getting feeding therapy. Bother her kids need OT therapy. That I noticed very clearly. I told her that she needed to get that school in shape. When you really don't have a school that knows how to deal with special needs children, teachers who only want to be paid the big bucks to baby sit are the schools that do the most harm and injustice to children who have rights too. I've had the babysitting teacher and Doodle had a regression. I'm not going back down that path.

Take your stand and fight for your right to free and fair education. Be bold and don't let anyone treat you like you are nothing because your child doesn't have a voice. You're more powerful then you realize it.

Autism is not a disease, it's a state of mind.

Have a great day and rock on Entrepreneurs!

I love my child even with Autism

One of the reason's why I do this blog is because I love my child. I don't understand why some parents hate autism so much that some have taken the life of their child. Some people out there really can't stand children on the spectrum. Like it's a brand new thing hitting only children. Well, surprise there's tons of adults with autism. Why hate on a child. I have a dear friend that hates autism. He very protective over Doodle but can't stand autism. Well, just like her birth mark autism is apart of her.

To me autism is not a disability it's an ability. An ability to see how far she can reach her goals, what all she can accomplish in her art. I love my Doodle. She's my only baby. Any body that meets Doodle falls in love with her because she is such a loving child. And opinionated. The child will tell you what she does and doesn't like. Today I got to watch her play with two other children. Basically, she played like they didn't exist. And the little time that she actually played with them she was a bit rough. Which tells me that I need to send her teacher a note that while Doodle is in class can they do role play on how to play with other kids. 

It's not too much to request. It was something they did at Doodle's last school. It's apart of what she needs to learn. Re-enforcing taking turns is something that needs to be addressed. It's been a long day for us. To the point where Doodle didn't want to leave my friend house. I think it was because of the toys that she was playing with. They have lots of toys. Well she did too at one point in time. We are just living a little simple life right now.

Well, it's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. Just as Doodle is already "sawing logs" that the direction I'm heading. Straight to bed. Hope you guys had a great day!

This week, Autism!

Okay, this has been a short work week but it has drug on! My weekend is filled up, again. Not two hours ago I was thinking, I'm taking Saturday off. No, going to the Sea Lab. No, trying to make someone's day perfect. No shopping. Just sitting at home enjoying two nice days.

And in a matter of minutes, messages start coming in. One person needs me to help with her son who has autism and it's time to start the test runs for the show. One on Saturday and the other on Sunday. For Sunday I have to have the vaseline ready to go. But I can't call it that so I'm just going to rename but I also have to create labels. That's an all day thing. I'm hoping that by Sunday I will be able to post the pictures of Doodle's birthday before I head out on my appointment.

I take that back it will be simple all I have to do is create a logo. I use Avery Products and have the labels for water bottles so all I will have to do is just put that in the labels at a certain size and cut it down. When you make products that have no chemicals but does certain things for your skin, like firms them up, keeps moisture in rather then stripping them of natural oils, your stuff becomes in high demand.

I can't remember what I was researching earlier but I came across an article of a woman who loved wearing makeup. It was her passion. Oh that's right, looking for news articles for Something Building's facebook news feed. Any way this woman created a new business kicking chemical's to the curb all because all the make up she was using was putting toxic chemicals in her body. She was loosing her memory and her hair and it was all the chemical laden products that she so loved. So she created her own line of chemical free beauty products. I make my own make up too and I feel so much better using mine. My face stopped breaking out and my memory is beginning to be stronger. I'm also using Rosemary essential oil to boost my memory. You know what it's like walking into a room and forgetting what you walked in there for. I a few short years of 40 my memory shouldn't be like that.

Well, it's time for me to get back to work. I hope you have a fantastic day!

It's Friday, Autism

Imagine if you will a mother who laid in bed waiting for her alarm to go off only to realize she's over slept. Yeah, that was me this morning. Doodle was up and playing with my feet. I don't know what is up with her and feet. But I wasn't living in the twilit zone I was living NASCAR this morning. I had two minutes to get Get Doodle ready and out the door. I know it can be done because I've done it before. The only thing that slows me down in the morning is if Doodle wants to refuse to do anything. But luckily for me that wasn't the case. The only thing that slowed me down was the rain and every one else was late for their destinations today too. Traffic was close to back-uped to my neighborhood this morning. Those are normally not bad days for me because I insist on getting Doodle to school early.

The reason I get Doodle to school early is that I can work from 7:30 am to 2 pm. Those are my working hours. Today my working hours are 8 am to 2 pm. That extra 30 minutes lost mean lost time. Time is valuable to an entrepreneur.

So the only thing I got to do this morning work wise was post the news to the Something Building facebook news feed. I had a few people that wanted me to help them with a few of their projects for their business, which I had to decline. I just can't do everything. Especially with it being a Friday and me running so late today. Normally, my biggest problem was always stopping everything I could just to help someone with their business. At least try too.

I still have a whole pair of pants to refashion and have to study up on that on. Everything will have to be sewn by hand. And today I just don't want to work. But there is no way to avoid that. Work needs to be done whether I like it or not. Cause if I don't do the work I get called a slacker by my partner at Something Building. But it's only because he wants our logo re-done. And yet I can't get his attention for our show.

Oh well, get the work done so I can mark it off the to-do list and start studying on coding on the computer. That's going to be fun! I'm super excited about this project because I can never find what I need when it comes to what I need computer program wise. With that being said it goes along with find and need and fill it.

You guys have a fantastic day! See you tomorrow.

Do you Pinterest Autism

Do you like to Pinterest? If you have a child on the spectrum or even know a child with autism you can find a lot of activities for your child to help them continue to learn and grow. Children with ASD need to be able to practice as much as they can on occupational therapy and speech therapy. And just because your child isn't at school all of the time they still need to be able to do practice while at home. Yes, I'm one of those parents who push. It's okay to push your child. Dr. Temple Grandin's mother pushed her. She hired a nanny that made sure that Dr. Grandin worked. And I can assure you my child is going to college.

In New York before your child is even born they need to be on waiting lists to get into certain schools. The parents there push their children because the schools expect it. So life on the spectrum is no different.

If you're not familiar with Pinterest then it's time that you get familiar with the site. Simple searches on there can help you build your educational needs for your child. Sign up for a free account and do simple searches. You can find all sorts of projects for home and school. So if you're a teacher you can find all you need. If you're one of those super moms, like myself, Pinterest is your right hand man!

If you're thinking there is no such thing as a super mom, then you would be wrong. My spare time is usually devoted to doing craft ideas. Some I do find on Pinterest others not so much. They just pop right into my head. There is so much that has to be done all moments of the day. If I didn't have my planner I would be lost as to what to do. And the new section for my planner is awesome. I got chastised for not writing down a date that I did something on my website and had to send a question to my web designer to find out if he remembered if it had been done. I know it had been done but I wanted to make sure.

My to-do list is for the week not the day. That's the only way I keep from getting exasperated over everything that needs to be done. And that's how super moms do it. And sometimes working late in the night at home. Can't be helped. And remember to save yourself some time and hit Pinterest to keep on top of what you can do to help your child.

And to save you some time follow us on facebook and I will post things that help your ASD child grow.
https://www.facebook.com/momtrepautism

Have a great day everyone!

I can only do so much Autism

I can only do so much when it comes to autism. I work with essential oils a lot and have games and activities for at home that help and that includes a sensory light window. But my conversation yesterday with the Para-Educator  threw me for a loop. When Doodle transferred to this new school I made it perfectly clear that not only did they need to have a picture schedule in place to keep her from being so confused but I wanted her to have the learning environment that she had at her last school.

Her last school was my favorite and she couldn't stay there forever. Last year was her last year there whether I liked it or not. Secretly I wished the teacher flunked her so she could have another year there. Doodle made such improvements in her autism with that teacher and I am forever in her debt for it. I still keep in touch with her educators from the last school. Doodle won't be able to continue on her progress if I don't know what's going on in the world of autism or in the world of special needs. Her previous teacher always has new things being used in the classroom and always has therapy activities going on even if it's not therapy time or days.

Children on the spectrum have to continue learning no matter what, because it takes them over 1000 times being told something before they get it. Yeah, you think life is a broken record now. My simple solution to that one. Teach your child sign language. Then you can sign it when you're getting frustrated. Believe it or not I actually help Doodle speak. When someone is speaking to her and she doesn't know what to do or to say, because you know social interaction is not there strongest point I sign to her what to say. And it's very rare that people have that look of what is wrong with you or your child. When you get those looks that's when I go into the she has autism speeches. Right now people think that she's a very polite, quiet child. And in a way she is and it all stems from her Teacher. I can't really say first teacher because she's already had a first teacher. One in the home and then she graduated to a school for pre-K with disabilities. Doodle was on Regis and Kelly during that time. And oh was that mortifying! Good to know that when your teacher tells you that your child is so good in school and they are so impressed with her art ability only to watch a video of your child acting like a complete menace! She gave Dennis the Menace a run for his money back during those days! Thanks for lying to me second teacher. Then Doodle was transferred to a school I didn't want her to go too.

This was a school I had already had personal problems with before and I am not about to get into that one. It was also with this teacher that Doodle regressed and the school she transferred to had their hands full with stopping the regression in it's tracks and getting her to progress. This school that she transferred too has a special place in my heart. Love and miss that school very much, but they only went up to the 2nd grade and Doodle is now in the 3rd grade. So she couldn't stay there forever.

Get it together new school. My child doesn't need a babysitter she needs to be taught. She needs to learn. According to her iep she's entitled to free education. Regular children get free education, why can't Doodle? That's okay I've been ahead of them for awhile. Doodle is writing a book. The pictures have been done for years now it's just getting the words on paper that most people have problems with. And yes sometimes that happens with me as well. but she's writing the book not me so this will take a bit of time. She will continue to learn even if the school wants to take their time with her education.

You guys have a fabulous day!

Weight and Autism

I'm going to get a little personal with this one today. Yes, I used to be a chunky girl. I never had time for me when it came to making sure Doodle was taken care of and went to all of her appointments. Working full time for myself and taking care of a household was not that hard to do for me. I also never made the time to take care of myself. I was always on the go.

Look, you need to take care of you. You are no good to anyone including your child if you don't take care of yourself. Some of the most successful women I know take a day or two a week to look after themselves. And they work like maniacs. But they also don't have a child on the spectrum. One thing that I have noticed is that since I have gone from a size 22 to a 12-14 I now have the energy to keep up with Doodle. A lot of people say that her energy is a lot like the energizer bunny. And yeah, it's that way from morning until night. She's still very active just before sleep hits her.

So do you know what your value or worth is. It's worth a lot considering that you are juggling so much. I have 2 lines that are about to launch for my company. They are about a month away from going live and I can feel the strain of the stress boiling through my bones. I'm getting to the point again where I just want to be a slacker and only work at night. Well, I can't do that because it will take away too much time from Doodle if I do that. 

I haven't taken my Plexus in several weeks and I'm holding strong at 12-14. I'm happy at this size and when Spring time hits and we start to get more light in the evenings so Doodle and I can walk around the neighborhood again, then I will dropping weight again. I was one of those larger parents and if you are too you don't have to be. It's physically and mentally draining to be on up there in size. Television and snacking used to be the crutch with coping with everything but not anymore. 

If you have to multi-task 3-4 days a week to get through all the work I suggest you do that but I strongly suggest that you make time for yourself!It's not a privileged it's a necessity!  

Have a great day everyone!

My Virgin Kitchen and Autism

So tonight I'm laying in bed, watching My Virgin Kitchen on Youtube and thinking about Doodle. If you haven't seen this channel you have to check it out. I love watching Barry's video's. Cooking has always been my thing so of course I would gravitate to this channel.

Doodle is a sweet tooth nut and he has some great sweets to make on his channel. I thought about making the edible cookie dough for Doodle's birthday. But I think I will save that one for Spring time. The way that he makes some of his creations does give me an idea to try to get Doodle back on the foods that she used to love but won't touch now because of her autism sensory. I don't get it. The child used to love zucchini! Won't touch the stuff now.

So Barry Lewis if you are reading this for some strange reason, help a mother out! I've gone from a super healthy eater of all things goods for you to nothing but junk.

Doodle does love noodle with a passion so I will be doing the spaghetti castle. That was really awesome and I highly suggest that video. The super huge foods are entertaining to watch. I will only try creating that when I get my own place and have parties.

So late yesterday and all day today I was out with my ex and his son from his previous marriage. Have you guys ever noticed how people use there phones to read things while ordering or watching or even eating their food. I don't get all the disconnect with missing out on good old fashioned time with someone. But to each their own. And really I can't say anything as in the past I played games at the dinner table too. I realized that the 30 minutes of dinner time game was 30 minutes of lost family time. But this was after the split, dirty habit really.

I think my goal for this year is to get Doodle back to healthy foods.

But this holiday of some what two days wasn't a total loss for me. My to do list is much longer. And I'm going to try my hand at learning to code. Yes, you read that right I'm going to be a girl that codes. Why would you do that? Because having a publishing company that is also known as a Creative Company affords me the luxury of taking the publishing company to all sorts of heights that other companies won't touch. I'm an outside the box thinker.

And hey the company is getting ready to launch 2 new lines so that is pretty cool. Both have to do with one book. I'm pretty stocked about it and it's something that I'm passionate about. Well, 6 am comes before I know it. Have a great day everyone!

Big Day with Autism

So today is Doodle's birthday. The first thing I did after I finally woke up was to do her Birthday photo's. She's pretty fast so it's no surprise that half of the photo's that I took were a blur. After that I had her change and took her to Texas Road House for lunch. Her's was free because she got A-B honor roll at school. Towards the end of the meal I ordered her the Big Ol' Brownie. The wait staff came clapping to the table with a saddle on a saw horse. She got to sit on that for a bit. They wished her a happy birthday and yelled out YEEE HAW!!! And she loved that. Yelled out YEEE HAW herself!

After that we drove on to the beach to visit the Sea Lab. She loves fish, it's one of her obsessions. So it's no surprise that she enjoyed petting the shark and the sting rays. Mainly playing in the water and touching the algae. She got to see snakes that are local to our water areas. The Sea Lab was more less a you can touch a lot of things except some of the fish and turtles.

One of the things that impressed her was driving the aquatic sub. The gift shop was her favorite place in the entire Sea Lab. Once we left there we headed straight to the beach to enjoy the surf and the waves. I took lots of photo's of her, which I will not be posting on here yet. Once we left the beach we headed back to the Sea Lab. Doodle played on their little play ground. We went back to see the shark and sting rays and then back inside. She played for a good 30 minutes. Saw more exhibits that we didn't see before. Got to pet even more animals including an octopus. And then back to the gift shop for more things.

After we left there she looked at the water through her new binoculars. She had a fantastic time and that's all I could ever really hope for on her birthday. Once we got back home we had dinner, cake and opened gifts. It was a wonderful day. Sunny, warm and so wonderful!

I'm tired and ready for bed so I will see you guys tomorrow. Have a fantastic day!

Late Post and Autism

Today is my prep day before Doodle's birthday. She wants ice cream cupcakes for her birthday this year. Now, I have never done an ice cream cake before much less ice cream cupcakes. Luckily for me last week I happened upon a website called www.handimania.com that had new crafts I have never done or seen before. Scoping it out they had a recipe, quick simple and to the point for making ice cream cupcakes.

So this is how my day went. Ran out of my laundry detergent. Not a problem I can make that stuff up in my sleep. The only problem that I had was I couldn't find my wooden spoon. Poor thing was on it's last leg. It probably threw itself away. So off Doodle and I went to the Dollar Tree to get some new ones. I found a grater to grate soap with. Some more table spoon and teaspoon measures. A few things of makeup and a toy fish that swims. No wooden spoons. Drove to Dollar General got a notebook, box of crayons and an air wick warmer and refill thing that releases scent into the air. I will not be using the "oil" that comes in it. That one will be in a later post. No wooden spoons.

On the way to the next place Doodle saw Party City and wanted to go there. Hey she read it and said it so it's a stopping point. There I picked up a fishing game, glasses with a mustache attached that says I love cupcakes, birthday candles, cupcake pan, cupcake liners, cupcake box and bottom piece for the box and a giant balloon that reads: another year of fabulous! No wooden spoons.

I was heading to Walmart when I realized I still had to get the ice cream for the cupcakes. So a stop at Publix was in order. I really don't care to shop at Walmart. I feel it's too crowded and Doodle wants half of the store while there. I decided maybe Publix would have the wooden spoons that I needed. And they did! Stronger sturdier spoons that would last me longer then the 3 years I had my poor little wooden spoon. They were having a special on ice cream this week so Doodle picked out what she wanted which was something called Heavenly Hash. Chocolate with marshmallow sauce, almond slices and chocolate chips. Wooden spoons in hand we headed home.

I got the 10 gallons of laundry detergent created for $1.75. Yeah, I do save money and the going without all the harsh chemicals in my laundry detergent has helped out with her autism a lot. I got her Ice cream cupcakes done, dishes done, laundry done. The worst part of today was Doodle wanted to be a little pest because I was so busy. The toy fish that swims, yeah that was a BAD idea! Water all over my mothers hardwood floors. They ones that aren't sealed yet. So today is normal for me. Shopping cooking and cleaning. A lot of cleaning. But it's all done and I will be ready for tomorrow. Doodle's birthday photo shoot, birthday lunch and a trip for her and I to the Sea Lab. Yes, Doodle is able to go out in public due to the essential oils that I use. I really don't have sensory issues while we are out and about with her. I have 2 types of glasses in my car at all times. Pink and yellow shades and the back part of my vehicle is tinted, and this does help with some sensory issues. It's a controlled environment for her to our destinations and back from.

Time for me to go to bed because it's going to be another busy day and then things should settle down until this new line starts for my company. Have a great day!

The big squeeze and Autism

So this morning in my news feed on facebook I saw that a new version of a squeeze machine is coming out. This one will be more affordable. Which is great news when it comes to the autism community. I had a friend who taught me her tip for getting her autistic child to calm down during outbursts. She would wrap her child up in a beach towel like she was wrapping her up when she was a baby. She would hug her and hold her and rock her. She would sing to her and before she knew it her daughter was calm and quiet. That's very powerful. And yes her method does work.

For those who are curious about the new "hugging" sensory chairs follow this link to find out more. They won't be available until after April but we have a starting point.  http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/01/07/students-calming-chairs/19944/

Temple Grandin's research on a hugging machine are in the article so I don't need to go over how hugging can help a child on the spectrum.

Doodle's birthday is a few short days away, I have a ton of things to finish up before the big day and I'm already getting flack from my ex. Why yes let me drop everything for you. Just like you dropped your wife and special needs child out of YOUR house.

Good news that I just got is that I'm getting a list of sensory boxes to make at home for Doodle and yes I will share them on here with you guys so ya'll can make them too to help your kids on the spectrum. Along with that I need to get a letter of recommendation written up for Doodle's previous teacher. I am so excited to do that for her and honored that she would ask me. She was the key to getting Doodle where she is today. A great teacher is really hard to find that works to get your where they know they need to be in life. Someone who will never give up and always helps your child learn through the murky waters of autism.

Back to work! Have a great day!

Switching it up with Autism

Sometimes you just have to switch things up when it comes to autism. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. Doodle hates mashed potato's. Her gag reflex kicks in the moment they are put in front of her. I used to think it was possibly the texture of them that made her sick to her stomach. I don't know. It's one of those things that may continue to be a mystery to me until she can tell me for sure why she gags.

During last fourth of July my parents celebrated with a lovely meal that consisted of mash potato's. And well Dad wanted them red white and blue. He changed the color of it with food dye or food coloring. And believe it or not that was the first time that Doodle ate mash potato's. I was in shock! She ate it up like it was candy. And Doodle just loves candy! That's how I get her to take her melatonin. Because they are flavored and one form I have for her is in chewable form she gets bedtime "candy" and mommy gets her sleep.

Here recently she's been mad over her "perfume". I put it in quotes because it's the essential oils I use on her to keep her calm. Essential oils are the a great way to keep people calm or relaxed. So many essential oils that do so many different things. I use Frankincense to keep my mood in balance and keeps me so calm. Believe me with the ex I have that loves to try to grate my nerves, I need something. It's stronger then prozac with all the benefits and none of the side effects. I guess because of the little bottle I had it in she just wasn't going to have anymore of it. Yesterday I went to the health food store and bought little roll on containers and moved the oil from one container to the roll on.

This morning Doodle was in one of her little moods and didn't really want to do anything but refuse to get ready for school. I asked her if she wanted to put on her perfume, she flat out told me no. When I pulled the new roll on container she gave me this look of hey that's not my perfume. She eagerly held her hands out and bowed her head. I rolled the essential oils on her wrist and put some on the back of her neck.
 From that moment on she was calm and ready to go with no complaints. She put her book bag on and was out the door.

These are the days I love. I don't care for the autism battles or the regular kid battles. I'm trying to prepare her for college. And yes, the child will go to college. If not she's going to be prepared to be an entrepreneur. And she will be a success. That I can guarantee. It all boils down to faith. And I have a lot of faith in my God and my child.

Ya'll have a great day. I've got to get back to work.

Issues with the school and Autism

Last week towards the wend of the week a friend of mine brought up an issue that needed to be addressed. On Wednesday of week school started back my friends son was out do to surgery. Well, my friend had gone to the school to get all of his son's school work so he wouldn't be behind. Leaving out of the Lobby and heading back to his truck doodle came up to him to say Hello Mr. Charles. This alarmed my buddy and it alarms me too. he said there was no teacher or aide around to supervise her and another classmate. The classmate went on to the other building he was suppose to be going to but Doodle diva-ted. 

Like I have mentioned in past blogs. Children on the spectrum have a tendency to wander off. This wandering off was brought forth by seeing someone that she knows. So it's no surprise to me that she would no go to were she was suppose to go. My problem is I have made the school aware that Doodle would wander.

This week was the week that I made my concerns known to her teacher because Monday was the first day I had seen her teacher since school started back. Doodle's teacher looked over at the aide. The aide laughed and said there was no way and then asked me about the time. I told her and the aide asked if the gentleman behind me was Mr. Charles and I replied yes, that he was the man who saw Doodle with no supervision.

The conversation between the teacher and the aide brought up a whole bunch of red flags for me. The teacher had the look of I was out of the class and the aide was in charge.

As far as this is going, I'm going to have to place my faith in teacher to rectify this concern for me. But I'm not just going to leave it to the teacher, I'm going to be checking up. I know when I get to the school my buddy will already be there. He gets to the school at noon and sits there until time for his child to get out. So I will be in good company as I wait to see if it happens again next Wednesday. My camera's are both charged and ready to go. Video camera and digital camera. I can honestly say that one thing that I learned from working with the Sheriff's office where we used to live is that you need to get proof. As of right now if Mr. Charles word against the school. I know Charles better than I know the teacher or the aide. So I believe him. Doodle can't exactly tell me she saw Mr Charles or that she walks to different parts of the school by herself. Trust me I've tried asking before. She answers yes to everything, including did you eat boogers for lunch today.

So I will be setting up a mobile office in the school parking lot. Yeah, work still needs to be done.

I really hope that you guys have a great day!

Blogs and Autism

Well, as you can see the blog has been revamped. I kind of like it. Not really sure just yet. The problem that I'm seeing right now is that when I post the view link on my facebook page the side businesses that I posted on here are pulling up as the picture. Which is really weird. I'm not gonna complain. Business is business. If I can get the revamping down just right then that means that I can re-do Something Buildings' blog and all the small businesses and multi-level marketing friends we have will be able to have free advertising on that blog. We've supported them for years. It only makes sense to give them some free advertising, again. Yes I used the word again. We support small business. I give free advertising out every chance I can.

Could be worse right? I set out to do what needed to be done and got it done. I'm still learning so it's not a bad thing.

So tell me what you think. Do you like the way the blog looks?

This one is going to be short. I finished creating makeup yesterday to replace all my chemical laden make up that kept breaking my skin out and I have a lot of work that needs to be done today. I'm kind of behind today.

I'll post later how the make up went and another blog with an issue with the school that has been brought to my attention.

Scattered with Autism and Picture Schedules

I'm getting a little distracted. I see it in the posts and I know ya'll notice it as well. I always have so many things going on that I can't help to get a scattered mind. There are things that I have to do for Doodle. Things I have to do for my companies. Photo shoots, therapies, doctor's appointments, the list goes on. Sometimes it's okay to vent. Recollect stories and things that have happened.

You have to tackle one thing at a time. Don't start one project and head on to the next before the first is finished. Sometimes I will do the larger projects first because they are more time consuming and the easy things that take less then 30 minutes to do for last. That's always been my trick for working. If I have a day where it's an "autism" type day. Depending on the time of day the appointment or meeting is all of my work is the easy stuff for the entire day. If I have moments in the morning. I will do 5 or six easy things on my to-do list and when I get back from my meeting I will finish up all the rest of my easy work and leave the harder tasks for the next day.

If anything has to be read or researched, that is done at night or on the weekends. If Doodle is out of school then I'm basically taking the week or so off and getting all of my ready done during our "vacation". Though it's not much of a vacation, it is more of a relaxed schedule for us.

Speaking of schedules, do you have a visual schedule in your home? Children no matter if they are special needs or not need structure. If they don't have some sort of schedule that tells them what the day holds for them they will drive you up the wall! That's another one of the secrets that I have in my home. Doodle only has to check her schedule to see what needs to be done. Or what she is going to be doing that leads to her reward. She's not much of a television watcher but she loves ipad time. So the moment she gets home form school the first thing she knows she has to do is homework. normally it's two pages front and back for homework. When that is finished she has to change out of her school clothes and if it's nice and warm outside she goes outside to play for 30 minutes. After that she's to come inside and can play with her play sets in the bedroom or play on the ipad. All of this is on her picture schedule. A picture schedule is a visual to do list. I live by a to do list and my planner/organizer.

To find all the different pictures so you can put together your own picture schedule just do a simple google search for picture schedules autism. it will pop up a lot of different pictures for you. That's how I acquired a huge portion of what goes on her schedule. You can also take pictures of your child doing different things that they love to do. Jumping on the trampoline, playing on the ipad, biking outside, playing with kenitic sand or what ever your child likes to play with. The best thing you can have at home is a laminator. I love mine. Every picture that goes on the schedule is laminated a strip of velcro goes on the back so that it can go on schedule when it's time. My pictures for the schedule last a lot longer. You need to have a picture schedule in place. Don't put off having a picture schedule.

When Doodle transferred to her new school she was unbearable. Such horrible behavior out of her. I insisted that the teacher put in place a picture schedule. Once that was put in place in the classroom, her confusion stopped and her behavior improved.

Time to get back to work. Lots to do and so little time to do it! Have a great day!

Autism and Work

Yeah, I know a few posts back I said I was going to be working on the blog and changing it around. I'm still working on that. Hey I'm only on my second pot of coffee right now. The cold and I don't get along. My (ex) says I'm like a lizard. I don't like the cold. Give me bare feet and a hot summer day sidewalk and I'm in Heaven! Like I always told him, God didn't give me the insulation like God gave him! He was always offended by that. I wasn't calling him fat but he took it that way. He is a very attractive man to me. Nice and tall.

I'm sitting here thinking that I should write that I'm considered a little person compared to most people when I'm reminded of an incident several months ago. Doodle's school was having a play day. All the kids in the school participate in a whole day of play. My cousin has a wife who has children that go to Doodle's school. And well she's been a bit stuck up. She's one of those people that can generate the shock and awe on my face. She thinks it's funny to flip off her mother and father in law and tell them to sit and spin. Yeah, I can't have Doodle around that. Well, it was bound to happen. She's been avoiding me like the plague since I moved back home and we just bumped into each other. I ordered Doodle 3 yogurts from the her favorite yogurt place that was holding a vendor event at the play day and she just happened to be there. At first she ignored me! Relief! And then she spoken to me, saying, "I thought that was you but I just wasn't sure." Okay I will admit it. I look a lot differently wearing makeup and now I won't be caught dead without it if I have to leave out of the house. If my best friend invites me to a party or some place he is at and I respond back I'm not wearing my make up he tells me don't you dare show up! Like I said I look a lot differently without makeup on.

Anyways, I turned my head to the sound of her voice to give her a smile and answer her question when I couldn't seem to find her. And that's when I had to look down! I was shocked I will admit it. I never realized how short she was. Like she was standing in a hole. I have never had to look down to speak to anyone. It's always me that has to look up. And I was wearing my Freddie Mercury adidas. It wasn't like I was wearing my heels. Though I do have some pretty cute heels! Thank you Ross, Dress for Less. I get all my pants, underwear, Doodle's pants and shoes from Ross. Everything else comes from the thrift store to be refashioned into something fabulous! I bought close to 15 skirts from the Goodwill that cost me a little over $5.00. Over half of those were turned into shirts. One was cut wrong on the bottom but it made the bottom so cute and different. It's my favorite piece!

Back on track. Yes I am working on changing up the blog. It needs it. I'm not much of a blogger and I do have lots of things on the to do list. I can't think that I'm doing good by just changing the picture to reflect the holiday. I'm trying to get it right but it's taking me a bit. It will get there. And now I have less then 15 minutes before I have to be at the Something Building photo shoot, so I see you guys later. Have a great day.

Winter blues and Autism

Do you have the winter blues with your child on the spectrum? Yeah, it's no fun. I'm about to be on my second pot of coffee. This chill in my bones is no fun. And where is Doodle? She's curled up in the bed watching car video's on the ipad. By day I am working but today I've just been hanging around on facebook. Winter and boredom go hand in hand.

I need to get out of this slump. I really need to get back to work. I have so many library books out right now it's not even funny. I have a photo shoot that needs to be done today and I just don't want to put my makeup on. My co-host is only in town on the weekends because he works so much and weekends are the days that he can do photo shoots.

Yesterday was a bit more productive. It was more of a sweat shirt kind of day. So after Doodle got out of school and she came home and got changed out of her school uniform we headed to Goodwill superstore. I love that place. Sure you have to dig through bins to find clothes but it is so worth it. I found two sweat shirts one in violet and the other in a bright pink. and both with turtle necks. How on earth does that happen? No problem though. Cut off the necks and your in sweat shirt Heaven! I've even been looking for some tutorials to refashion my new warmer pieces. And the price of my haul including a new plaid fabric that are going on my old jeans I have that are way too small. Mom gave me them for Christmas to refashion. They used to belong to my grandfather. I was his favorite and he was my world. He was killed before my 8th birthday. So it means a lot to have his clothing to refashion. The plaid is going to patch the holes in the knees and for the waist. I'm a ska girl. Big fan of the Mighty Might Bosstones. I've been following them since college. So it's only fitting to have some ska pants.  Ska is a style of music for those who don't know. Doodle doesn't care for ska. She only cares about the group Queen. Which is fine with me cause I love Freddie Mercury too.

And also to get a thicker longer shirt for Doodle which is so cute I made out like a bandit. $3.33 for all the clothes. Oh and Doodle had to have a car. No so bad. Heard everything is half off on Sunday's so I plan on making another run come Sunday. I would love to get my hands on some argyle sweaters. Oh that would be awesome! I love love love argyle right now, just like Doodle is loving this three little pigs video someone did on youtube with little kids. I'm sure at this point that video is up to a million views thanks to Doodle.

Well, so much work to do and so little time to get it all done. I'm a competitive person. I'm thinking of having a contest with one of my reading friends. Her goal is 50 books in one month. She's a big bookworm and I know she can do it. I just about have that many books. I think I can compete with her.

Have a great day everyone!

Birthdays and Autism

I will admit it, I was trying to rack my brain over what I wanted to talk about today. And chatting with my best friend I know know what this blog post will be about. Doodle's birthday is fast approaching. This afternoon I asked her what type birthday cake she wanted. Last year I had to start a week in advance because she wanted what I thought might be impossible. 2 cakes is what she had requested last year. A 3 tier Freddy Mercury cake and a smaller cake that was an Alvin and the Chipmunk cake. Both of those you could not get from the grocery store. But I'm one of those people that if I'm faced with a challenge I will give it all I've got to accomplish it. And yes I set out for it and yes I did it. The chipmunk used was Theodore, she's more partial to that character. Freddie Mercury was a bit trickier. I wanted to give this one my all and give some honor to Freddie. He deserved that. And it was my first year making her cakes from scratch. From the actual cakes, the frosting and the fondant. All I can say is I regret NOTHING!

This year she wants a chocolate ice cream cake with lots of strawberries. I've never made anything like this. Always wanted to try, though! And now that I have found a recipe I will be giving it another go. All I have to do is make sure there will be plenty of room in the freezer. Yes I make the ice cream myself and again I will be making the cakes myself. The strawberries I'm seriously thinking of stuffing with cheesecake. I think that will taste heavenly. I am up for this challenge and she wants the theme to be Angry Birds. Well, I can manage that and hey maybe Freddie Mercury will make another appearance!

Look, last year I wanted to draw Freddie on the cake but she wanted him as a topper not drawn on the cake. And there was no way that I was going to sculpt Freddie. I hadn't sculpted anything since middle school. Now that would have been a disaster. So I decided last minute, the night before her birthday, to make him as the Angry Bird. She had been watching the Angry Birds video homage to Freddie for his birthday and it seemed like something I would be able to do.

Hey I couldn't do as bad as her 6th birthday cake. It was beautiful! The most wonderful thing I had seen. Her godfather had a cake ordered from a woman who made cakes. And it was Alvin and the Chipmunks on a deserted island. Doodle's teacher made the chipettes to go on the cake. It was an awesome moment for Doodle having that beautiful cake in the house. Until after the birthday song. Her godfather asked me how the cake was. I said, "It was a beautiful looking cake." "Well, how did it taste?" he asked. I asked him if he had ever had any of the cakes that she had made. He told me no. I told him don't ever eat one of her cakes. They were fantastic looking but I have never in my entire marriage have a cake that no one wanted to eat after the first bite. Doodle eats some weird things including dirt and even she didn't want anymore of the cake after her first bite. I don't know what it was about it. You would think being cake it would be good but there was nothing good about the cake. Not the icing, not the cake and not the characters. Well I take that back the only edible characters on the cake were the ones that her teacher made for her. I promised myself and Doodle that day I would always make sure that she had a birthday cake she could eat.

Here's the pictures of the cakes I did last year. After this birthday I will post how the cupcakes looked when they are finished. Enjoy!

The Freddie Mercury Angry Birds cake.

Her puzzle Theodore Chipmunk cake

Autism first mommy second

All of my work for business gets done while Doodle is in school. Tomorrow I have an IEP meeting and it' going to be a cold snap here. I'm not worried about Doodle, I've already made most of her winter clothes already and tonight I'm working on mine. Not to mention the script I still need to finish up for the commercial for Something Building. It took me 4 hours but I managed to finish my leggings. I finished my cloak when it turned fall so I don't have to worry about that. The button on her school pants she keeps popping off and that needed to be sewn back on.

So this is the way that it goes. In the morning I get up and get myself ready. While I put my make up on and have my first cup of coffee I try to wake up Doodle. By the time she is dressed I head outside to crank the vehicle. I come back inside brush her teeth and hair and then do my teeth and hair. From there we are out the door headed to school in a nice warm vehicle.

I do the quick drop off and head back home to get all my work done. Tomorrow after my IEP meeting I will try to revamp this blog. Put in some information so that it's not so confusing and who ever reads this will know this is not only a blog about autism but a blog about working moms who own their own business(es). And yeah there will be ads on here. I need to revamp the Something Building blog too but right now that requires a meeting with the host of the show. I'm just the co-host. I would love to advertise for the companies that we support on that blog. But if my partner doesn't agree I can't touch it, just write for it.

So what was my night like? Well, Doodle had a fit because she had to have a bath. She tried to tear up the bathroom. I went to remove out of her little hands what she was trying to tear up and she tried to bite me on my face. Yeah that was fun! I stood my ground and let her know who was in charge. "That is not the way we act when we are upset. You know better. No ipad for tomorrow and if you don't behave no Chill on Friday." Well that got her back in line quick. She loves her Chill days with her Uncle. She looks forward to it every single week. And the only reason she gets that is because she is so well behaved. But I won't put up with trying to bite people especially on the face. There is no call for it. Her feelings were hurt and she went to bed whining. She did tell me she was sorry, which is what she's suppose to do when she realizes that she's done something wrong.

I ignored her as she tried to talk to me after I put her to bed. I wanted to finish crocheting my leggings. After I finished those and chatted with my best friend over facebook, I sewed the button back on her school pants. Like I said, it's suppose to be really cold tomorrow and she's already worn 2 pairs of pants to school this week. I'm not about to put her in a dress or skirt.

With a busy day tomorrow I am reminded that I read you need to leave potential clients with an impression. Well it's a little harder to figure out what type of business cards we are going to order for jk by 31, but for jsn and the vaseline that I make, that's a no brain er. Today I picked up some small travel canvass bags that the tubes of vaseline will go in to the clients. On the bag will be my company name. I don't have to worry about putting my name on it or a way to contact me. I'm the owner, the free advertising for my company is all I really need. Put I might make a tag to attach with yarn that will be like a business card. I can print those up on card stock and cut them out all day long. It's the touch of personal that people enjoy.

So as you see my day was full, my night was full and I'm going to say my prayers tonight, thankful that the Lord kept me busy today. It was another great day.

I hope you have a good one today!

My child was diagnosed with autism, now what?

The first thing that you want to do that I really should have done to begin with is make sure that I had chain locks on all the doors. Way up high. Even though your child is still young, in most cases of diagnoses you still have to have some locks on the doors and windows that work properly. Doodle was notorious for wandering off. And it wasn't until a few years ago that I found out you can put a type of chain lock on the back sliding door. That was the day she found out how to open the back sliding glass door. Though it had a simple lock on it and a pole that locked the door in place, when she figured those out it was time to get something else to keep her in while I cooked. And yes I did a lot of cooking.

And again we had to move the chain lock on the front door when she started using chairs as ladders and figured out how to open that as well. The further out of her reach the better. Alarm systems for your house work great too because of the beeping noise every time someone opens a door. If you really can't afford that, as most parents of children on the spectrum can't. You can always get the kits for door and window alarms at the hardware store. Think of it this way, you're not just baby proofing your home. You're autism proofing you home. And it may sound weird but make sure your bathroom door doesn't have a lock on it unless you have a key for the door.

Eliminate the worry first. When you remove all that you worry about then you can begin to breathe easily.

The next step is to make sure that you get into therapy. I though Doodle would just need speech and nothing else. That's not the case. She needed occupational therapy as well. It did take longer for her to get into OT because where we received services at didn't have an OT therapist. It took a long time for them to get one and I loved loved loved the OT therapist she got. Tosha helped me to understand a lot of things. (Tosha and I are still really good friends. Love her to pieces and can't see my life without her. She was actually the person that discovered that Doodle had developed PICA, which lead to another thing to concur.) Like all the crayons I bought every single week because Doodle loved to doodle, well she refused to hold her crayons and markers the correct way and the crayons needed to be broken in half so she would no longer use the palmer grip. It forced her to hold the crayons correctly. Finding markers that were small were a bit of a challenge. Now all I have to do is a simple correction but saying no palmer grasp. But when a child is first diagnosed on the spectrum the most important thing to do is get into therapy.

I used to think that Doodle was diagnosed too late to get the correct therapy. I have a friend whose child was just diagnosed and her son is 7. I used to hear a lot that a child has to be diagnosed at at least 2 years of age. Doodle was diagnosed at 3. I've had a lot of people and I mean a lot of people tell me that I waited too late to get the correct help for Doodle. I don't feel that is the case. She did have early intervention. We had helping hands come to the house every single week for speech therapy since she was 2. The only problem is Doodle loved to play in the grass and they were under the impression that children on the spectrum didn't like grass because of their sensory issues. Well, first and foremost you need to remember that not every child on the spectrum is the same. Every child is unique and different. Though children on the spectrum share some of the same quirks they don't all share all of them. Some children on the spectrum flap their hands like a bird. Doodle doesn't. And the rare times that she does it's a single flap one you miss if you blink your eyes. And it's very rare that she does that. So rare that it's something that will happen once or twice a year.

Play games with your child. Teach them games, teach them to share and take turns. Doodle loves it when we play follow the leader and she's the leader. The look on her face of utter trust and comfort when I mimic everything she does that is carefree. When she pretends she's a plane and runs up and down where ever we are, she loves that. It's a simple way of connecting with her and accepting her and she knows that. She's not stupid, she's a very smart girl. All she wants is what every child with a disability wants and that's to be accepted and be treated like everyone else. That's your job as a parent too. No matter if your child has speech or not, don't speak about them as if they are not in the room. I know Doodle has vocalized her feelings on this to her father. Not to me. When I talk about her I praise her and include her even when I talk about her autism. It's her ability not mine. And no I don't call it a disability, it's her ability because there is so much that she can do. She may be lacking in some things but she is far ahead of other children her age. And those are "normal" children compared to her.

Well, time to get back to work. Vaseline doesn't make itself and right now my homemade vaseline is in high demand because it locks moisture in, removes the ash of skin, the chapness of winter and helps promote healing of broken skin. That I have graphic design work to do and an outfit to create for Doodle and her photoshoot. I truly hope that you have a great day!

You're in the Rock Star league with Autism

Some parents feel that autism is a burden. Well if you don't try to know how to help your child of course it can be considered a burden. These are the parents I can't stand. They are the ones I hear about in the news that have murdered their children. I have no patients for these parents. The first 3 years of autism are the hardest but I'm trying to change that. What if I could give you all my tips and tricks that I really should have known in the first three years of autism? Something every parent needs to know instead of feeling like they are wondering around in the desert for 40 years.

Oh hey you're in luck! That's what this blog is all about. If you have been following since the first day, congratulations I haven't bored you to death. And you have found some of my bizarre moments funny and cheered with us as Doodle made accomplishments. More accomplishments are coming. Doodle is going to be making more strides and yes you have more hope. Because if my child can do it so can yours. I don't consider this hard work. I enjoy playing and spending time with Doodle. She's really fun to be around. But she's mine, I'm partial!

This blog is about how you are in a rock star league. And how is it considered a rock star league is you get special treatment for your child. And you need to make sure you get your special treatment. Because children on the spectrum wander off your school might need to be reminded of this. The reason I say this is because I drop Doodle off at school every morning and pick her up in the evenings. We live too close to the school for bus service. Though, if I pushed it I could have bus service. Every single morning, parents line their cars up in the car pool lines. Every single school has these car pool lines. And when the children are called to  unload they stream out of the cars and head into the buildings. I've even seen one parent have a difficult time getting her son into the building. He refused to get out of the car. She got out dragged him to the front of the building and shoved him into the lobby. And she bolted for it! By the time she got back to the car pool lines he was hot on her heels! The desperation of some parents and the desperation of children is quiet hilarious.

Every morning I pull up along side the car pool lanes on the opposite side of the barrier. I don't have to be in their lanes because it's not an option for me. Doodle will wander off and has to be walked in. There is no way I could be in the line and the school aide be able to see my vehicle. Although there is no way to miss my vehicle. I have a cross sticker on my front windshield and the word Queen along side that cross. No, I don't think I'm a Queen. It was sent to me by mistake when I ordered my Freddie Mercury stickers. I wanted to send it back but they insisted that I keep it and they would send me my Freddie stickers. The Freddie stickers, well they are on the back of my car. I know what you're thinking. Why do you have his stickers? Because even when Doodle had no speech she was singing Queen songs. I'll explain this one in a later blog. Those songs were truly her voice and I am grateful. She's a huge Freddie Mercury fan and I'm not going to take that away. Hey, I love Freddie Mercury myself. But it's not just Freddie she loves she also loves TobyMac and for good reason. But it wasn't T-Mac she sang along to on the radio. Both sing about love and acceptance. But Freddie did lead her to her first gospel songs. Yes, Queen has two gospel songs they sang. Jesus and Mad the Swine, which tells of the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them to the swine.

So here I get to park every single morning and afternoon on the opposite side of the carpool lane. In the mornings a school aid is waiting on us. While other parents have to wait to be called to move their vehicles on to work or home or appointments they have lined up for the day. I pull up, drop her off with the aid and move on! I have a cousin whose wife also has children that go to the school and she's not a happy camper that I get to get in and out and she doesn't. But her problems are not my concern. She doesn't have a child that will wander off. Who if I dropped off at the school would never make it to her classroom or to the cafeteria. Make your concerns known to the school during your IEP meetings. You have more rights for you and your child than you realize.

In the afternoons I have to be at the school at 2:00 pm every single afternoon. Again I park in the same spot. Not in the carpool lane but on the other side of it. The school lets out at 3:00 pm. Why on earth would I get there so early??? Well, the kids in Doodle's class get out at 2:15 pm sometimes earlier. Again, I don't have to worry about being stuck in the carpool lane. I'm in and out. She's literally a little Rock Star to me. Because she gets treatment that other children who are not special needs gets to have. Since Doodle went to a great school that helped to get her to her break through I've always gotten special treatment as a parent. I never knew I was allowed to have that. Found out when there was an abusive bus driver for the no child left behind bus she used to ride. I found out that special needs parents got to park in our own lanes away from regular car pool. Once I found that out I was not about to give that up! She did get a new bus driver who I adored immensely! And when we lost bus service the last year where we used to live I cried. Mr. Billy was an awesome guy and still is an awesome guy. He loves Doodle as if she were his own child. He loved all the special needs children and that's what makes him special in all our hearts.

Know your rights and know your child. If you go to a school with a great special needs class(s) consider yourself blessed. This school I had to provide everything to keep Doodle on track. Even insisted that they continue to teach out of the Edmark books that are free from the school board. I don't want my child having a babysitter. I want her to learn. My child is going to college! That I will make sure of. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up. That and Jesus Christ, but I think it's because he heals the sick and she knows that. Doodle will not be the first child on the spectrum to go on to college to be a doctor and she won't be the last. Your child has so much potential, it's your job as a parent to unlock that. Take that job seriously! Going chemical free and using essential oils helped with this process. Like I've said before I tackle the sensory first everything else comes second.

And this school just like all the other schools, every child knows Doodle's name and have to tell her hello. Even kids who see her out from school have to announce like she was a famous singer or movie/screen star. I've had kids drag their parents to come introduce them to Doodle. Yeah, it's a bit weird but it's really comical in a way. God has destined her for something great! I am blessed and the love that she shares to everyone is what important to me. I don't teach her about the color of someone's skin. I don't feel that's important. It tells us in the Bible that God knows our name. It is written on his hand! How great is that? It doesn't say he has a description of what we look like. He knows us by our name, he knows us by our hearts. Not by the color of our skin. And when others finally learn that the world will start to be a better place. Truly accepting of one another. It makes me very uncomfortable to be around others who judge someone by the color of their skin. Or place skin color for a reason to do something. That's madness in my mind. If Doodle can teach other children to love unconditionally no matter what then I know I have done my job through Christ and she is ministering correctly. I will admit that I am limited to what I can teach her and how to teach her but the love of Christ is universal. Teachers love her, students love her. She's even taken over P.E. class at this new school. They let her do that because she was singing the days of the week song and having all the children in the class participate. She's outgoing and has no fear of the spotlight. Which is no surprise to me. She was once on an episode of Regis and Kelly. Shes won art contests. And her pictures are almost always in the paper for events that she attends with the schools. So it will be no surprise that she is about to take the lead in a few businesses that I have my hands in. I'm grooming her to be a model for not only my publishing company but for the JK by 31 that I sell. She is simply precious to me and I can't wait to have pictures that showcase how far she has come on her journey.

Well here I am, letting my words run away again on the screen and I have photo's and images that need to be edited as only a graphics designer can do. Enjoy your day!

Vacation with Autism

Sometimes you just need to get away. It's refreshing for you. Even if it's just for a couple of hours at the nail salon you need a mental break. Well, that's what I did for the New Year. Though Doodle was with me, we shopped, explored and had a grand time. I take Doodle with me everywhere unless she has school.

What made it wonderful for me? Doodle is not on any medications except for her asthma. Essential oils are what help to keep Doodle on track. I'd heard lots of things about vitiver and yeah I have been trying it. I have better results with Frankincense and sweet orange oil mixed together. I really see no difference with her on the vitiver. But that choice of what you are going to use is up to you. For a violent child on the spectrum I highly recommend using myrrh. You will see instant results with that oil. All the procedures that you have in place to keep your kids from being so violent you won't have to worry about as long as your child has their myrrh.

And now I am reminded that I have an order that was placed at the health food shop. Some are for me the others are for my friend who has a child on the spectrum. When I took my supplies to her house to find out what would help and what would work we discovered it was the myrrh that helped the most and so I went to order some at the health food store. Only because the store didn't carry what I used and I am not about to try a different company when I know the oil that I have already works. Yeah, I'm that fickle!

It's not just oils that I needed at the health food store. I'm trying my hand at making make up. I want my make up to be chemical free as well. It's my last step for going chemical free. And yes the make up I'm creating will be sparkly! I'm not using super fine regular glitter for the eye shadows. In the baking department at the craft store they have edible glitter and that's actual what you need to have. Mica would be okay to use but you have to order that and in all honesty I have to be able to hold it in my hands the moment that I want it. I only prefer to order anything from the health food store. Not try to hunt anything down on the internet.

I did seriously debate and consider signing up and selling doterra but after several days I changed my mind. If I sell essential oils it will be what I am most familiar with and yes I can create a business with the essential oils I am use to. It's called spreading the risk and if one business isn't working well the other business will do well. You have slow business peaks where as some businesses you have will flourish during parts of the year. Depending on how you construct your businesses depends on how you work your businesses.

My best friend and I share a business. It's JK by 31 and I am so in love with the possibilities of this one. My friend Mandi sells 31. She had more possibilities for sales then we did at vendor events. We just sold jewelry at the time. Well, depending on the season depends on how you will sell. No matter what season she has in front of her she has no problem with sales.

As you can see several days with barely working has refreshed me mentally for going back to work. Yeah I was still selling while I was out. I had some Plexus cards and people are astonished that I've gone from a size 22 to a size 14. I can actually fit in a 12 depending on what going on in my life. If I don't want my pants so baggy and I don't want to wear a belt I will wear size 12. I don't mind a little baggy every now and then. I'm a woman on the go and I prefer the product be able to speak for itself. And I do have to take in my jacket. It's way too big. It's still size 22. But a cold snap has come through and I am putting my cloak back on because it's made for extreme cold. I love my homemade cloak. Since work is on my mind I need to get back to work.

Don't look Autism!

Yes your child or a child that you know won't look at you. That's A typical with autism. And it's not something to be concerned about because you can easily correct this problem. Here are a few simple tips.

When ever I need my child to look my direction I call Doodle's name and point to my nose when I say, "Look at me." They can't keep eye contact it's just a little too uncomfortable for them to do that. Looking at your nose is much easier for them. They can still hear your voice and it gives the appearance of having eye contact with you. Something that is considered the "norm" for today's day and age. Don't point to the middle of your brow to get them to try to listen to what you say, by making things more "normal". By pointing to your nose they will be able to hear you more clearly because they will be able to see your lips moving.

When correcting how your child speaks point to your mouth so they know where they should be looking. And slowly enunciate the words. Let them see how the tongue is placed at different sections of the words you are trying to correct. Always remember that when you are correcting a word that the reason you speak slowly is to break the word down and you're breaking down the motions of the word(s).

These are two of the best tips that you can use as a parent or guardian of a child on the spectrum. You're giving them a better way of working on their words and their speech when not in therapy. Remember that you are the key to helping unlock your child. There are so many things that run through their minds and they see the world in pictures. If you haven't seen the movie Temple Grandin yet I highly suggest that you watch it this month. The better that you understand your child the better your chances are of breaking through into their world.

Slacking off with Autism

So yeah I'm slacking off. Not in sales but in the blog that I do for Something Building. My friend requests is overflowing with requests. Though I'm really not sure why but they can continue to wait. The Something Building blog is all about business. How to succeed. I've gotten countless comments from others who have taken the advice that I have written on the blog and seen their business just explode in sales.

Internet marketing isn't difficult. It's really quiet simple and the main thing that my co-host and I disagree on is that anyone can make money in multi-level marketing. He thinks they can't and I think they can. As long as someone has the ability to work for themselves and not give up on themselves they can do it. That and a good blue print on how to go about it. Well yeah every so often we tell them the blue print. And it's about time to do the blue prints to success again.

The show used to be about creating your own business, but not everyone wants to do that. So the show is now geared on how to create a business through mlm (multi-level marketing). I research a lot for the show just like I still research a lot for autism. Not every child on the spectrum is the same. They almost all share the same little quirks but not all. It's best to know what's normal and what's autistic.

Like me you have probably heard the same things. "That's not autism, that's being a normal child." Yes there are autism traits. Things that children on the spectrum do. Almost all of them do. Me, I specialize in sensory issues. I've studied them for a long time. I first learned how to deal with sensory issues when I had to deal with the autism meltdowns. It was a moment I literally ran from. Seriously, I ran!

Doodle was just diagnosed and I had taken her to a thrift shop so that I could purchase a few things for growing children while killing a little time. I wanted to browse the book section. And wouldn't you know it, the book section was dimly lit. Once the buggy got into the dimly lit section of the book aisle Doodle let out this blood curdling scream and every single patron in the store turn and looked at me as if I had just hacking away at my child. You know the old saying, fight or flight. Well I chose the flight. I pushed that buggy out of that section so fast I just about ran 4-5 people down who were in my way. Once we were back in the bright lights of another section of the store she calmed down. Maybe it was just a fluke I thought. So I turned the buggy around and headed back in that direction. This was before I truly knew what all of her triggers were. Again she screamed as if someone was pulling her hair and again I fled. That was not a section I was to be in that day! And that's when I learned dimly lit sections of stores or libraries were to be avoided at all cost.

When I learned that if you tackle the sensory first you can tackle the tantrum. You can stop the meltdown. Have you ever been in an all day meltdown? I have and it's not at the top of my list of my most fun experiences. I truly hate them with a passion and always come prepared to tackle any sensory issue known to man.

I experienced this with my own eyes - essential oils and Autism

So today I had an appointment to help an old friend from middle school. Her son was just diagnosed with autism and he is 7. Yeah, that way late with getting the correct help for him with autism. But you do what you can when you get the diagnose. Before I left the house I had the last minute realization to bring my entire box of essential oils. I've been using essential oils for almost 3 years now and really won't do anything without them when it comes to anything that touches Doodle's skin.

Her problem was her son was extremely aggressive. It's one of the worst aggression's that I've ever seen dealing with a child on the spectrum. I've heard about many. And in some cases I've experienced it with Doodle. This little boy took it to a whole new level and he acted out on his sister. He even wore gloves. Not because he's cold but more or less for safety. If he's wearing gloves his pinching doesn't hurt his sister as badly as he would if he had no gloves. I needed just a few hours to observe and try to figure out what would help. The night before I made up some little some little trinket necklaces that I made creating my own play dough. Flour, salt and water. Shaped the dough and baked. After they cooled I popped some ribbons through them and then placed some essential oils on them. I wasn't going to leave her with any of the oils that I use on a daily bases and I wasn't sure which essential oils would work best for him. The one two trinkets I put frankincense and orange oil, the oils I use on Doodle. The other two trinkets I put vetiver. Now I'm still trying out vetiver so I can't fully stand behind this oil. I've heard plenty of parents of children on the spectrum that swear by vetiver and I has just gotten my bottle of it from my local health food store. It had to be ordered and had just gotten in when the school holiday started.

So today I was running late getting to her house. All because I had to go back for my entire essential oil supply. When I got to her house and gave her two children their trinkets I was ready to observe. She has two children and it wouldn't be fair to give one a gift and not the other. I let his mother give them the gifts. She put the vetiver trinket on him and the frankincense orange oil on her daughter. And of course Doodle was wearing one that I had made up for her the night before too. After the kids played outside for awhile and I got to see her son try to torture his sister at every turn, I was ready to go inside and add some more essential oils to their trinkets. In the middle of my box of oils was my rarely used but still used myrrh.

If you have never experienced myrrh it's one of those must oils if you deal with someone that has a very ill temper. It makes a person calmer almost instantly. Once a few drops were placed on the trinket and smeared on it I placed a dab on the back of his neck. I asked him to smell his trinket to see if he liked it and he smiled. About 20 minutes later he asked for his gloves to be removed so he could properly play with Doodles ipad. His mother reluctantly agree. She never felt comfortable with him not having his gloves because he was so aggressive.

His mother and I sat down in her den and caught up on life. The good the bad and the ugly. After an hour and 30 minutes it dawned on her that her son had yet to attack his sister. I figured when I brought Doodle with me he wouldn't try to harm her. He is 7, Doodle is 8 and she towered over him and his sister like a giant!

Even after we left a good 5 hours later he was still holding strong with being calm. Doodle got a good play date and I got to catch up with my old friend. I don't mind helping. Even if I didn't know her personally and she had asked me to help I would have.

UPDATE: It's 9:50 and shortly before bed he was still being so calm with no more problems. She's ready to place an order. My problem is I don't sell essential oils yet. But MLM (multi-level marketing) is always a possibility for anyone. As they say in the stock market. Spread the risk.

Happy New Year with autism

So, how did you far last night? Did you have everything prepared to tackle the sensory of sound? I hope you did. Well, it's a new year and a new us!

Have you made your New Years Resolutions yet? I know I have made mine and it is a doozy. I'm not going to try to loose weight. I lost weight during Thanksgiving and during Christmas. And I am still loosing weight. This year is going to be a fun stress free year, dedicated even harder to The Lord. He's the one that put me on this path to help others with autism and that's the main goal I hope to accomplish in that work for him.

My New Years Resolution is to get my publishing company off the ground again and getting it to generate serious capital. I'm also taking on another venture in my quest to tackle the sensory issue for children on the spectrum. But that's not the only one that I have. I'm going to get to a point where I can have the home of my dreams. One with a sensory room for Doodle. I'm sure most of you have heard of a sensory room. It's where children on the spectrum can go and chill out and calm down from over stimulation to the senses. Yep, that's what my goal is. The autism swing, the special lighting, special seating the calming colors. As the Queen song goes, I want it all. And honestly the only thing that will stop me will be me. This is for my child I will fight for her just like I fought her regression.

If I'm her biggest fan and I am her biggest fan then why can't I be my own biggest fan. I have someone else that is my biggest fan and that's Jesus. He believes in us. Yes he loves us so much that he believes in us. The good in us and the ugly in us. He stands with us no matter what and I know he's looking forward to this wonderful year of blessing me beyond belief.

Enjoy your day! May it be filled with blessings and over flow just like mine!