Special Olympics, Azalea Trail Maids and Autism

The day of Doodle's Special Olympics was a fun day. After her first event which took over an hour and a half for us to do, she became hungry for a snack and a melt-down ensued. One of the things that I did not plan on was bringing snacks. I was just more thrilled with myself to bring the camera.

While waiting on the second event the bottom fell out and the event was cancelled. But she did get one ribbon! Doodle got last place but considering that the starter gun scared her it's no surprise. She ran, she tried. And anyone that knows Doodle like I do knows the child doesn't run!

Here's the photo's from the day. Enjoy and have a great day!

This is the only time that Doodle wanted to lay her head on me. I'll take this moment any day.

Our cheering section

I just got tired of editing out her school info and just took everything off the shirt.

She was tired of waiting. And at this point so was I.

The starting line. The actual race I videoed. 

Notice our Azalea Trail Maid? We got a picture with her at the Sea Lab. 

The rest of the events were cancelled so it was time to get our ribbon.

Fifth place.

And the bottom is really falling out now.

Next year will be better. I will remember to bring some snacks and the camera.

Weirdest Friday Ever Autism

Today's blog was suppose to be about the Special Olympics. Unfortunately I'm still editing all the photo's and the video that I have of it. So instead here was my morning today. Enjoy.

So this morning I woke up to my alarm at 6:37 am and that's pretty good. Normally, I hit the snooze button until about this time in the morning. I have my alarm starting at 5:00 am and I never hear that alarm going off. But if I didn't have that alarm set I would not be able to hear the one at 6:30 that goes off. I'm weird I know. But this morning is different.

The alarm is going off at 6:37 and I get out of bed to hit the snooze button. I look at the time and for a split second I think it's weird for the alarm to be buzzing this late. And this is how the morning went.

We are so late. Doodle will be getting her first tardy ever. A serious tardy! As I wake Doodle up I'm digging through her school uniform drawer for what she is to wear today. I tell her that she needs to get dressed and in a hurry that we need to be at the school right now. Mommy woke up late. I toss her outfit on the bed as I get my clothing for the day to get myself dressed. I rushed through brushing her hair, tied her shoes no time to brush her teeth and out the door we ran.

I think I might have sped out of the neighborhood. I can't be sure as I was running so late this morning. Trust me I'm sure I sped out of the neighborhood. Got to the secondary street and noticed the traffic was pretty slow. Well, at least I'm not going to have a problem getting across the street to the school. I did debate parking my car and running her across the street if the traffic was bad. I got to the cross road and notice there was no crossing guard and the school zone lights weren't on.

Oh this is bad. We are so late the crossing guards have already gone home. This is going to be a bad day and I will never be able to catch up on my time. As I got closer to the school I noticed that parking lot was kind of empty. Maybe 5 staff cars in the parking lot. Was today Saturday? No can't be Saturday. I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out if today was really Friday. Was today an off day for the students, I question myself pulling into the school. Parents were pulling their cars into their drop off pick up lanes and I pulled into a parking space to get my head wrapped around this situation I find myself in.

Doodle is sitting quietly in her seat looking around at the parking lot. I check the time and it's 7:02. It's at this point I realize we are suppose to be out the door until 7:15 in the morning not 6:15. We are super early today. At this point I have relief running through my body. I can go back home and brush her teeth and do prayers! I can get a cup of coffee! Oh I'm so relieved!

I'm driving out of the school parking lot explaining to Doodle that mommy made a mistake on the time and that we can go home do our prayers correctly and brush our teeth. I think she's just happy to be going home and not to school.

When we get back home I start my coffee. As that is percolating I hold Doodle's hands and we pray to our Lord and Savior. Thanking him for Doodle's speech and we proceed into The Lord's Prayer and this day is going great! After I get my cup of coffee in hand we are off to the bathroom to brush our teeth. Doodle was insistent on putting the paste on her tooth brush.

I got to brush her hair and get the one tangle that alluded me when I first rushed through her hair earlier that morning. She grabbed another toy and outside she went to play on her bike and swing set. I grab the iPad to continue listening to WayFM  while she played. Sipping my coffee and enjoying the beautiful day I always miss on school days as we are always just busy getting ready to be out the door. I remind Doodle not to get dirty because she has to go to school. She tells me, "No School!" I remind her that she gets ice cream today and that was the end of that.

When it's time to get back out the door I tell Doodle it's time to go. I brush the dirt off her uniform and she salutes me and tells me Roger that Sargent. I'm not exactly sure where she got that or her new obsession with being an astronaut but it's cute. I show her how to correctly salute and again we are hitting the pavement at full throttle. At least this time around we aren't running late.

Again on the secondary street there is barely any traffic. I'm trying not to panic. The crossing guard is there at the main intersection and I'm relieved. She waves us through as I pull up to the light. When I got to her designated drop off area I tell her para educator that I got there this morning earlier. She told me that she saw me. So even when you think that only The Good Lord sees your funny mistakes, you can guarantee that someone else sees what you're going through. It's a great laugh I will admit that.

You guys have a great day!

Doodle and I headed to Special Olympics. You can read about that one on Monday.

Brant Hansen and Autism

As a parent of a child on the spectrum I always have an eye out for hope that my child will be able to grow more even with autism. I've spoken with parents who have assured me that my child will be fine and she will "grow out of it" in a way, if that makes sense.

When I saw the movie Temple Grandin, that is when I realized I'm going about trying to connect with her the wrong way. Because she sees the world differently then we do. She can't help it, that's the way that she is. Some people have photographic memories. Able to remember every single thing they have ever seen in their entire lives. That's like Doodle and her autism. That's the way that Temple Grandin sees the world. Well, my camera has explosive film. I can remember normal stuff just not a lot of things and details like Doodle.

There is this radio show on Way-FM called the Brant Hansen show. It's one of the things that I love listening to every week day. You see Brant Hansen has autism. He's an aspie, but the fact of the matter is, he has autism. That gives me hope. And being able to hear how he views the world helps me to understand even more of Doodle and how she works.

Look at it this way when it comes to Doodle and I. She's like a new program or cell phone. You have to learn how to use it or how to know it in order to be able to know what to do. To me, my relationship with Doodle is really important. I can't help her if I don't know what she needs or how she's feeling. Her speech isn't like a child of her typical age. Sometimes, it's really hard to know what she's going through, what she's feeling or why she's feeling it. Why she would get frustrated over something.

I've often felt that Doodle has been in the terrible two's since the age of two and she's now 9 years old. It can be very overwhelming sometimes. And it does get easier as the time goes by because some things you just get used to and the others you learn to concur. The more I learn from others on the spectrum, the more I am able to help Doodle.

Another thing that Brant gave me was his gift of how much he loves The Lord. You never really hear about people on the spectrum and their love of Jesus. One of the things that I want is for Doodle to have her heart so wrapped in The Lord, people will change because of her. That's one of the reason's why I teach her to be a proud freak, a Jesus Freak!

And this is one of the reason's why I do this blog. I want to be able to give help and hope to other parents just like I was given. I am passing it on. I've helped a handful so far and want to continue helping more.

So Brant if you ever happen to run across this blog and see this, Thank you! We would not be so far along in our journey without you. Thank you for helping me as a parent, without even knowing it.

Brant Hansen, Christian Radio D.J.

You can listen to Brant on Way-FM here: http://www.wayfm.com/brant/ 

What's Up Mom's and Autism

So, yeah I'm not a typical mom. Typical in the sense that my child can keep up with developments that other parents get to experience with their kids. Today is a day I'm trying to catch up with laundry. I need laundry done in the worst sort of way but I'm still so drained from the weekend. Doodle had Special Olympics at the private school down the street from her school and I was in attendance.

It was pretty fun. Special Olympics is always fun to go to. So many participants to cheer for. But, I'm not going to talk about Special Olympics today as this time I remembered the camera and took tons of pictures. That blog will be later on in the week or possibly next week. I'm formatting a new schedule for myself this week because I plan on incorporating vlogs soon. So not only will you guys get to read about our lives but you will get to see our lives in action.

Back to needing to do laundry. Like I said I'm pretty exhausted from Friday, an event that Doodle was requested to be at on Saturday and full on autism meltdowns on Sunday. The weekend from you know where. So I opened the iPad and saw that What's Up Mom's posted a new video. I love following What's Up Mom because they have toddlers and raising a child on the spectrum to me is a lot like raising a toddler, for years! This one fudgesicles video lead to another, and another and another and another. 3 hours later I'm at the video of St. Patrick's Day where I then found myself on the Easter hunt. Why does this matter? I'm getting to that.

The episode of St. Patrick's Day where Elle and her daughter Presley create a Leprechaun trap. This video again reminds me that kids love to be included in activities and they love interacting with other kids. What does that mean for my kid? The same that it means for regular kids. We as parents sometimes forget that our kids just want to be treated normally. What better way for them to grow mentally then to be out in public interacting with other people and children. Having things and activities for kids on the spectrum is just as important for their growth. It's therapy/school at home! There is nothing wrong with making your kids feel special.

Thanks again What's Up Mom for the reminder that yeah I can still be an awesome mom, though sometimes I feel like what got stuck on the road that a Mack truck hit. Just so you know What's Up Moms is the video's that help me de-stress from my day. And thankfully they post on Monday's so that pretty much helps me get over the weekends.

Also on a side note I did take pictures of the event Doodle was requested to be at and I will be doing a blog post on that as well. Because yeah, dirty looks and bad kids go hand in hand.

If you want to see what all the "fuss" is about about you can check out their channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/WhatsUpMOMS

What's Up Mom's can be found on youtube.

MercyMe and Autism

So by now the new song Flawless has debuted by MercyMe. Why are they so important you ask? Well, with the new song Flawless they address how the world see's us all with flaws. In the video you will find a little boy who has autism.

I recall the times that people give dirty looks and say things that are harsh to Doodle and sometimes to myself because they don't understand the life that we live. And why should they really? Is it because now more children are being diagnosed with autism. When Doodle was diagnosed on the spectrum the commercial that aired on the radio coming back from her diagnoses was 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism. Now it's 1 in 50 diagnosed on the spectrum.

The numbers are growing larger by the years that pass. But back on subject, the world does see Doodle and others like her as flawed. If that's fair. No, not really. Heck some would have said back in my day I was flawed. With all the piercings in my ears and my bright purple hair that I rocked with confidence because I was the only one in the family who was considered the "black sheep".

Yesterday, I posted about our trip to the Sea Lab. And as I write this post I'm reminded of the mother wearing her church shirt with such pride because the youth is important. Why does she stick out? Because I was praising Doodle for unprompted speech and this woman turned and gave me a dirty look. It's not like Doodle wears a shirt that says I have autism, cheer if you hear speech.

It's the Christian woman that looked down on me with her dirty look that awoke a spark of anger at her. She is a woman in the church why look at me as if I'm the one with some sort of mental issue? I'm proud of the progress and work that my child makes. We thank Jesus for the speech that Doodle has.

And this is where our worlds mimic each other and yet are separate from each other. She and I are both mothers. Her kids were teens or at least one was a pre-teen also known as a tween. We both enjoy time with our families, our loved ones. The whole day at the Sea Lab I loved looking at the mothers working with their children. Where their children were able to take verbal direction, Doodle took a bit to get the directions down. The mothers that looked a little exhausted from the day but were happy with their kids, just as I was. And here I was face to face with a mother who is suppose to be like me. Suppose to be like Christ because she wore it on her shirt. Her son wore his church shirt. Dirty looks aren't suppose to come from "these type of people". And yet they do all the time.

But let me tell you how it was handled. I didn't have a say a word to her. Every time she made eye contact with me I would smile. Maybe she was tired of being there. With so many people and so many activities you have those parents who brave so much for their kids to have what they want. To be treated normal like every other kid. I'm not going to deny my child because of dirty looks. They are just as much a part of my day as breathing is apart of my day.

And sometimes "Christians" need to be reminded that church doesn't end when the service is over. Church doesn't end for us at all. We are the walking church. We are to share the love of Christ at every chance we get. Maybe my smile will get through to her. Maybe my words of great speech I'm so proud of you! will strike a cord and she will realize that what she thinks is a flaw is actually flawless.

And for those who want to think of Doodle and myself as freaks. We fly that flag high! We are Jesus Freaks, loud and proud. Jesus loves that mother with the dirty looks just like he loves me and all my flawless glory. Because we are saved by the blood that he shed on the cross. He died for her and he died for me. And for that I am eternally grateful. I'm too meek to bust out a throat punch or a nasty word to her. I just want to say that I'm am sorry that she was having a bad day. And I am truly grateful to the parents who understood us. Who treated Doodle like a normal child. Gave her and I smiles and not dirty looks. There are far more people out there like that then their are dirty looks.

If you want to see the video Flawless by MercyMe check it out here. flawless. http://www.wayfm.com/content/music/be-the-first-to-see-the-new-mercyme-video-flawless/

Have a great day guys! Love you all!!!

An older picture of Doodle being silly.

Sea Lab fun. The line with the dirty looks

Azalea Trail Maids, the beach and Autism

I will admit I'm not one of those parents that takes endless photo's of their child. Bringing a camera everywhere I go is not something that I'm known for. You will find that I carry a small little notebook everywhere I go. I have to take notes when an idea hits me. But as for a camera, not gonna happen. So while on Spring Break I did not get that much of a documentation of Doodle having fun. I did however remember to bring my camera with me when we went to the Sea Lab at the beach. It was a good drive from where we live but it's worth it. Doodle loves the water. Most children on the spectrum are obsessed with water. Officers are now being trained that if a child on the spectrum has come up missing the first place they are to look is near the closest body of water.

I've had help with teaching Doodle to only go near water with myself or the person she is with if she's near it. That would be the training of her teacher from last year. Her teacher and her para educator are my miracle workers. Doodle would not be where she is today without them.

And just for clarification I got to use my camera a few times before it died. Yeah, did I mention I'm not one of those parents that carries their camera around everywhere they go? And with that being said, it's no surprise that the battery died. And by the time I remembered that I had the iPad with me our day was almost done. So enjoy the small bit of pictures that I took. I won't burden you with the multiple pictures that I took and just leave you guys with some of the singles, maybe a few multiples. But not all 42 of them.

And as I write this blog, I have just posted the one that will be yesterday's news, on my tsu account the blog is getting a lot of interest. It's taken a lot for me to even consider to share pictures of Doodle. Autism Dad won't share pictures of his son's face. Momma Fry I don't ever recall seeing a picture of her son. The reason that I am sharing what I am sharing is a way to say, they may have autism but it will be okay. Life will get easier. The first three years of diagnoses are always the hardest because you don't know what to do or how to go about getting the help you need or what type help you want.

We headed to the Sea Lab where education about our environment is key to taking care of where we live. The thing that caught Doodle's eyes and my own were the Azalea Trail Maids. By the time we got up to where they were only one remained. It was really crowded on Saturday. I was excited to have Doodle take her picture with this young lady and very thankful that she stayed in this area, though the dress must have been unbearable as the sun was bright but the weather was a little chilly. By afternoon I knew these young women would be sweating up a storm.

Enough rambling on with the pictures, cause I have so much work piled up due to Doodle being on Spring break I wasn't able to get anything done.

Our ride headed to the beach. The water was beautiful and the weather was a little chilly.

Doodles' first time seeing an Azalea Trail Maid. The pride of my hometown.

The fish that were just as curious of us as we were of them.

Can you see the frog that was so curious of Doodle it jumped out of the water it was in?

Kermit has nothing on this smart little frog. He wanted a closer look at Doodle.

Here is the toad in the same enclosure as the frog 

These are the fish you will find in the Bay.

The very last picture I got before the battery died on my camera. Sea horses! Doodle's favorite.

From here the images are out of order but I don't think you will mind too much.

We live in a town where fishing is a way of life. So it makes sense that this fishing net is part of the playground.

This is a boat that was found after one of the hurricanes that hit this area.

On the playground. Doodle insisted I take a picture.

Kids get to play on a small version of a fishing boat.

Doodle enjoyed playing with the ROV. It was one of the things that she really enjoyed. Other then the crafts and I did not remember that I had the iPad at the time of the crafts.

It was after she had a plain Jane hotdog and into her chocolate chip cookies that I remembered that I had the iPad with me and I could continue to take photos.

I got a picture of her on a buoy, she was very curious of it after she saw about 5 kids climbing up on it. So what better time for her to have a photo opportunity.

It's not the same if you got your picture while on a cannon and you don't have a picture with your kid on a piece of history.

By the afternoon the chilly day was gone and we got to really enjoy the beach.

This picture was taken before the other one. Had to do a retake because, well, it's the water in the background that shows our day. And yeah my head is cropped because it's hard to see the screen with the sun being so bright.

Hope you guys enjoyed a little look into our lives. Have a great day!