Hello everyone! Apparently I have the steady few who are still checking me out. Thank you so much. I hope I am being a help in some way.
My first blogs were about my son's life in the past. This one is going to be about the present and the main reason why I started this blog. My son is finishing up his last days in high school and will be beginning the transition phase of his education. I am a novice at this, as many of you are, so I started doing some research in order to be prepared for his up coming IEP.
The first place I went was to www.myautismteam.com. This is a wonderful site similar to facebook but strictly for those dealing with autism. I posted a request for any one who had been through a transition before. No one had, but a wonderful person who goes by Snowy Flamingo gave me a general run down of what should happen. That jogged my memory to an IEP meeting two years ago. His teacher said they would slowly get him used to vocational training. That he would have a job coach and be in school until he was 21 years old. The year following this meeting he had some vocational training. This year he was to have more, but he did not. Did they break any laws? I got curious.
My next stop was www.idea.ed.gov. IDEA stands for the Individuals With Disabilites Education Act. This is the federal laws they have to follow. I learned that Part C is for ages birth to age 2. These are laws regarding early intervention services. Part B is for ages 3 to 21. It is very vague and wasn't very reassuring. It starts off saying that everyone is entitled to a free, appropriate public education. It also said that the local educational agency shall provide a summary of academic acheivements, etc., etc. In otherwords an IEP. No later than age 16 the IEP should start addressing 1. appropriate measurable post secondary goals. 2. Transitional services needed to achieve those goals. 3. Beginning not later than one year before the child reaches the age of majority, a statement that the child has been informed of his rights under Part B.....blah, blah, blah.
Then it became interesting. There are state-level funds available for the development and implementation of transitional programs. Are they sure, in this economy? Really? Then the bomb shell hit. The Local Educational Agency must invite an agency to the IEP meeting but if they don't show up the Local Educational Agency isn't required to obtain participation of an agency in the planning of the transitional services. WHAT??? If I understand this correctly, that if the agency that is supposed to come to my son's IEP next week doesn't show, they are not required to find him another agency??? He is 18, almost 19. What's he supposed to do between now and when he is 21 and becomes eligible for other services? Hopefully all will go well and I am freaking out over nothing. My state also has their own rules regarding transitional services. I'll let you know how it all goes. Oh, and even though I am unhappy and feel very unprepared, his school didn't break any laws. Vocational training starts now. The last two years were to be the icing on the cake.
My nerves are shot. I have laws running around my head. I need a break. I give you the simplest recipe that I know. My heritage is English, Irish and Scottish. I saw in the library a cook book titled Cooking The English Way by Barbara W. Hill. I bought it home. The English have enough good recipes to fill a cookbook??? The answer was yes, and this is the one I wrote down. It's for shortbread. It's simple and plain. Perfect for any autistic child. I even knew a child who had issues with eggs who used this recipe. Martha Stewart will give you a list of things to add in if you want, but I like it plain. It's good with fruit, ice cream or hot chocolate to name a few things. Here's the recipe.
1 stick softened unsalted butter (I use regular butter.)
3 tablespoons superfine sugar (I use regular sugar.)
1 cup flour
1. Grease your cookie sheet.
2. Combine the ingredients in order given. It may have a crumb like consistency. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead gently until it forms a smooth dough. (or until stress is relived!)
3. Form dough into a 6 inch circle, about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to cookie sheet. Prick surface of dough lightly with a fork. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. (You can cover it and leave it in the frig for longer.)
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes or until edges start to turn light brown.
5. Cut bread into 8 triangles and let cool.
Shortbread is somewhat crumbly. Underdone is better than overdone.
Hugs to you all. I hope your day hasn't been too hard on you.
Nancy
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! My son totally ignored it but the rest of the family made sure I had a great few days!
First off, I'd like to thank all of you for checking out my blog. It's close to 100 views already! There are apparently many of us needing hugs and willing to give out hugs. I'm glad we are finding each other.
My son was born in 1993. According to the CDC, in 1994 the rate of autism was 6.6 in 1,000 or about 1 in 150 children. Between then and 2003, diagnoses increased by over 800%. There are many more now than back when I was getting started with my son. When I left the doctor's office with my son's diagnosis, I had in my hand a large manilla envelope filled with the current articles of the day about autism. I was told to read them, to learn about autism. (Autism Speaks wouldn't be around until 2005.) It was a very lonely time. I had a friend who had worked in a home with autistic young men who never answered the letter I sent her asking for support. My sister, my only sibling, cut off contact with me. Then I got pregnant again.
We were living in a very rural area at this time. After the baby was born and we knew that she too would need special supports we decided to move back to the east coast where we could get the support they both needed. The one good thing we learned before we moved was that my son did not have Fragile X. Once here, we found the supports we needed. Early intervention programs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are quite good. Bradley Hospital in East Providence was really wonderful. When our son wasn't potty training and he was nearly 5 years old we turned to them. After some wonderful discussions that made us feel for the first time that we were good parents, they taught us how to train him. We used a reward system. He loved matchbox cars. We let him pick out a new one and then told him he could only have it while he was successfully on the potty. It worked! I won't go into how many cars we had to get out of the toilet after being partially flushed! My poor husband could have got a job as a plumber after all that!
I realize now that we were very lucky that he potty trained as easily as he did. If you are having a particularly hard time with it, I urge you to see a professional as we did. Also, there is a wonderful blog at www.autism-daddy.blogspot.com. This wonderful family has a son who has severe autism and is nonverbal. They are on their third time with potty training and it is successful this time! The dad wrote a great blog about it that you may find supportive. He is also on facebook and twitter.
This week I got the letter for my son's next IEP meeting. I noticed this time it is at the Special Ed office and not at his school. Also, the organization that will help us deal with his transition out of high school will be there. I'm so nervous! Please keep us in your minds on June 4th! I really hope the end of his education goes as well as the beginning of it did. On the news here this morning they said that 7 years after high school 1/3 of autistic adults do not have a high school diploma or a job. I didn't hear whether that was for here or nationwide.
Time for a treat! This is one of my favorite cookies. I found the recipe on the back of a package of Stop and Shop semi-sweet morsels. My son was not a chocolate fan when he was young. It was like he knew he couldn't handle all the sugar. As he got older it became part of his diet, though he still prefers a plain cookie. I have cut back on the brown sugar and the salt.
Chocolate Chip Cookies makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter (two sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
dash of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful vanilla
1 teaspoonful baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
chocolate chips
All you have to do is add the ingredients as they are listed. Hand mix the chips in, as many as you like. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. It takes about 10 minutes for them to get golden around the edges. These are super yummy and quite sweet. I suggest you stash them away to reward yourself after a bad day!
Keep smiling and hugs to you all!
Nancy
First off, I'd like to thank all of you for checking out my blog. It's close to 100 views already! There are apparently many of us needing hugs and willing to give out hugs. I'm glad we are finding each other.
My son was born in 1993. According to the CDC, in 1994 the rate of autism was 6.6 in 1,000 or about 1 in 150 children. Between then and 2003, diagnoses increased by over 800%. There are many more now than back when I was getting started with my son. When I left the doctor's office with my son's diagnosis, I had in my hand a large manilla envelope filled with the current articles of the day about autism. I was told to read them, to learn about autism. (Autism Speaks wouldn't be around until 2005.) It was a very lonely time. I had a friend who had worked in a home with autistic young men who never answered the letter I sent her asking for support. My sister, my only sibling, cut off contact with me. Then I got pregnant again.
We were living in a very rural area at this time. After the baby was born and we knew that she too would need special supports we decided to move back to the east coast where we could get the support they both needed. The one good thing we learned before we moved was that my son did not have Fragile X. Once here, we found the supports we needed. Early intervention programs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island are quite good. Bradley Hospital in East Providence was really wonderful. When our son wasn't potty training and he was nearly 5 years old we turned to them. After some wonderful discussions that made us feel for the first time that we were good parents, they taught us how to train him. We used a reward system. He loved matchbox cars. We let him pick out a new one and then told him he could only have it while he was successfully on the potty. It worked! I won't go into how many cars we had to get out of the toilet after being partially flushed! My poor husband could have got a job as a plumber after all that!
I realize now that we were very lucky that he potty trained as easily as he did. If you are having a particularly hard time with it, I urge you to see a professional as we did. Also, there is a wonderful blog at www.autism-daddy.blogspot.com. This wonderful family has a son who has severe autism and is nonverbal. They are on their third time with potty training and it is successful this time! The dad wrote a great blog about it that you may find supportive. He is also on facebook and twitter.
This week I got the letter for my son's next IEP meeting. I noticed this time it is at the Special Ed office and not at his school. Also, the organization that will help us deal with his transition out of high school will be there. I'm so nervous! Please keep us in your minds on June 4th! I really hope the end of his education goes as well as the beginning of it did. On the news here this morning they said that 7 years after high school 1/3 of autistic adults do not have a high school diploma or a job. I didn't hear whether that was for here or nationwide.
Time for a treat! This is one of my favorite cookies. I found the recipe on the back of a package of Stop and Shop semi-sweet morsels. My son was not a chocolate fan when he was young. It was like he knew he couldn't handle all the sugar. As he got older it became part of his diet, though he still prefers a plain cookie. I have cut back on the brown sugar and the salt.
Chocolate Chip Cookies makes about 3 dozen
Ingredients:
1 cup softened butter (two sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
dash of salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoonful vanilla
1 teaspoonful baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
chocolate chips
All you have to do is add the ingredients as they are listed. Hand mix the chips in, as many as you like. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. It takes about 10 minutes for them to get golden around the edges. These are super yummy and quite sweet. I suggest you stash them away to reward yourself after a bad day!
Keep smiling and hugs to you all!
Nancy
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sugar Cookies
My son was three years old when we received his diagnosis of Autism. To say I was shocked was an understatement. His doctor said his social skills were below his peers when he was about one and a half, but I had no idea we were heading in this direction. They told us he might never speak and that he may be sensitive to touch. He tolerated me holding him and even rocking him in my arms. I determined to do this every day so that he would stay used to it. His early intervention classes through his public school began.
A year later Child C was born. We had moved to a place with an inviting convenient store at the end of the road. My son began to wander out of the house when I was busy with the baby. We had to put a hook way up on the doors to keep him in.
A few months later we moved to another state. Now we lived in a second floor apartment. My son's wandering came to an end. Instead, now he would run from one end of the apartment to the other. He would make noises and stim with whatever toy he had in his hands. We were told he was motor obsessive. Also about this time is when I noticed that his senses seemed to be going on overload. We know now that an autistic person can have too many connections in his brain. With too many signals being triggered, the person gets overloaded very easily. My son would say the TV was too loud in the morning and then ask us to turn it up at night. He couldn't stand to be dressed. As soon as he came home from school, off would go all his clothes but his underwear. Thank goodness! He never looked up. He preferred to look down at the carpet when he moved around. His appetite was very plain, mostly white colored foods of one texture.
We were able to overcome some of this. The first thing I did was to take down every thing that was up on our walls in the main rooms and his bedroom. This had an amazing impact. His running incidents decreased. He started keeping his clothes on, Well, he takes his shoes off to this day, but at least he stays dressed. He started to look up and around more. He began to give occasional eye contact. I also kept the house very clean and as neat as possible. The least amount of clutter, the better it seemed for him. Yes, my son has turned me into a neat freak now. I can think of worse things.
With my son less stimulated by his environment we were able to connect with him more. His teacher said to keep talking to him like a normal child. That even though he wouldn't respond or acknowledge, he was listening. He taught us to place our hand along the side of his face and gently lift it until he was looking at us for important things. Mostly I just talked to him and then would ask if he heard me and understood. I would get a shake of the head or an uh huh in response if I was lucky.
When I look back on these days, 14 years ago, the food I associate with him the most is buttered toast with cinnamon/sugar sprinkled on top. He ate it daily. Another favorite was sugar cookies. Chewy, soft sugar cookies. Here's the recipe I still use. I have no idea now where I found it originally.
1/2 cup butter (that's 1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 dash of salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cups of flour
Make sure the butter is softened. I use butter because I think it makes things taste so much better. Start with the butter and add ingredients as you go down the list. It makes a fairly soft dough that you scoop out in teaspoonfuls. Place them two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Oven should be 350 degrees. They take ten to twelve minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden. Recently we started to sprinkle our old friend cinnamon/sugar on them before baking. So yummy!
I hope at the very least you feel less alone now. I hope I was able to give you some ideas to try with your child. Make the sugar cookies! They are plain, and one texture. Your child should like them.
Next post will be about potty training and a shortbread recipe. Until then, take a deep breath and give yourself a hug! Nancy
A year later Child C was born. We had moved to a place with an inviting convenient store at the end of the road. My son began to wander out of the house when I was busy with the baby. We had to put a hook way up on the doors to keep him in.
A few months later we moved to another state. Now we lived in a second floor apartment. My son's wandering came to an end. Instead, now he would run from one end of the apartment to the other. He would make noises and stim with whatever toy he had in his hands. We were told he was motor obsessive. Also about this time is when I noticed that his senses seemed to be going on overload. We know now that an autistic person can have too many connections in his brain. With too many signals being triggered, the person gets overloaded very easily. My son would say the TV was too loud in the morning and then ask us to turn it up at night. He couldn't stand to be dressed. As soon as he came home from school, off would go all his clothes but his underwear. Thank goodness! He never looked up. He preferred to look down at the carpet when he moved around. His appetite was very plain, mostly white colored foods of one texture.
We were able to overcome some of this. The first thing I did was to take down every thing that was up on our walls in the main rooms and his bedroom. This had an amazing impact. His running incidents decreased. He started keeping his clothes on, Well, he takes his shoes off to this day, but at least he stays dressed. He started to look up and around more. He began to give occasional eye contact. I also kept the house very clean and as neat as possible. The least amount of clutter, the better it seemed for him. Yes, my son has turned me into a neat freak now. I can think of worse things.
With my son less stimulated by his environment we were able to connect with him more. His teacher said to keep talking to him like a normal child. That even though he wouldn't respond or acknowledge, he was listening. He taught us to place our hand along the side of his face and gently lift it until he was looking at us for important things. Mostly I just talked to him and then would ask if he heard me and understood. I would get a shake of the head or an uh huh in response if I was lucky.
When I look back on these days, 14 years ago, the food I associate with him the most is buttered toast with cinnamon/sugar sprinkled on top. He ate it daily. Another favorite was sugar cookies. Chewy, soft sugar cookies. Here's the recipe I still use. I have no idea now where I found it originally.
1/2 cup butter (that's 1 stick)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 dash of salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/3 cups of flour
Make sure the butter is softened. I use butter because I think it makes things taste so much better. Start with the butter and add ingredients as you go down the list. It makes a fairly soft dough that you scoop out in teaspoonfuls. Place them two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Oven should be 350 degrees. They take ten to twelve minutes or until the edges begin to turn golden. Recently we started to sprinkle our old friend cinnamon/sugar on them before baking. So yummy!
I hope at the very least you feel less alone now. I hope I was able to give you some ideas to try with your child. Make the sugar cookies! They are plain, and one texture. Your child should like them.
Next post will be about potty training and a shortbread recipe. Until then, take a deep breath and give yourself a hug! Nancy
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Still setting things up!
Hi all! I'm finding that posting comments on here may be difficult? I'm going to try to link this up with a facebook page in the hopes of making this easier. I don't know how to make a facebook page for my blog but I have messages out to two people who do. So stay tuned!
In the meantime, enjoy your weekend. I just made some oatmeal cookies for church tomorrow. Yes, I'll be posting that recipe at some point. So long as I leave the raisins out, my son will eat them.
I'm also going to be watching the run for the roses later today. I just love horses and the Kentucky Derby! I've been watching it since I was a little girl with my mom.
Alright, I'm done for now. I promise to write a true blog before this next week is done. I'm just hoping to make this the best blog possible before I get started.
Nancy
In the meantime, enjoy your weekend. I just made some oatmeal cookies for church tomorrow. Yes, I'll be posting that recipe at some point. So long as I leave the raisins out, my son will eat them.
I'm also going to be watching the run for the roses later today. I just love horses and the Kentucky Derby! I've been watching it since I was a little girl with my mom.
Alright, I'm done for now. I promise to write a true blog before this next week is done. I'm just hoping to make this the best blog possible before I get started.
Nancy
Friday, May 4, 2012
My Very First Post
Welcome everyone to Autism and Cooking! I'm not a professional writer. I'm not a doctor or a psychiatrist. What I am is a mom of three children/young adults. My oldest, child A, is 22 and is neurotypical. Child B, my son, is 18 and has mild to moderate autism. To me he is more moderate than mild. Child C, is 15 and has ADD (attention deficit disorder) and some pretty severe learning disorders. My husband has his own set of issues. Since Child C was born we have been a low income type of family. We tried having my husband work days and I would work evenings. That worked out well when the kids were small. Eleven, almost twelve years ago, I became a stay at home mom. It's been great as far as managing the kids, but bad financially. Coming up in the next twelve months I am going to try to find a job. Yeah, I know, good luck to me in this economy. Also, Child B will be finishing his high school years and transitioning into the unknown at this point. Feel free to come along for the ride. It should be interesting!
My release from my world of autism and special ed is to bake. My family loves cookies and I bake them quite often. I plan to include some of my son's favorites in my posts. I would also love to hear what your children like to eat and how you get them to eat it. Let's share and see if we can get our picky eaters to eat better!
Well, that's it for now. I look forward to your input and feedback about this new blog of mine. If you want a decent drop sugar cookie recipe stay tuned for my next blog! Until then, try and keep a smile on your face! Nancy
My release from my world of autism and special ed is to bake. My family loves cookies and I bake them quite often. I plan to include some of my son's favorites in my posts. I would also love to hear what your children like to eat and how you get them to eat it. Let's share and see if we can get our picky eaters to eat better!
Well, that's it for now. I look forward to your input and feedback about this new blog of mine. If you want a decent drop sugar cookie recipe stay tuned for my next blog! Until then, try and keep a smile on your face! Nancy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)