My son wants to vote?!

      Hello everyone!  I hope everyone has had a very busy and productive month.  I have noticed that for me it does take about that long for me to come up with something informative and interesting to write about and hopefully you will find this interesting and informative! 
       Most recently I have been blogging about my daughter and her IEP meeting and the results from that.  I'm going to have to say that it is a slow process now.  I never heard from her English teacher about this years books, so I could try and get them in large print.  Instead, when the first book came home, I took turns reading it aloud with her.  I guess it was a success because  this morning she told me of a book club that they have at the school library!  This from the girl who would never willingly read a novel on her own!  We shall see how this developes.
       As for my son, we attended his school's open house about two weeks ago.  We were able to meet with his teacher and get a quick run down of the year.  We are supposed to have a "real" meeting sometime this month, but I haven't heard anything yet.  I really hate having to nag their teachers to follow up on what they say they are going to do.
       As far as I am concerned, I have something that I am accomplishing this month.  I am a woman over fifty who has high blood pressure.  It stays under control with medication, but I do get seen twice a year by the doctor to make sure everything is good.  I think one of the most important things we can do for our children is to take care of ourselves.   We need to be around as long as possible, as healthy as possible, for them.  With that in mind and also because my mom died of breast cancer, I get my yearly mammograms.  They are easy, not that uncomfortable, and you can usually find a source that will do it for free if you don't have insurance.  I urge all you ladies out there to take care of yourself.  That said, that is not what I am having done this month.  This month I am finally giving in to doctors orders and having a colonoscopy.  In the United States it is recommended to have one once you reach the age of fifty.  I am fifty-three, so the doctors have been after me for the past two years to get it done.  I have finally run out of excuses, I mean who really wants to have one of these?!  So off I will go on October 31st to make sure my insides are healthy.  I keep telling myself that I am doing it for my kids.  I am keeping myself healthy for my kids.  I'll let you all know what it was like.  According to the folks that I graduated high school with (we have a facebook page) it isn't too. too bad.  I'm glad I have them rooting me on!
      As you noticed by my the title of this post, my son has expressed an interest in voting this year.  For those of you not from the United States,( and I know you are there and I am amazed!) we are having a big election on November 6th.  Not only do we get to vote for our local officials, but it is a presidential election year as well.  All the cities and towns have been checking their voter registration lists and sending out update/registration forms for the  people.  I got one in the mail about a month ago.  It dawned on me that my son is 19 and could vote if he wanted.  I asked him and he surprised me by saying yes.  So we filled out the form and I am proud to say that my son is a registered voter now!  That done, the political education of my son and as a result, all of us, has begun.  It's been an interesting time.  We have gone over again how our local government works and who is up for reelection.  We are listening to all the presidential debates for the first time ever.  He even wants to watch the vice presidential debate tonight, that I was going to skip!  I am so proud of my son wanting to be informed and asking all the questions that he is asking.  He is teaching all of us here how to be better citizens.  I hope all of you from the United States of America join me and my family by going out to vote on November 6th. 
      It's autumn here, the leaves are turning beautiful colors and all kinds of apples are in the stores!  I love the aromatic smells of ginger bread, pumpkin pie and all things apple!  It just makes the house smell good!  Here's a recipe I made from two recipes to get the flavor I like.  Enjoy!
APPLE OATMEAL CRISP
7 medium apples, cored,peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter
Directions-
!. In a 1 1/2 quart baking dish toss apples with lemon juice.  This is so they don't turn brown in the air.  I usually skip this and just coat them quickly with 1/2 cup brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of flour.  Toss and coat throughly.
2. In a small bowl combine oats, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cut in butter until it looks like course crumbs.  Sprinkle over apples.
3. Bake in an oven set at 425, 30 to 35 minutes, until the apples are softened and the topping slightly brown.

It's sooo good!  Oh!  Almost forgot- Happy Halloween!  I hope you are able to enjoy the holiday at some level with your kids.  My son only wore a costume once.  We just said he came as himself!  I also read recently that the sound of the crunching leaves under feet can bother those with sensitivity issues.  Another good reason to keep the leaves raked off your walkways!  I'd love to hear how you celebrate.  Do you go around the neighborhood?  Do you do a family party at home?  My church throws a chowder and chili cook-off followed by a trunk or treat.  That means we decorate the trunks of our cars and hand out goodies from there!  It's a safe, fun way to celebrate!  Last year it rained, so we moved into the classrooms to hand out the candy.  It worked out great.  Love and hugs to you all!
                                                                                     Nancy

The joy of advocates, IEPs and baked apples!

      What a busy September it has been with school starting for all three of my children.  The oldest is in her last year of college, and thankfully doesn't need any help from mom and dad.  We keep a roof over head, provide moral support and stay available for daily chats.  That is all the support she needs.
       My autistic son is in his last year of high school.  We had to deal with transportation issues with him,as the bus system had him listed as graduated.  It took two days to straighten out, but he's all set now.  I still don't know what his class schedule is this year and that is next on my to do list.  I've had to direct all my attention to my third child so far this school year.
       Child number three, my daughter with ADD and learning disabilities, is beginning her sophomore year in high school.  We didn't know what her schedule was going to be either.  I went to school the first day of school to see her schedule and make sure it was appropriate.  It all looked fine to me.  Last week I get the call to do her IEP.  I went on Friday and only her math teacher/case manager was there.  He was flipping out and saying maybe she should be in a different school.  So I let him get everything off his chest and said I wanted to schedule another IEP meeting with all the people who were supposed to be there actually there.  It was scheduled for this morning.  When you have an IEP meeting, your children's teachers should be there; OT, PT, and Speech teachers should be there; the school psychiatrist or social worker should be there and finally a representative from the SpEd dept of the school system should be there.  Over the weekend I contacted a couple that I know from my church who have two, grown, handicapped sons.  The husband is a retired judge and knows all the legal information. The wife has been involved with an agency that deals with handicapped adults for years.  They offered to come with me today for the next IEP meeting.  They had me call the school first thing this morning to let them know I was bringing advocates with me.  I'm here to tell you that everyone showed up for this meeting!  What a difference!  It turned out that my advocates have known the school dept. representative for years.  We all had a great conversation about my daughter, her strengths and weaknesses.  My advocates were so helpful in asking the right questions and also providing some great information on some services as well.  There will be some testing to see if she qualifies for any visual technology.  The math teacher was calmed down and actually admitted that she did really well on a quiz last Friday.  I am so, so glad that I bought advocates with me this time.  I have always gone by myself to IEP meetings.  I won't be going alone any more.  You get more respect and consequently more results if you have an advocate with you.  It's nice to feel like I did my all for my daughter today. 
         BAKED APPLES and fall, they just seem to go together.  I love going to the farmer's market and smelling all the fresh picked apples.  My son loves apple juice and apple sauce.  It seemed a natural to try him on other apple treats.  The easiest is the baked apple.  I use a recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  I'm not sure that I can print it so I'll just say that it uses apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisins and a little bit of water or apple juice for the apples to sit in.  I'm sure there is a cooking site that has their own version that you can find.  My son doesn't like cooked raisins and the wrinkly brown skin was a turn off.  However, once I scraped the apple out of the skin, he was fine with it.  Future blogs will have my very own apple crisp recipe and a recipe for apple sauce spice cake.  My son and all my family love both of these, plus they make the kitchen smell so good!  So stay tuned.  I hope you enjoy your fall and all the wonderful produce that will be out there!  Hugs to all of you!
                                                                                   Nancy

Some good information

      Hi everyone!  This is just a quick post to give you all some interesting information that passed my way today.  Going through my emails I found the recent Autism Speaks blog.  I read them to keep up on the latest news about autism.  I've read a lot of negative things about Autism Speaks recently on facebook, but I find them informative and I appreciate the research that they fund.  Any way, todays blog had an article entitled Finding Credible Autism Research.  They listed many places to look using many types of media. I wish I had a list like this 16 years ago when my son was first diagnosed!  All I got was a manila envelope with copies of a few articles in it from the Developmental Pediatrician that we saw! The world knows so much more about autism now than it did back then.  I'm so glad the information is getting easier to find. You can go to the Autism Speaks/blog web site to read it or my facebook page Autism and Cooking.  I have posted it there. 
       I hope you are all enjoying your weekend.  We've had glorious weather so far.  Today was warm, with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  A perfect day by my standards.  I got out for a walk with my daughter and soaked it all in. Hugs to you all!
                                                Nancy

Sensitivities and school

      For at least the first three years of my son's elementary school years, this is how he looked as soon as he came home off the bus.  Off would come the shoes and socks, quickly followed by the pants or shorts.  Why?  In short, he was extremely over-sensitive to many things.  In my first real blog I talked about how we had to deal with this at home.  With school, the list of things increased. 
      He would only wear certain sneakers.  The ones that would stay on his feet at the store, were the ones that we bought.  Socks had to have the seams running across the top of the toes, not on the ends and sometimes had to be turned inside out.  To this day, he will not wear jeans.  He wears sweat pants because they fit snugly around his waist without the use of a belt.  He will wear a light weight dress pant.  I truly hope that the person who came up with the idea of printing labels on t-shirts, instead of sewing a label on, is a very rich person now.  What a wonderful thing that is!
      So now let's say you actually manage to get your child dressed for school.  You get him to school.  He likes  the school and seems to like his teacher.  Does he/she have a melt down after being there for awhile after initially seeming happy?  I read an article that said that even the pitch, volume or timbre of a new voice in class can set some kids off.  Was there a fire drill that day?  Those loud noises can really be jarring to our kids.  Suggest to the teacher to be warned way ahead of time.  That way they can practice, and parents can make the choice to keep their child home that day if necessary.   Did the melt down occur during gym?  Some children have a hard time with the whistle that gym teacher's blow to get the children's attention.  Suggest to the teacher to give your child a warning before he/she blows the whistle or come up with another method to get everyone's attention.  Some children don't like to feel hot or sweaty.  They may need frequent breaks.
       Some children are over-sensitive to odors.  We have had this problem at our house.  Some children can react to a smell 1 to 3 hours later after smelling it.  Here is a list of things to watch out for: perfumes, soaps, lotions, deodorants, hairsprays, air fresheners, gases from things like new rugs, plastics, rubber, paints, and paint thinners.  Children with a runny nose like allergies or itchy skin may be suffering from these kind of things.  I must say that my son's elementary school teachers were very good about this.  They never wore perfume or anything with an odor.  Windows were open as much as possible.  The floors were linoleum except for a small rug in the reading area.  Speak with your child's teacher if you think the room needs improvements and suggest ideas.  Don't just complain. 
       As far as the home scene, my eldest daughter loves all things smelly!  I felt that I could not restrict her in these things, but she is made to keep it to a minimum and to always have her bedroom window open as she is spraying.  I also have an air purifier in my bedroom so we have a "clean" room to go to if someone needs a break from a particular odor. All I can say is that it works for us.  My children also happen to suffer at times from seasonal allergies.  Claritin is a staple in our medicine cabinet when needed.  Always talk to your children's doctor before giving them a new over the counter medicine.
       School starts for us tomorrow.  I truly hope you all have a smooth transition back to or starting school.  I have found that there is always something to be dealt with every year with both of my SpEd kids.  This year my son wasn't put on the list to get a bus to school.  Not sure how long that is going to take to fix or how I'm going to get him to school in the meantime.  My daughter?  She isn't going to get her schedule until she walks into the door of school this year.  Her IEP is in the fall, so we have no idea what she is taking, with whom or if it is even appropriate for her.  I'll be walking with her to school to find out what is what. 
      I do have an after school snack idea for you- corn bread.  It's plain and simple.  I buy  the cheap corn muffin/bread mix that comes in the little boxes for about a dollar.  I stock up when they are on sale.  My son loves it warm from the oven!  It can be crumbly, so try to not over bake it. 
      My best to all of you.  As always, I hope I have helped someone if only in a little way.  Hugs to you all!
                                                     Nancy

Transitioning to a new school

     As a mother of three, I have gone through my fair share of transitions to new schools.  I've seen lots of posts on this topic and thought I would add my voice as well.
     To me the work of transitioning begins in the spring.  The schools here hold open houses in the spring and I went to them all.  I talked to the principal, the teachers, poked my nose into the  classrooms.  I made sure I got a good feel of the school before choosing it as my child's new school.
     With school just two weeks away, we are backing up our bedtime.  I saw a recommendation of backing up 15 minutes at a time.  You should get them (and yourself!) up earlier too.  I know, I hate getting up early!  During the summer I usually sleep until around 9am.  School days require me to be up at 6:30. Ugh!  Time for me to get ready.  Luckily my son is a natural early riser! 
      Prepare a one page brief about your child's disability and the assistance they will be needing.  Include allergies and any safety precautions.  Their old teacher will be sending their folder of information along, but it takes time to get to the new school.  Also, teachers just don't have the time to read through the mountains of paper that are usually there except during IEP meetings. Sorry, but that's the truth.
      Attend any and all orientation events.  Renew relationships started during the open house.  Again, talk with the principal, head of Special Ed., the school nurse and the teacher.  You can say something like " I'm so excited that Bobby will be attending your school!  We chose this school because....I think Bobby will be happy here because......I look forward to working with you.
       If for some reason your school doesn't do an open house or orientation, you could write a social story.  I'd also do a drive  by the school.  Let them get out and walk around a bit in the school yard.  Anything to make it more familiar to them. If they are going to go by bus for the first time, go to the bus yard.  Let them see and touch a bus.  Remember how visual our kids are.  Anything they can see, touch, hear will help them adjust to the school.
       I'd let them ride the bus the very first day.  Meet them at the school with lots of praise. Then take them in to meet the new teacher.  Of course, if  your child is older you may not have to go through all this.
       My last bit of advice is once you are certain your child is safe at school, that all their accommodations are being met, and they seem happy there--it's time to leave.  It took two weeks of going back and forth to get my daughter settled in middle school and just as long last year for high school.  Maybe your child will be all set the first day of school.  I certainly hope so!  It's a skill to learn from someone other than your parent and our kids need that.  They need to stand on their own two feet in a safe environment without you hovering once all the kinks are worked out.  Cutting the apron strings, as it used to be called, is good for you and them.  Go home, enjoy the quiet, watch your favorite soap and bake a batch of cookies for after school!!
       Enjoy these last two weeks with your children!  We still have a trip to the beach planned and a trip to get soft-served ice cream.  Yumm!
                                                 Nancy 

Teens with Executive Function Disorder « Smart Kids With LD

Teens with Executive Function Disorder « Smart Kids With LD  .  I saw this interesting article on my facebook page and decided to try and share it with you.  I have a daughter with ADD and this looks to me like good information.     Nancy

Shave and a haircut

     Hello everyone!  I've been wanting to write this blog for a long time.  As a matter of fact this is what got me to start blogging in the first place.  When my son was finally able to shave all on his own last year, I had no one to celebrate with.  There was no one I knew, besides his teacher, who would even understand.  I knew I had to find some others like myself and so I started exploring on facebook.  I found many blogs from mothers with young children and finally through them I found some mothers with older children.  It's been quite the journey reaching out to you all.  I don't have many people checking me out.  I don't mind.  I just hope I help the few that do.
      A number of the things that I read are about the trauma of getting our children's haircut.  My experience wasn't any different at first.  We took him to the hairdresser and he didn't even make it to the chair!  He totally wigged out and had to be removed from the store.  I apologized and offered to pay.  The nice young lady replied "Why?  I never got to cut his hair!"  Upon returning home, I informed my son that his hair was going to be getting cut and that I was going to do it.  Now I'm not a professional hairdresser and all I had been doing was trimming my daughter's bangs up to this point, but I knew I had to try.  The result was the "bowl cut" you see above.  It was all I could manage with all his wriggling around. Sometimes it took more that one sitting to accomplish this.  I remember sending him to school with one side of his bangs done once!  I found that by giving him control over how long it took by either stopping for the day if it was real bad, or taking a short break on a good day, he grew to tolerate getting his haircut.  When he was just about to enter middle school, a young lady in my church decided to teach the women in my church how to give a haircut!  I was thrilled!  She taught me how to layer and not be so afraid to whack away at my son's hair!  As I learned and practiced, so my son learned to sit longer and longer for me.  Finally the day came when my husband said that my haircuts just weren't hitting the mark anymore.  It was time for another trip to the hairdresser.  Only we didn't take him to a hairdresser, we took him to this old barber, with his own little shop.  There was only one chair.  The clients were all over fifty and quite compassionate as we struggled to get him adjusted.  It wasn't until he grew big enough to sit in the chair without a pad under him that he finally was able to relax in the chair. Eventually a few years after that I took him to a chain hairdresser for a more "handsome" haircut  than the buzz cut that the barber always gave him.  It's been smooth sailing ever since.
      Of course, by this time my son was starting to grow facial hair.  I thought I had a new nightmare on my hands.  His dad has a mustache and thankfully my son said he'd like one too.  Whew!  That put it off for awhile.  Eventually the night came though that the shaving had to begin.  I made him watch his father and he got all nervous, running around.  As with everything, I had to be the one to do it. He immediately took over putting the shaving cream on.  Yes!  Take control, my son! He put it on a finger full at a time, as if he was fingerpainting his face, but he put it on!  I had to do the shaving. When he had to start shaving every day, he was no where near taking it all over on his own.  We decided to buy an electric razor.  It is somewhat thin like the hand razor he was used to seeing.  I was worried that the buzzing and vibration might bother him.  He did get all wiggly the first time we tried.  The second time, I made him try to do some.  The night he took the razor from my hand and said he would do it, I let out a yell!  I was so excited!  He has been taking care of  his face ever since.  Well, okay, I still get called in to trim his mustache every so often!  Young man has to look good! 
       For today's stress relief, I recommend peanut butter cookies.  If your child likes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he'll probably like these too. A sneaky way to get a wee bit more of protein in!  Have him help by putting the fork marks in!
       Ingredients:
                       1/2 cup butter
                       1/2 cup peanut butter
                       1/2 cup granulated sugar
                       1/2 cup packed, brown sugar
                       1 egg
                       1/2 teaspoon vanilla
                       3/4 teaspoon baking powder
                       1 1/4 cups flour
      Combine ingredients as listed.  Place rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Use a fork to make crisscross marks on dough.  I keep a fork in a mug of water off to the side for this purpose.  The water stops it from sticking to the dough. Bake 375 degrees for 10 minutes or edges start to brown. 
      REMINDER:  Those with nut allergies should avoid these!  Even traces of peanut butter in your mixer later could set someone off, so please be careful!
      This recipe was originally  from a old children's cookbook by Betty Crocker.  I no longer have it, as it was so well worn it fell apart!  Hopefully they won't mind!

      Well, thanks for stopping by.  It's fun to have someone to celebrate the small victories with now!  I hope you are enjoying the last few weeks of summer.  We are going to do a beach trip next week!  Whoo hoo!  I just love the ocean!  Take care.
                                               Nancy