Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Just when I think I am getting ahead I hit a bump in the road!  The day started out great, I was planning to get dinner in the Crockpot (luckily I did), then write an article for Generation Rescue, find an awesome article to share with y’all, clean the house a bit, and then spend some time at the pool with my little man before picking Jaxon up and heading out for haircuts…and then everything changed.

The OB had a mix up with my lab work on Monday so I ended up back in downtown at the doctor’s office today…for four hours (with driving time) and I had to pick Carter up early from school and take him with me!  He was really good for the most part, but it was frustrating to sit and wait and yada yada all over again.  Luckily we got things squared away; I have a couple new meds, and hopefully will be feeling much better by the end of the weekend!  As soon as I got home it was time to take the boys for their haircuts and then spend some family time at the pool.  So here it is 6:30 P.M. and I am finally bringing you a cute picture of my 7 year old, who wasn’t supposed to be able to swim on his own, let alone, try and teach his brother how to swim.  It just goes to show you that Autism doesn’t have to control you or your abilities. 


Enjoy your weekend!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Autism Day 25, wow, the day kind of got away from me.  I awoke at 5:30 to my husband’s blaring alarm only to NOT fall back asleep…I got up and fixed the kids breakfast, made school lunch, showered, and sat in the dark waiting for someone, anyone else to wake up.  After rushing around to make it out the door for Jaxon’s early reading lab, Carter and I went to the car wash and vacuumed out my car and then headed to his appointment with the dentist…his first filling (and hopefully his last).  The afternoon was filled with birthday party supply shopping, lunch (milk shakes for the kid with the numb mouth…and one for mommy too, why not?) then car line followed by speech therapy and homework…whew.  Now that it is time to start dinner I figured I would hop on the computer and post my blog! 

As I was sitting in the waiting room at the dental office I came across this picture and I immediately knew I was going to share this with you today!  I could not have said it any better myself, and I have said each of these things many times since becoming a parent. 

I have said SO many times that putting my children's well-being and happiness is a something I do every day, I don't even have to chose to do it anymore, it is just a given, and they know this!

I have had to teach them hard lessons more times than I would have ever imagined and believe it or not, these lessons are usually harder on me than them...and again, they usually know this by the tears in my eyes and look on my face.

Doing the right thing is a constant struggle for me. Raising a child with Autism comes with so many tough decisions that half of the time I don't know whether I am coming or going...I must keep going anyway. I question every decision, and then question the questions of the decision. Eventually I prove to myself that the decision I made was the right one, or the best one under the circumstances, but it is still very hard.

Forgiveness is probably something I remind myself to do every day. I know that I am doing my best with Jaxon, and I know that I have made countless mistakes with both of my children, but the most important thing to remember is to show forgiveness so that you teach your children how to forgive.

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Today marks 24 days of Autism Awareness.  For those of you raising a child with Autism it is just another day!  For me, it is another day to tell you an amazing story of recovery (in my opinion). 

Last night Jaxon was in a hurry to get his pj’s on so he could climb into my bed and watch Diary of a Wimpy kid (it was on the family channel I believe).  Anyway, he hurried into his room after his shower and flung open his drawer…and pulled it off the track.  For any NORMAL dresser this wouldn’t be a problem, but for Jaxon’s dresser it was…his dresser isn’t designed to come off the track and every time (yes there have been multiple times) he does this my dad has to make a trip to Lowes to get parts to put it back together. 

Trying to keep mommy patience in mind, I mumbled something about respect under my breath, put the drawer back in as best as I could (to now match the other 2 broken drawers) and walked out of his room.  Being the sensitive boy Jaxon is, he got his pj’s on and came to apologize to me.  He sat there and began to ask me to explain RESPECT to him…ahhh, what a moment, I was beyond proud of him.  We discussed respect for the next few minutes and then he went off to watch his movie.  A little while later he brought me the most amazing picture he had drawn me while sitting in bed.  It was a note to show how much he loves and respects me and that he was sorry….talk about melting my heart!  At this point I was so proud of him; so many things came to mind…communication, understanding, comprehension, language, art work, compassion, and empathy…YAY!!!

For those of you in the process of recovering your children, stay patient, keep working hard, and you will eventually get the results that you have hoped for!

Happy Wednesday!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Welcome to Autism Awareness Day 23!!

HEAL! Autism Zoo Walk 2013

This year there were over 1000 participants at the 5th Annual HEAL! Autism walk and we raised over $50,000! Together, with the Jacksonville Jaguar football team and cheerleaders, we had a blast.  It was easy going and when my son had a melt down due to the noisy monkeys, no one looked at us like we were weird or like my son was out of control. The boys and their Aunt Cathy, as well as a speech therapist from Logan’s school and her daughter walked.  Everyone there was either a parent of a child with Autism, or works with Autistic children. We look forward to the zoo walk each year, as both of my boys receive scholarships from HEAL! for their medical treatment from their DAN doctor, and it is a way to give back.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support this great organization,
Lynna Kay Parker
http://www.healautismnow.org/

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

When Jaxon "lost" his normal speech, he began using what is called Echolalia instead of normal speech.  At first I didn’t think too much of it, at times it was somewhat “cute” that he was calling me Jill instead of Mom, but after a while we finally realized that something was wrong.  Of course from the time we realized something was wrong…and then convinced the doctors that something was wrong…we lost almost a year of developing language.  

My advice to anyone out there experiencing a delay in language, a setback in language, or “unusual” language such as Echolalia…get them evaluated as soon as possible and don’t stop until you feel comfortable with the results.  You are your child’s best advocate; they need you to speak for them when they are unable to speak for themselves

The last two days reminded me of how anything can happen when you are pregnant.  I have not been feeling very good this weekend and in return have not been on the computer.  I will hopefully return tomorrow after my OB aptointment feeling better and ready to share some great posts with y'all!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Hello, and welcome to day 19 of Autism Awareness!  Today I am posting a link to my recent article for Generation Rescue.  Please check it out and forward it to anyone you know who is serving in the military and raising a child on the spectrum.  For those of you who are not familiar with Generation Rescue, please take a look at the post I put up a week ago about their awesme organization!

http://www.autismdeal.com/2/post/2013/04/autism-awareness-april-9-2013.html

Enjoy your weekend!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Meet Michael James Moore Jr. He will be 3 on May 6th, 2013. He is our son, sunshine, miracle, and gift from God…and he has autism. He was diagnosed 2 days after his 2nd birthday. His sister, Gabrielle, (who will be 8 in July) was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder at age 3 and has since overcome most of her symptoms through therapies over the years.  She missed autism by one point and that was largely due to her being tested after making gains in therapy prior to evaluation. As parents who had traveled a similar path before with our daughter, we thought we were prepared for the journey that our new addition would bring us, but boy were we wrong. Our little guy proved that no two children are alike and that his big sister was a warm-up for a world that we weren’t prepared for and one in which we still have so much to learn about. This is another reason why autism awareness and action are so important.

We have come a long way but have so much further to go with our little man. Michael is considered often to be non-verbal and has limited language for the time being. He knows some animal sounds, signs, and a few sounds in words but other than that…he doesn’t have a “voice” yet. We can’t wait to help him bring that out and we know that he has so much to say. We look forward to hearing more of that precious little voice and dream of those days! It’s in the little moments where he actively participates in the world with others (outside of his usual and comfy self-bubble – in his isolated element), that he achieves the most. We all do. We give him praise and love in those moments as well as the ones he creates and enjoys in his individual solace – where he can be in his own little world doing his own “things” as we like to call it. He will be smacking a giant exercise ball with a mallet (his own version of whack-a-mole, we like to think), acting out movies or shows, hiding under or in things, etc…These are the times his very understanding, compassionate, protective, and loving sister will explain to those in sight, “Don’t mind my brother. He is just doing his thing. He likes doing that. Just let him.” Oh, how we adore these two sweethearts!

It’s the little moments that make life big and they all count. There are some that stick out in our minds the most. These monumental memories bring tremendous pride and joyful tears to our eyes! In these moments you can’t help but feel very grateful and blessed. When a child with autism accomplishes a simple thing, we celebrate it as many would celebrate bigger things! It is the little things that make a big difference and eventually (sometimes longer than we would like) they add up to the big things. Through the journey (often an extremely hard one filled with all the emotions you can imagine combined), you will learn more than you ever thought possible about all aspects of life. “You will look back on therapies, appointments, sleepless nights, tears, triumphs, milestones, equipment, ignorance, struggle, strength, and you’ll say with certainty…It was absolutely worth it! Here are some of those times that give us hope and prove that if you never give up, good things come to those who wait! Through perseverance, faith, courage, patience, consistency, determination, and hope – you will find that rainbow after the storm.

Today our son said, “ahhh –dee” and did his own hand sign similar to the one meaning open. This was his way of telling me that his movie was all done. He also has said, “ Ma-Ma” a couple of times this week and although it isn’t consistent, it made my heart leap out of my chest in utter joy and excitement.  We will never forget the tremendous strides he has made in speech therapy, occupational therapy, and ABA – applied behavior analysis. We are eternally grateful for his support team and couldn’t have done it without them. He makes us beam with pride when he completes a peg puzzle, peg board, or shape sorter. We will never forget when he finally learned motor imitation – such a huge and crucial, pre language skill. We love hearing him do the animal sounds to “Super Simple Songs” on YouTube and delight in watching him act out movies – so hilarious. It took him 6 months to figure out how to get “air” so he could jump on a mini trampoline. Until the moment that light bulb “clicked” he would just bend his legs and act like he was jumping but couldn’t figure out how to get his two precious feet of the ground and now it is one of his favorite things in the world to do! He finally conquered his fear of bouncy houses on Easter and who would have thought he just wanted the security of his shoes on in there (since he normally detests wearing them). It was so neat to watch him figuring that out and enjoying it with other kids. He recently warmed up to one of our friend’s daughters and treated her like she was his sister. That moment made want to cry and I got the impression he might have his first little crush – what a cutie pie. After ½ a year of therapy, he finally could roll a car on the floor back and forth with his sister and this joint play made his therapy team and entire family (extended included) want to cry and smile from ear-to-ear! Moments like these are what life is all about!

Autism has taught our family to be thankful in all circumstances, trust in the faithfulness of God’s word, accept help from others (you will need it when you become weary on this daily autism race), have hope for the future, courage for the present, and never give up! Keep on, keepin’ on and stay strong! Take a deep breath, shed a tear or go to a room for a quick time-out sanity scream, pick up your shield and go fight the battle of autism! Live life to the fullest and know it’s a gift! Know there are others out there running this exhausting and challenging race with you, cheering you on!

Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Sister-Gabrielle
(Written by Kandi Moore)

A HUGE thanks to the Moore Family for supporting AutismDEAL!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

This video was sent to me last year by a fellow Autism parent and supporter.  I wanted to share it with you!  Please know that the number of children diagnosed each year has only gotten larger and the funding has not changed.  We need Autism Action!

Diagnose. Educate. Advocate. Live.

Today is day 16 of Autism Awareness.  I am bringing you a list of some awesome items I have come across this month! 

 

Autism Awareness Bows

http://www.etsy.com/market/Autism_hair_bow?ref=listing_tag

Autism Awareness Shirts

http://www.etsy.com/market/Autism_Shirt?ref=listing_tag

Autism Awareness Key Fobs

http://www.autismdeal.com/published-workfobs.html

Autism Awareness Jewelry

http://www.etsy.com/search?q=autism%20jewelry&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&ref=auto3

Autism Awareness Books

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/autism-awareness-month/379003509/

Really Cute Autism Awareness Shirts

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151509333842976&set=a.10151455353627976.1073741826.525812975&type=1&theater



If you have any favorite Autism items please post them in the comments, I would love to check them out!