Morons

Last week during the aforementioned Day Camp we had some problems with another parent. If her attitude had been directed at me I would have just ignored it and chalked it up to nastiness. Unfortunatly it wasn't just directed at me. She was mean to Alex. Basically in not so many words told him she didn't want him to particpate and she would not allow him to. Rediculous seeing as how it is his unit, his dad is the Cubmaster and his parents where both on staff for the event. That being said. She went out of her freaking way to make my kid cry and that REALLY ticks me off. Jason called our committee chair today to let her know what happended and she is going to talk to the lady and find out what the heck she was thinking. Jason told the chair straight out. We are ready to walk away from this unit and go somewhere where we don't have to worry about our child being mistreated by people who are supposed to be there to help him succeed. What makes me even more mad is a friend of ours was there. Our assistant Cubmaster and he didn't say a word to her. Just let her behave like that to A, so not sure who I am more ticked off at this point . Him or Her. It takes a nasty person to be rude to a child, but is it any better to be the person who sits by and watches it happen and feels nothing. I would have so loved to have ranted and railed at her, there where other boys there though. So I couldn't, while she may not give 2 cents about the feelings of the boys. I do, I am in this program for my son and his friends and refuse to scream and yell and fight in front of them.

Too Tired To Move

We had Cub Scout Day Camp last week and We had to leave the house around 6:30 Am and Didnt get home til 12 Am. So while I am still reading, I barely have the energy left to move my fingers to post! Bare with me!

Eight Year Olds

There are days that just make me laugh, smile and take a deep breath! Why you ask? Because they are the days that remind me everything else aside I am raising a happy, healthy 8 year old boy. The kind who whines through dinner that he is tooo sick to eat more food, but would happily down a cookie when we get to Giant Eagle because... "I Feel Better Now Mommy" I don't think so little man. Do you think I am dumb?? Ok.. So don't answer that.. All that aside its nice to know that no matter what other struggles he may have to deal with he is still capable of pulling the tricks of the eight year old trade.

Tired.. Hot.. Too Much to Do

So, I have about a million things to do and only about a thousand hours to do them in. This week week A was supposed to have vacation bible school but he was feeling slightly worried about it. The one I signed him up for has no kids he knows attending, it was the only one I had papers for so it was what I signed him up for. Since then I have found out that his friends J and C are attending one a bit closer to home later in the summer so we will go with that one instead. It is closer and has people he knows, which is a much better choice for him. Aside from that Jason is still working like crazy trying to keep the store running as his boss has been out on medical leave for about a month and still has about a month til she will be back. Him and the other manager are working their tales off and the owner and the guy above them are not helping matters at all. The least they could get is a thank you for covering and doing your jobs as well as your bosses jobs, but nope. They are just expected to it and be glad for the meager wage they get each hour. BullCrap if you ask me or anyone out there. But what can you do, they need the job and the big guys know that. Next week things don't slow down at all, in fact they get busier if anything. Sunday is fathers day and Jason has to work that evening so we went and got his fathers day gift today, partly cause of time and partly cause today it was on sale for 89.99 rather than the 129.99 that is its regular price. Yay! I love a deal. Anyway. The next day Jason works 9-5 and I have to go help set up for Day Camp. Then that runs Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Followed by a second Day Camp program for the older boys that runs Friday-Saturday. Then he has to work a double shift on Sunday. FUN FUN.. So, instead of getting up and working on the things I need to.. Washing out Soda Bottles, Gathering up supplies, calling my cub scouts. I am sitting here at the computer feeling tooo dangon tired to do anything. Ah, the fun of life.

Triumphs

So, tonight we got to see a triumph in the life of a child with Autism. He wasn't my child but that didnt make me any less happy or proud for him. A takes Martial Arts classes 4 times a week. There is a little boy there who started classes with him that A just loves to partner with. This little boy has a brother with Autism who sits on the benches during class but never participates. Over the last month his mother has been trying to get him to join the class but he won't. He is scared, nervous and unsure so he just watches. Last night she asked him on the way in again if he wanted to join. This time, the answer was YES. It was a true delight to see him out there with the other kids. Watching him suceed at the skills and be soo proud of himself when he earned stripes. Its a hard life being a kid with Autism, its great when you are able to move past the fear and join in with the other kids.

This is Me Like it or not

COPIED OVER FROM MY LIVE JOURNAL

So here I am on LJ. Not someplace I expected to be. But here all the same. I have a blogspot on blogger.com but headed over here because I wanted to be able to read what my freind is up to. That said. Here is a little about me. I am 28 years old and a Stay at Home Mom. No that doesn't mean I can't get a job outside of the house, or that I have no work ethic. Have a husband that is wealthy or many of the other things that people often think when they hear a wife works at home. What it means is that I am the mother of one 8 year old boy with an Autism Spectrum Disorder who during the course of a regular week has 20 hours of therapy. Gets sent home from school sick for things related to his Autism that he can't control, etc . It means that working would be more of a hardship on our family than not working is. Yes, it means money is tight. But, it would be tighter if we had to find a special sitter who was able to accept and deal with the life my son leads. It balances itself out in that rocky, hanging on the edge, praying not to fall over, holding on by my fingers nails type of way. In our family there is me( Valerie), my husband ( Jason) and our son ( A ) he is heading into 3rd grade when our summer break concludes in the fall and in between all the above mentioned therapy hours he is also a devoted Cub Scout and Martial Arts Student. He is a friendly, happy, loving boy who also happens to have a hard road to travel in life and makes the very best of what he lives with. I am proud of who he is and proud of the person he is made me and my husband. Our world has changed many times over the years from the life we thought we would have to the life we wouldnt change for anything. Yes, each day is a struggle. But the struggles come with hugs, and tears and triumphs just like those of any other parents life. I am going to finish this first post with something that was sent to me when my son was first diagnosed with an ASD in 2005. Also at the end of this post I will add some links in case anyone out there reading would like to know more about Autism Spectrum Disorders.
WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by Emily Perl Kingsley.c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...... When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland. National Alliance for Autism Research - Walk F.A.R. for NAAR: ASDHOPE - Home Asperger Syndrome

Pictures to Go With The Moved Journal Posts

End of the this road...

Its now moments from the last day of May,which means we are one day closer to the end the Second Grade Road. This year has been a relatively good one. I started the year with the plan that if there was a day when it seemed that A was just overloaded and I was going to have to full body drag him into school I would just keep him home. Last year I had to drag him kicking and screaming into school on an average of one day a week. I am happy to say that with the new plan this year I kept him home 2 days and NEVER had to carry him in kicking and screaming. He has just gone in when the other kids did. The only time he has come back out was when he was high fived the door patrol who moved his hand right bofore A got it and let A's head slam right into the door from the force of his excitment and the time he walked in and slipped on the wet floor. That again chalked up to the door patrols who had been told numerous times by the teachers to tell the kids walking through the door that the floor was wet. Other than that the year has been great getting him through the door in the morning.
Once he has been into the school the year gets a little more complicated. He started the year with strong grades in his key subjects but the ones that he has trouble with continued to fall. By the time the second marking period came they had begun to work on Word Problems in math and that grade, which is normally his best, had begun to fall as well. We asked for an IEP meeting and one was help right away and the issues where addressed. From that point on his grades began to pick up and while they are not back to where they where at year start, they are improved. Next year he will get the same extra help so that is a plus as well.
Now that school is almost over comes what is truly our busy time of the year. This year we took our vacation in April so that we didnt have to do it in the heat of the summer and so it didn't conflict with any of the massive summer plans.
So, at this point our plans for the summer are
Hapkido ( A Martial Arts Discipline that A just started and REALLY loves) that is T,F,St,Sn
Vacation Bible School- The week after school is out
Cub Scout Day Camp 3rd Week in June
Camp out at the Ball Park in July
Visit From Uncle D on Deployment Leave ( dates unknown for safety reasons0
Kids College
and somewhere in there I have my 10 year class reunion.
Summer is always busy for us, but we are happy to do it. It keeps you from noticing how dangon hot you are. A also really wants to get to spend some time with his friends this summer, especially one pretty little blond.