Affection and Autism Social/Emotional deficits are one of the three common domains that children on the spectrum or diagnosed with autism often struggle to understand. Emotions can be difficult to read or display. Some criticize people on the spectrum for their lack of personal and physical relationships. Other family and friends worry about relationships, emotions…
Category: life
Summer Problems for Special Needs Children
SUMMER IS HERE! School ends this week, Thursday for those of us in Florida (Pinellas County). Thursday is an early release day. Why does the school district do this to us?! Why are you even taking them? 8:30-11:30 that is not helping us working parents, now you have added more scheduling, after school transportation and…
Surviving Stress and Exhaustion
Today, I needed a clone! I needed another person to meet all the responsibilities on my list. Yesterday, I knew that I needed to step back, breathe, and set my priorities. I also realized that I needed to get some things or some people into the “box”. Yesterday, I started getting a migraine at…
Why do you get help…
…and my more medically complicated child gets none?! Over the last week or so, the questions and concerns have been made regarding assistance for children with autism that have complex medical needs. Why are some families qualifying and others not? What is the missing piece? The information that started the discussion was about Medicaid. Our…
Having High Expectations for your Special Needs Child
Over the last few weeks, our family has continued to try the “reality check” for our growth and our child’s growth. Personally, over the spring break week, I put in some time with my husband making plans, create ideas and making a list of goals to accomplish by September. Our family is making a commitment…
How to mentally prepare for an IEP meeting.
Having a child with special needs is a very emotional experience. Having a child that is delayed or under performing at their age group is common and parents have to develop a plan for their child’s success in life. That brings in the school. Schools are legally responsible for providing a free appropriate public education…
Medicaid and CMS…you want to read this!
is it income based?! I think I figured it out!!! Our family had a big win last month with notification that our son with autism was eligible for Florida’s Children’s Medical Services (CMS). My mouth fell open, I jumped up and cheered. It felt like hitting the lottery! For years, our family has scrambled to…
my 5 year old does laundry better than…
many adults! My 5 year old has ASD and has a great ability to do chores or activities that many can’t do at the same level. He has an ability to observe an action or set of actions then repeat them. He is able to create a system to complete the chore correctly and accurately…
dealing with denial sometimes divorce…
because of autism/special needs. Dealing with denial is a phase that everyone and every family will experience and decide to work through or not. When you have a child with special needs there are definitely phases that you experience in finding your path to advocating for your child. In most cases, one parent will work…
breaking up with your child’s therapist…
is hard to do. I quit OT and speech therapy today! It is never easy to break up with your child’s therapist. I have sadly researched how to break up with therapists in the past. I have broken up with therapists in the past as well as currently. Various reasons can make you break up…
Ruthfulness 