This is a clay molding that my son made for his dad. If you look closely you can see that it is a house standing on the side of a mountain. Isn't it lovely?
I have been trying with some luck to organize a chapter of the Autism Society of NC for the county that I live in. Well, sort of. I have spoken with the Autism Society of NC but I am thinking of forming my own non-profit. I am not sure if I want to be associated with them directly. There is a lot of research to be done and I am following a lot of promising leads for starting an organization in my county. My cousin Randolph suggested reviewing surveys about autism for my county and surrounding counties, which we did together. There is so much need here.
I have figured out why resources are limited. There is no one to take the lead, and if someone does take the lead, they have to invest a ton of time and money to get things going in a manner that will help the community. No one seems to be reaching out, it is like everyone has either given up hope or they are waiting for someone to hand something to them so they don't have to do any work. To me, the only way this "idea" of mine will get off the ground is if we all work together for the greater good. Am I missing something? What can I do differently? How do you reach people that feel like everyone had given up on them?
There is no "set" road in front of me when it comes to my son that is on the autism spectrum and his education. Most of the time I feel like I am failing him on a daily basis. Does anybody else feel that way? I am ready to start a revolution! Who is with me?
There are great programs, great blogs and all kinds of free information on the internet regarding autism. Finding something that works for my child is frustrating. I cannot afford to put him in a private school, I cannot afford to home school him, I cannot afford to have him get lost in the public education school system. That is what is happening though. He is getting pushed ahead into the next grade when he hasn't really even grasped what was going on in the grade he was in. My son reads on a second grade level. What can I do to ensure his survival into adulthood if he is eleven years old but reads on a 7 year old level?
I have contacted Autism Speaks and tried connecting with others but my attempts have failed there as well. What good is this organization that is for autistic children if the services that are offered or whatever reaches only the kids in certain counties in this state? I have reached out to the TEACCH organization, and I did get a phone call but the person just gave me more numbers or more research to do myself. I feel like he is slipping through the cracks of society and there isn't anything I can do about it. Do you know what I say to my son? I am very blunt with him. I look him in the eyes and tell him that there are four things you need to know how to do in this world and that's: Read, write, do math and make change because if someone can screw you over on your money they will.
There are camps that autistic children can go to but once again these things aren't free. I DO NOT EXPECT THEM TO BE FREE. Sometimes I really want somebody to hand me a booklet with the ins and outs explained to me so I don't feel like I am banging my head against a wall! The services from these organizations reach the more wealthy counties in the state of North Carolina. I have seriously been thinking about moving to Wake County, North Carolina because of the different programs offered there. I shouldn't have to relocate my whole family to be able to be pointed in the right direction. What can I do? How do I start a revolution? How? Is there anybody out there that feels this way? What are the obstacles other parents are facing?
The question of the day..........What is the meaning of life?
Yesterday, when I picked up my youngest son, he was slightly upset. He began to question me about being a good person, what the meaning of life was and what happens to us when we die. Talk about huge questions!
He began his questioning with thoughts about how we are not immortal but cartoon characters are. I then explained to him how that is fantasy but we are real people. If you cut my arm I am going to bleed or if you hit me over the head with a frying pan it may just kill me. He understood that but then he began to talk about dying. I told him that we were all going to die one day and he began to cry and he said to me "What if I saved you right before you saw the God"? I said "Well, I will still be alive". He seemed to cry harder.
So I had to go into black and white mode. With Robert, who is on the autism spectrum, I have to be logical, not emotional when explaining concepts to him because he doesn't understand. So I began to explain how our body is a shell that houses our soul/spirit and how when we die we go to Heaven but it is our soul/spirit that goes to Heaven. He seemed okay with this but was still questioning the whole concept. I finally told him we are not meant to understand everything in the world, there are things that even I as an adult struggle to understand. This seemed to calm him down a bit about the whole what happens after we die.
Then later when we got home he was still struggling to understand the things we talked about on the ride home. This is when he said to me or asked me "Have you always played it straight" when it comes to the kind of life that you have lead or are leading. Wow! I then told my son how, yes, I have always played it straight with my life because I am basically a good person and so is he. To play it straight for me means to be kind and be nice to other people. I told him that I had taken risks but he didn't seem to care about that part, all he cared about was that I was a good person.
Then the whopper of all statements............. My son told me (and I am going to bold this) I know the meaning of life. I laughed a little and I asked Robert what it was. He said "the meaning of life is that you have to play it safe and be a good person and find your own way and have fun". I told Robert that was awesome and he said he saw it on The Amazing World of Gumball. It is amazing to me that he heard that and has been thinking about it for so long.
I am very exited to announce that Minecraft comes in lego form now. I noticed this a few days ago at Wal-Mart. I so know what my youngest is getting for Christmas now. He is getting Minecraft legos and a camcorder!
Robert is amazing. He can build the coolest things out of legos, clay or pipe cleaners. Here is an example:
This is something he built out of legos a few days ago. Now granted, this isn't his best work, but I think it is amazing. It actually works too.
I have been reading other blogs the past few days and Minecraft seems to be something that kids with autism like. I do realize that is a generalization so please forgive me if that statement offends. My son will sit for hours and watch youtube videos about Minecraft and will get upset if he is interrupted. He will talk very excitedly about the "mods" and what he would like to build and stuff. Sometimes I watch the videos with him.
http://learningworksforkids.com/2015/04/7-reasons-kids-with-autism-love-minecraft-2/
Recently, I have found several online resources pertaining to the autism spectrum that I have found very helpful. Today, this will be my version of an informative post because yesterdays post was very successful. Thanks to everyone who shared and commented on it, I really appreciate it.
When I first began to try and figure out autism I didn't know where to turn. The only experience I had with autism was knowing of kids that could not speak or do anything for themselves. So that is not really experience, it is a preconceived notion that I had in my mind about what autism was. I readily admit that sometimes I still struggle to understand autism and how it will affect my sons future. I admit that I think about his future a lot.
Some of the first pages that I came across belonged to Kerri Stocks and Dave Angel. Here is a link for an interview of Kerri Stocks by Dave Angel. This resource is great to me, I get emails from Dave Angel everyday and I actually added Kerri Stocks on my Facebook.
http://parentingaspergerscommunity.com/kerristocksinterview.doc.pdf
I also receive monthly updates from Connie Hammer. You can sign up for email updates if you like.
http://parentcoachingforautism.com/about/
Another great resource is understood.org. I am fairly new to this website so I am still learning to navigate it. You can sign up for a weekly news letter as well.
https://www.understood.org/en
This next one is an actual blog on word press. This one is new to me also, so I am still navigating and reading on this. Very informative so far.
https://learningneverstops.wordpress.com/what-is-autism/
Here is an oldie but a goody...This website has loads of information about autism.
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism
Please everyone, let us take the time to research each website so we can all have a better understanding of what autism is. If anyone has seen any other resources please give me a shout so I may add them to the list. Thanks in advance.
