Autism- The Dreaded 6 Letter Word

I can not say enough about education.
It is so important to learn new things.
At the beginning of last month a lady called me and wanted to do a segment on my family for regional tv.
I agreed and she came out and spent a couple of hours at my house interviewing me and filming the children.
The five minute human interest segment turned into a three night mini series.
Rachel and John were fascinated to see themselves on television.
Kathleen was a wee bit overwhelmed and sat on the stairs and twirled her hair.
I received some positive comments from different people in the community.
It was a little awkward being on tv and I wasn't sure about doing it as you know how judgemental people can be, but, as my good friend Bobbie says. "you can never give up. People have to know"
So, I continue.......
In the 90's, Autism increased by 172%
It is the largest childhood affliction now.
Currently it is increasing at a rate of 10-17%.
Way too many.
Where is the funding for research??

Last week I decided to pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again.

There is an awful lot to do and feeling sorry for myself just doesn't get me very far so the first thing that I did was contact the head honcho at West River and outlined my plan to him.

The next thing that happened was that the para that works with my kids came over to pump me for info. So, I fed it to her. Including the fact that I didn't like the job security that the current resource teacher had for this coming year.
As expected, she went home, called her and told her.
The result was extremely pleasant.
She is no longer working with my boys.
To avoid any unpleasantness the school opted to offer her a position with the high school so I shouldn't have too much problems with my neighbours, one of which is her brother.
I figure that if he hasn't worked out by now what kind of person she is, he will never know.

I bailed up Nathan's old Kindergarten teacher and she told me what had gone on during the year and we made an agreement that the crap that had happened last year was definitely not going to be repeated.

John will have a para with him while he is kindergarten but, the cute thing is that the class is going to have at least 3 kids in it that I know of that have ADD/ADHD so I think they are going to have a hell of a time.
It is another big class with over 20 kids in it.

Nathan was withdrawn, that is to say, not totally withdrawn from the school system, I just changed his place of schooling so I will still get support from the school but, he will be working at home with me.

My friend Melissa came over on the weekend and we worked real hard at getting Nathan's playroom organised.
Monday I had a meeting at the school so I started the program on Tuesday.

It was just an informal 45 minuted session where he just wandered around and played with the different toys and got used to the room.

I got a number of new words out of him and for the most part his attention span was good.
He also said" what did it do that for?" which confirmed my suspicions that he is a selective mute and it won't take too much to get him to talk more.

I went down to the old resource room and the room had been gutted. All the posters and pictures off the wall and the stimming rice table will be removed.

All it seems to take dealing with the school systems is a repetitive kick in the ass on a regular basis.

Since I got back from the Option Institute, I have noticed an increase in Nathan's stims.
That is to say, more flapping, zoning out etc.
I am not sure if it was my week away that has caused this, with his change in routine, or whether I am better able to discern them now.
It does appear that he is more Autistic than I initially thought which is a little disparaging.
He is also apparently trying to pay me back for having been gone or just making his displeasure known as he has been spitting in my hair and taking opportunities slyly to smack me on the bum when I am otherwise occupied.
Kathleen returned to her screaming.
Indescriminate high pitched wailing anytime of the day or night for no obvious reason.
It had been gone for approx 7-8 months and I really didn't miss it.
I spent Saturday night waiting for the Sheriff''s car to appear but, I guess my neighbours are used to it by now.

There is so much to do.
It is a little overwhelming and I am not sure where to start.
This pregnancy is knocking the stuffing out of me and I am nauseous and exhausted most of the time.

Paul had an accident at work on the Monday after I returned and it looks as if he broke at least one bone in his hand. So he had to miss a couple of days there.
He does not get paid for any days off and already had taken six days off while I was at the course so it means that our paycheck this week will be pretty close to non existent.
We live paycheck to paycheck and I wiped out our savings going to the course.
We spend any money left over looking for options for the children.
So it is looking pretty bleak and more than a little disheartening.

I still have to go to war with the school about doing Nathan's home program and I am not looking forward to that either as quite frankly I am getting tired of having to fight for everything.
Isn't it enough that I have three children with Autism?
Why should I have to attend weekly meetings to ensure that the school is doing what they are meant to and that the teacher isn't screwing around.
Should I be the one monitoring this. Isn't the principal the one who is meant to be doing this?

I guess that today is not a real good day for me as I am bawling while I write this.
I am just so sick and tired of having to fight for everything.
I am not a bad person. I am not nasty or impolite.
Why is it so hard for me all the time.
I am sick of having to be strong and tough.
Just once I would like someone to look after me for a little bit.
A champion or just a little light at the end of the tunnel.

I just got back from my week at the Option Institute.
Wow!
What an eye opener.
Apart from all the knowledge that was imparted to me I got an awful lot out of it.
I was in a group of 69 people.
I am no longer alone.
I know 68 other people who are going through the same thing that I am.
What a difference just knowing that makes.
That alone made it all worthwhile.
I have 68 phone numbers and email addresses so I can contact them if I become lonely or dispirited.
And every day now, I know that 68 people are rooting for me and wishing me well.
You can't ask for much more than that.
They taught us that to heal our children we need to get to their level and try to understand what they are doing by joining with them so the child sees that you are not judging them. Just trying to love them as they are.
Then we were taught to make our world more exciting so they could see that interaction with us could be pleasurable and make them want to be with us more and more.
I really look forward to Christmas this year.
My children will be doing so much better and will be able to understand more about it.
I signed up for another course in November.
I am looking at the big picture.
I would ultimately like to become an educator so that I can go into people's homes and show them how to run their own programs and help their children.
I met parents who had used the Son Rise program on their children and had healed them.
No one says that it is easy.
It takes time and effort but, it is worth it.
Wow.

Yesterday I took John for his entry to Kindergarten physical.
It was put on by the local public health nurse who I am friends with.
She was supported by other health nurses from other districts.
Wow.
Two ladies came to find me.
One has a 19 yr old Autistic son with ADHD.
The other who has a friend who raises her Autistic grandson who is 8 yrs old.
They were obviously very happy to meet me which makes a pleasant change and asked lots of questions.
We all had a pleasant chat and both asked me to contact them when I get back from the Option Institute which I will do.
So, from thinking that I am the only up here with this affliction to knowing that there are others who are dealing with it and supporting what I am doing, what a major change!
It is nice to know that I am not alone.
Maybe there is a reason that my children were born Autistic.
Maybe the people up here needed a voice and a champion.
That I certainly can do and will do.
We will beat this thing!

As an aside, for some reason, yesterday the nausea left me.
I ate 2 ham sandwiches and 2 sticky buns for lunch.
Best meal I had in days.
Then I felt sick. LOL.

It is sickness 24/7!!!!
I am trying to eat a high protein diet as it is said that a lot of Autistic kids are missing proteins in their diet and I want to give this baby the best chance that I can.
Well, that is easier said than done.
About the only thing that I can keep down is jam sandwiches.

I don't eat a lot of meat as I don't really like the taste anymore.
Can't eat fish as it contains Mercury.

Makes it really dificult. But, I will keep trying.
Hopefully it will be over within the next 8 months. I am sure I can keep going that long.

Nathan was awake at 3am this morning.
Doesn't like to stay up by himself too much so he woke up Kathleen.
She is always up for a party and the two of them are in the loungeroom making every toy that makes a noise, make it's noise.

He won't be too happy about going to school today.
And I am sure that Kathleen will be napping before too long.

We took the 5 children to the local market yesterday and nathan was first in line.
He put a bottle of coke on the counter and the elderly gentleman in line said to him "is that mine?"
He reiterated, "Is that for me?"
Nathan of course didn't say anything and he was intent on waiting for the boy to ring it up.
I said to the man so he wouldn't think that Nathan was ignoring him "He doesn't speak"
He replied "I know, I've prayed for him"
And with that, he turned and left.
It took me a minute to think and understand what the gentleman said.
It is quite possibly the nicest thing that anyone has said to me in a long time.
I don't know who he is and I will probably never see him again.
But, thank you whoever you are, for caring.

More than anything, I hate people who lie to me.
I don't do it.
If you don't want to hear the truth then don't ask me a question.
It is so unnecessary.
When people lie, then they have to spend so much time and effort covering up their stories.
What a lot of wasted energy!
The school where my Autistic sons are at is a lot like that.
They will tell you something in one sentence then turn around and revoke or deny what they have said.
Stupidity is what I call it.
If you can't remember what you have already told me then, maybe, you need to write the stuff down.
That way you won't get caught out when you open your mouth again.
Approx half way thru the school year, the new para was busy telling me what the resource teacher was not doing and then yesterday when she called she turned her story around.
Got to the point where I check everything and trust no one.
In my job, I couldn't afford to have an off day.
Imagine a Registered Nurse going in to the hospital and saying "you know, I don't really feel like doing my job today, too bad if Mrs Brown doesn't get the treatment she deserves and ends up loses her life. Oh well"
It just couldn't happen.
These people seem to think that their job must be less important. Because if they just cruise along all year, the boys have to come back next year.
Guess that is what they call job security.
My thought is that if they keep this crap up, they won't have jobs to come back to next year.

I go to the Option Institute in less than a week.
I will find an answer.
I will cure my boys!