Autism Family Adventures

Update on Autismfamily Adventures

2011-10-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

It is time to get back into the blogging routine. Both teen sons are now in high school. Matthew turned 15 this past June and Nicholas turns 17 in March. Since Dec 1st of 2010 Matthew has been funded by the State of California through the Regional Center for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which was for the behavior of putting holes in the walls (last count it was 21) with his pounding on the wall as he walked by.

Life skills are also part of the therapy - teach tooth brushing and toilet training. We have four nights a week for 2.5 hrs. One therapist for three nights and another therapist for one night. I will post another blog on the revolving door of therapists and supervisors we have had in less than one year. Another blog post will be on how Matthew went from being a poor picky eater to now consuming everything in sight, similar to a typical teenager. Toilet training is a slow process but will be covered in a blog as well.

Matthew's teacher has an adult son in a group home - this was the selling point for me for this high school and class - which is a CBI - Community Based Instruction with MRS students - Mental Retardation Severe. His two elective classes are JROTC - his uniform is sharp and I am waiting for the day he has to wear it to school so I can take a picture. His class is after lunch so might have him change his shirt with his aide prior to lunch.

The other elective class is drawing. I met the teacher at back to school night, where he mentioned his son has PDD. The bus that takes Matt and his aide to school also goes to another High school. On the bus are two students that Matthew went to elementary school with and they were all in the same Kindergarten. One of the aides was also in the First grade class Nicholas attended.

The good news is that LAUSD starts school three weeks earlier next year. They get out still at the end of June. There was one incident with Matthew getting out of the house via the backdoor when I was at the gym one Saturday and their Father was here watching them. A neighbor spotted Matthew coming out of the gate and dashing around the corner. She knocked on the door and had the Dad drive his car down the hill to catch up to Matthew - who was running in his socks down the middle of the street.

After learning of this escape and the first of its kind, I stopped going out on weekends and the Dad just comes for a quick visit on Sundays. I am not sure where Matthew was going - but he was on pure adrenaline. The neighbor ran all the way down to find him until the car got to him.

The lake that we used to walk laps around is being drained and under construction for two years so we found a park that is closer and Matthew enjoys walking at a fast pace around and it is filled with trees and shade.

Nicholas is still doing online schooling - taking Biology, Spanish, Modern World Studies, Literature and some other courses. There are some online clubs he is enjoying. I think I will send him to a camp next summer to work on social, life and community skills.

The Drive Home from School

2009-12-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today I received a phone call from Matthew's teacher at almost 1PM. He said there was a bit of a problem with Matthew. I thought something really awful must have happened and he was hurt or hurt someone. But no the teacher said the aide had to leave school to take his son to the Doctor and since the aide needs to ride with Matthew on the bus and this year the bus route has no other aides on the bus - so I had to go pick him up.

The teacher should have just said I need to pick up Matthew instead of mentioning some sort of problem with my son that did not exist. He needs to use his words better and not cause panic for the parent!

There are four students, two personal aides and one classroom aide along with the teacher, so basically it is 4 adults and 4 students. I asked how the aide was able to get to his car since he parks near my house to ride the bus. The other personal aide drove him during their break, which left just one aide with the teacher for that duration. He seemed quite frazzled on the phone because the other two aides leave earlier than the time school gets out. The same thing took place at the Elementary school where the other aides shift ended earlier so that left Matt's aide to help all the other kids instead of mine. This resulted in leaving his jacket or communication device at school with the aide being distracted with other students.

Matthew is the only boy in his class this year - this is Middle School - 6-8th grades in a MRS class - Mental Retardation Severe. I chose the school because they follow the traditional school calendar where other schools are year round with months off at various times of the year and not summer.

This other girl was at the same Elementary school as Matt in another classroom and is a classmate of his. The Mom takes public transportation to take the girl to school as she does not want to put her on the bus. Matt's aide and I have told her it is not a problem.

I gave her and the girl a ride home. The girl kept saying Hello in the car and likes to kiss hands and wave - she was fine back there next to Matthew who was chowing down on some fries from Mc Donalds. The Mom was constantly telling the girl to be quiet. I mentioned I would not mind if Matthew would say Hello and be so cheerful.

I felt bad for the girl who has such a sweet disposition and likes Matthew. H seemed fine with them being in the car for the drive home. I went to Target earlier today to look for a jacket for Matt since the weather here in Los Angeles is getting colder and rain is in the forecast. All Matt has to wear is a fleece jacket.

Matthew is not the type of kid that will try on clothes for me to see if they fit, so when I buy clothing I try to leave the pricetag on until he has tried the item on. I picked out this great looking orange four in one jacket, with a fleece/polyester reversible inside jacket, the outer jacket has the hood. I showed him the jacket and he wanted to put it on. Later he tried the fleece side of the other jacket and wanted to practice zippering on the orange jacket. He knew I was surprised he wanted to take part in this since he was smiling and quite happy with himself.

Sometimes it is the little things that brighten your day. Now if only I could hear him repeatedly say Hello.

Pretty Please Press Books - Review and Giveaway

2009-11-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

I was given the opportunity to review these four hardcover books by Pretty Please Press! because of my membership at The Product Review Place. Pretty Please Press! is a small publishing company that reached out to mommy bloggers as part of a grassroots marketing effort.

Pretty Please Press! has a special discount of 20% their books plus buy 3 get one free through the end of the year - ends December 31, 2009. You can read more about the authors and illustrators at the site.

Pretty Please Press publishes children's books that are designed to be read aloud and talked about. Each book contains a message about character and values that helps parents and children think and talk about a variety of issues.

I liked the vibrant colors of the books and the free educational downloads they have at their site - Character Building Lesson Plans, Concept Building Cards and Vocabulary Building Cards. These seemed very suitable to the autism community of parents, therapists and teachers alike.

The lesson plans and cards are available for each book and include such vocabulary words as - galaxy, delighted, allergic, harmony, answer, demonstration, bow, cajole, balcony, bribe and bellow. Each book covers a specific theme as indicated below. The website has guidance for parents on reading comprehension and why reading aloud is so important. The books are suited for children from kindergarten through third grade.

My high functioning autistic son Nicholas has also read each book and offered his opinion below. He has always enjoyed reading and one year took part in a read-in at the Elementary School he attended. When in the fourth grade he read a chapter from one of his favorite books to a lower grade class. The teacher told me Nick was very animated in his reading and should try out for drama once he reaches high school.

Kick Block Punch - Setting goals - Written and illustrated by Jacquie Hann. This book begins on the first day of karate class with some enthusiastic students wanting to earn the black belt right away. This one actually showed perseverance with Sam never giving up and achieving his goals. One page at the start has him going home and kicking his brother Ben, which I did not really like due to there being no consequence for this action.

Nick says that the kid was not learning the key aspects of karate in the beginning, but with practice he was able to earn a yellow belt with the green belt his next goal.

Bella Basset Ballerina - Perseverance - This book starts off on a fall day after school. Bella has twin brothers Beau and Bart. Bella wants to be a Ballerina in the big city. Nick's feedback was that this book was too girlish, but did get that there was a lesson taught on following your dreams.

The Scritchy Little Twitchell Sisters - Resolving Conflicts - Written by Laura Aimee Garn and Illustrated by Erik Brooks. The title is a fun tongue twister to get the readers quickly interested in learning to read this book aloud. The sisters are constantly at odds with one another, which is not much different with two teen boys in my household. My sons are fifteen months apart and opposites.

The sisters destroyed their toys and made life so impossible for their parents that they divided up the house. Mrs. Twitchell and Lavinia lived in one half of the house with Mr. Twitchell and Emmeline on other side. All their belongings were divided, labeled and locked away. They had piano, dance lessons and a very busy lifestyle. Nick's impression was that the sisters constantly fight for the attention of their parents.

Pynx - Tolerance - Written and illustrated by Jeffrey Greene. According to Nick, there were lots of alien creatures on this strange planet when the Pynx arrives. It makes many sounds that confuses and angers them. They have to learn to coexist and tolerate one another on the same planet. The jungle creates were interesting looking.

Kick Block Punch and then Phynx were the favorite books of my son who is homeschooled. My son loves to draw creatures and is into animals. He was inspired to get out his sketch pad once again and write another book. His best one thus far is Ricky the Shark.

I also received a second set of these four books to giveaway. The rules for this are as follows:

Giveaway ends Monday, December 7, 2009 at 11:59pm EST. Open to U.S. addresses only. One winner will be selected at random and have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be selected. Be sure to leave a valid email address in your comment or have it readily available in your profile so that I may contact you if you're the winner.

Entries -

1. Please leave a comment indicating whether the books are for a boy or a girl.

2. Tweet this giveaway once a day - please post the status link to tweet.

3. Follow me on twitter

4. Leave a comment on any of my articles and leave title in comment section.

5. Sign up for my autism newsletter.

6. Post this giveaway on Facebook - use share this on sidebar - leave link to your wall

7. grab my blog button from sidebar - leave link to your blog in comment.

8. tweet any autism article from site using the icons at the bottom and leave status link in comment

9. Place an entrecard on my blog - leave me link to your entreard page

10. Follow my other two blogs and leave blog info in comments.

Please note that Pretty Please Press! sent me the books, therefore I am financially responsible for mailing these out to the winner, paying for box and postage.

I received the books in exchange for my honest review.

Explaining Birth Son to teen with autism

2009-11-22T10:03:00.000-08:00

There is a new show on ABC entitled, Find My Family. This is from the producers of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Today, November 22, 2009 is the day I gave birth back in 1978 to a son that I gave up for adoption through Catholic Charities in Newark, NJ. When I saw the commercial for the new show I did a google search, which led me to an email address for those who are interested in being on the show to contact. I did that and have yet to get a response.

So far this is okay with me as I have yet to inform my oldest son about my first born son. I wrote a Birth Mother's Open Letter back in 2000 when I had two toddlers on the autism spectrum. They are now teens, but Matthew would not really grasp the story.

The other day the commercial was on when Nick and I were watching TV and he told me it looked good and mentioned the bit about it being from same producers of the other show that we have watched over the years - although he mostly tuned in for the autism family stories/makeovers.

I am located in Los Angeles and noticed Lisa Joyner is one of the hosts and she was in Los Angeles news at Fox for many year so I think this is the home base of the show. I mentioned in my email that I have two teens on the autism spectrum and from NJ where I gave up son. I discussed wondering if he has any kids and if autism is in my genes and should he be notified of this. I forgot to note in my email that I turn 50 in April.

I almost started to tell Nick about my first born son but not sure what he will comprehend. I had an opportunity to write a letter and put in his file before he turned 18, just in case he had access to it or contacted Catholic Charities, but at that time I had received autism diagnosis and could not spend the time or money on a search.

I keep the information I have on Catholic Charities in my earthquake kit also.

Money Management Lessons

2009-11-22T09:24:00.000-08:00

The other morning I decided to look at my checking acct balance online and was surprised to see a negative in red with overdraft balance listed. This was 5.42 and I thought I must have forgotten to note the recent Burger King transaction of $6.87, plus the prior day I had used my paypal card as a credit card and it was going to transfer a dollar and change from my checking acct as I had gone over and this is set up to do that.

I looked at my acct and register to see these were noted, but found online a charge for LA NEWSPAPER for $25.00. I called the number which was a recording saying the number for the paper and informing callers to tell the company that this was a personal number. I imagine this was the delivery person's phone number.

I was quite irate on the phone with customer service after being told this was the third charge from my checking acct for $25. There was one in July and September. I have no idea how I missed those, but am quite distracted being a single Mom to two teens on the autism spectrum with one being homeschooled and utilizing the computer for work.

I get a bill for the Los Angeles Daily News annually and give them my debit card for the payment, which has been $35.00 annually and I never gave authorization to use my card for future use. I have no paperwork citing this and did not sign anything. The customer service rep said I authorized it in July but could not come up with any print out for me. She said their site and info was recently upgraded. I asked for a history of my acct to show me how long I was paying the $35 fee and to see this in the mail, she could not produce anything like this.

She said she would put in for a refund of the November charge and I called my Bank. My first call resulted in finding out that they would do an investigation after the refund came through and I called to notify them and if that charge was the cause of the NSF - non sufficient funds they would reimburse me. I was concerned with the dollar and change charge from paypal that did not come through and wanted to find out if that would give me another $24.00 NSF fee and he said yes and would not be reversed.

My son Nicholas is homeschooled and this went on after his brother went to school on the bus and he woke up to some colorful language on my part. I had a stack of bank statements all over the kitchen table as I tried to find the previous $25 charges.

I got out a bank statement and a credit report to show Nick what happens when a credit card company sees you have NSF and how this can spiral out of control. I also found the papers from the bank on their fee structure showing if you have so many NSF charges in a year the fee rises. This was my attempt to cover myself and do a quick lesson in money management.

The big lesson was for me and the way I do my checking acct register. I look each item I have written up online and place a check mark next to them so that I have checks up and down the register. This is how I have done it for years but it is not foolproof as anything unexpected coming through would not be in my check register and would not get noted as I am looking from my register and not the actual withdrawals.

I am now changing that way of balancing. A few weeks ago I had noticed when checking to find out why balances were not the same a calculation error on my part, or so I thought where I misread a 2 for a 5 and added the $30 back in, which might be why I had not noticed the $50 already taken out (July and Sep)

I had to get to the laundromat and called from my cell the Bank again to put a dispute on the charge and I found out you have 60 days so the customer service rep was kind enough to place one on the Sep charge as well.

I wrote a review on some workbooks awhile ago. The very large Life Skills Activities book has a great section in it, Practical Living Skills with Money Management one of the chapters.

There are pages on Writing a Check that shows a blank check and the steps plus maintaining a checking account. I think it is time for Nick to learn this. We just recently started a chore system that is going well.

Screwed Over By Professionals

2009-11-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking lately of how we as a family of two autistic teens have been treated by those professionals serving the disabled community. For nine years my son Nick attended the autism summer camp with Matthew being eight years. I start planning for camp early each year and due to this we do not sign up for Extended School Year , but that backfired this past summer.

A few years ago I read about a New Jersey Mom where the school her special needs child attended read and utilized her blog against her at the IEP. Because of this I have been lax in posting my true feelings about the camp issue this past year along with what happened with the behavior parent training a few years back through one agency and the clinic where Matt received Feeding and Floortime therapy.

But parents need to stick together and share both positive and negative experiences for others to glean from and determine what is the best resource for their kids. Quality control exists for a reason.

Camp abruptly was cancelled before the start of summer, but way after the deadline to sign up for ESY so Matthew had nothing for two months to keep his progress going and his decline was evident to his teacher at the start of this school year. Things he once was able to do had to be taught over. There were obvious deficits due to not having any services over the summer.

The camp ended their association with the State of California Regional Centers and proceeded to send the written exchanges they had to the families. I felt this was poor judgement to air their dirty laundry to the very people they serve. They basically left us hanging with nothing - there was not even a planned day for families to get together so the kids can see one another. After nine years this is how my son was treated and I felt it was unacceptable.

Over the course of the summer the Regional Center cut camps as a vendored option, leaving families scouring to find funding opportunities. Several weeks ago we started going to Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN LA) where we ran into a fellow camper that was in Nick's class for the previous two years.

For years I had been telling other parents and promoting online about the summer camp and now we are in the dark about what will happen next year. In talking to the other parent at the KEEN sessions she also did not get her daughter into ESY because of camp, but in spite of that her child still wants to go to camp next summer as does mine. It is a conflicting feeling and I wonder how they will contact parents in the coming year.

The Behavior parent training few years back was for a few months but the services were hardly professional. Since that experience the Regional Center has ceased doing business with that company, but after my calls to complain the so called therapist trashed me in the final report. This is why I hate assessments and reports.

The girl got the job from an ad on craigslist and tried to use her version of PECS with my nonverbal son Matthew. I explained to her that she was no speech therapist and to stick to the assessment plan. One session she brought a new therapist who had a low cut tank top on. I called the office to complain about their attire and the way the therapist conducted herself in my home.

The feeding therapy started years ago and went well for a long time until I requested the sessions to be at my kitchen where we needed the help. Matthew had no problems eating in their kitchens but the issues were here. There was never any organization to the sessions as the therapist would bring a piece of paper and never follow a plan or give me written directions. I asked many times to use foods that required a fork and spoon, but it was always foods that could be eaten by hand.

The visits to school were inconsistent and the same questions were asked each week. For months no one ever showed up and there was a huge gap in services offered. We were basically just left hanging and Matthew is back to eating limited foods.

I have run into the Occupational Therapist and Dietitian twice in the last year - once at a funeral and just last month they were presenters at a feeding seminar I attended. It is my belief that some professionals speak well on their topics and are good on paper, but fail in achieving success with the client.

I requested many times to get the copies of the videos they took of me and Matt, yet to this day nothing ever arrived in the mail. I wanted to see the progress and learn from these tapes, but they were too busy using them at their seminars to help other professionals instead of following through with their own clients. My son has suffered because of this.

The Floortime therapy was through the same clinic since we had a relationship with them, or so I thought. After a year at my home they stopped suddenly due to the therapist being allergic to cats and we had one from outside come inside. No one ever came again after that and just left my son in the midst of the progress with no help whatsoever.

It sure would be nice if the therapy remained consistent and the families received some guidance before it all ended. Thanks for nothing..

Blog Tour for Gather.com

2009-08-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

For the past several years I have been joining online communities to connect with other parents who have kids with autism. I started with epinions.com in 2000 before finding Gather.com in August of 2006 CafeMom.com was the following summer along with Wish Upon A Hero.com also known as WUAH, with Twitter.com June of 2008, as well as this blog last summer.

The summer months are when I come across these online communities and expand my relationships and do my part to promote autism awareness. There are many rewards to finding another community to become part of, plus you find some of the same friends from other sites. Each site has their own style so you get to gain new insights from those previous relationships while delving into new opportunities at each site.

I wrote about my impressions of Gather.com back in October of 2006. I was so enthusiastic with the site that I created almost twenty groups for members to belong to where they could post articles, videos, photos and comment on other posts. Every idea I had would mean a new group.

The site has grown and expanded with options over the years to include bookmarks and sharing of posts, pings on profile pages, spotlighting of our own articles for our profile page and having more information on members to help determine if you want to become friends. You can delete a comment on any of your posts, you can remove the option of ratings for anything you post also. Groups can be private for only family members if you choose. Your friends can be categorized by friends, family and colleagues. There are many options on gather.com to read and interact with others plus the fun in earning points for gift cards. The holidays are five months away - time to prepare is now.

Meet people and make new friends is the gather motto. Once you become a member you can search by your location, interest or age group to find conversations and groups to join. At your home page the links to utilize include:

my posts, my photos, my videos, my comments, my friends and my groups. Also the option for guarded viewing is on this page, plus email preferences, your account settings, friend updates are here and comments from your friends on posts around the site.

Your gather points are posted next to your photo or avatar. This is a clickable link so you can find the gift cards available for your point total. The minimum to redeem is 315 points. There are options to get paid through paypal as well. I received a Borders card in the mail today. I redeemed last month. The gather home office is in Boston, Founder and CEO is Tom Gerace. I still get notified when Tom writes a new post. The letter with the gift card thanks you for making gather such a special place. "We love sharing our success with you."

Just last month was an opportunity for the first 500 Gather Moms to fill out the 2009 summer survey and receive 50 gather points. There are competitions, author chats, review opportunities and contests to take part in on gather.com.

My teenage son has enjoyed over the years looking at photos of cats on gather.com. He will tell me what the rating should be and help with the comment. There are options to rate and comment posts, pictures and videos. You can set which groups are your favorite and change your settings to not receive emails from every group. If you join many groups there is the section at the bottom of your posts where you need t choose which group your photo, post or video gets linked up to.

Some groups are very strict in what they will accept, there are tags that are helpful to find posts as well. My groups are moderated so I need to go into my home page and click on group tasks to find the new content and approve it on a weekly basis. Gather.com also takes copyright infringement very seriously. There are groups on this topic as well.

You will meet many new people who share similar interests, post poetry, short stories, reviews of books and other products, share family experiences and post coupon codes to get deals at each week. Now for summer the reading is about vacations, picnics, movies, favorite television shows and recipes.

There was a children's health product that had been recalled. I wrote a post complaining about this and wanting to know what other parents were using. This article continued to get comments as it was found in online searches. Through these comments I learned of two new products that were just as good that I started purchasing and still use to this day.

At your home page you will see what your friends are posting, what activity is happening in groups, recent comments and photos. There are many groups to discuss and learn about the site as well. This past week there was an offer to win a free book

The first year I joined gather.com I stock piled 7 or 8 B+N gift cards for holiday shopping for my kids. Although B+N is no longer an option, Borders, Macy's and CVS have been my gift cards of choice since my first year. I have always received my gift cards within three weeks. You earn points for everything you do on the site. To join gather there are links for you to place on your blog or site, plus you can send invitations. There was a referral program with points earned for new members. I have had a banner on my blog since I started it.

I highly recommend other bloggers join gather.com to form new bonds with those who have similar tastes. There have been cruises for members to attend and meet in person. Members share about their writings and new books, family ventures and find out about other places around the world from the diverse mix of members from all over.

Some of the groups I created include:

autism families

associated content writers

Beauty 101

This is the first blog tour I have signed up with Mom Central since my blog was accepted into their program. Due to the fact that I have personal experience this is a perfect fit for me.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog and giveaway campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Gather. Mom Central sent me a gift cad to thank me for taking the time to participate.

VizZle - Visual Learning Software Giveaway

2009-05-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

VizZle - Visual Learning Software for Children with Autism is web-based from Monarch Teaching Technologies. This is the answer for teachers, therapists and parents for quick, easy and effective visual supports.

Back in March my high functioning son Nick and I went to the free exhibitor day at the CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. This is where I first saw and heard of VizZle. Awhile after the conference I noticed VizZle on twitter.

VizZle has a searchable library of lessons that range from state-standard academics to personal hygiene, matching boards, game-boards, interactive books and a visual language lab. Lesson tracking will be available by August. Currently there are token boards that can be customized, timers plus first-then boards.

You can match coins to their value, match coin images to written names, play the matching spider game, pick clothing appropriate for each season, learn about gardening, practice grouping animals in a table-top activity and for the next six weeks VizZle is giving away a $25 amazon card to the user with the most new lesson plans each week. There is a new winner every week. The site also has a free trial and there is a quick start guide to VizZle in pdf format.

There is also the option to take a one-hour VizZle training session. You can inquire about special group discounts for the school year 2009-10. The VizZle help section.

VizZle received a Best Education Software Award 2009 from Comput Ed Gazette. They are one of four finalists for the Technology Innovations Golden Lamp Award from AEP (the Association of Educational Publishers), which will be awarded in June. In mid April VizZle sent out their 1000th username and password.

I am thrilled to announce that Monarch Teaching Technologies, Inc. is giving away two 3-month subscriptions to VizZle to readers of Autism Family Adventures blog. This starts today and will run for one-week. This is a great giveaway for parents, teachers or therapists and gives you the summer to work on lesson plans and/or have your child practice learning while on summer break.

RULES FOR GIVEAWAY

Please make sure I have a way to contact you should you be the winner. You can include your email address with your comment. Please do one comment for each entry.

For the main entry please post in comments whether you would use the three month free subscription to VizZle as a parent, student, teacher or therapist. What age group are the students or your child?

For extra entries leave a comment for each option

1 entry - subscribe to my RSS feed or via email
1 entry - follow this blog - can be found in the sidebar
1 entry - follow me on twitter (autismfamily) leave your ID
1 entry - follow @govizzle on twitter - leave your ID
1 entry - grab my button from the sidebar - leave link to blog
1 entry - Fav Autism Family Adventures (this blog) in Technorati
1 entry - digg, stumbleupon or mixx this blog post - one comment for each
1 entry - tweet this giveaway - leave your twitter id & date of tweet
1 entry - join Autism Next Door on Facebook
1 entry - friend me on Facebook - Bonnie Sayers - leave me your name
1 entry - fan VizZle on Facebook - leave me your name
1 entry - connect with me on LinkedIn - Bonnie Sayers
2 entries - do a recommendation for me on LinkedIn
2 entries - blog about this giveaway - leave blog link

If you already do any of the above, please note that with your ID in a separate comment for each.

This VizZle giveaway will run through Sunday, May 31, 2009 at 8 PM PST. The winners will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. Both winners will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to US, Canada and International users.

Twitter Sonrise Chat Log

2009-05-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is the summize log from the twitter chat with Tali Berman, founder of Meir Autism Treatment Center in Israel that was held on April 28, 2009. Five copies of her book, Play to Grow! Over 200 games designed to help your special child develop fundamental social skills were given away during the twitter chat.

Welcome Tali - please tell us how you first learned of the Son-Rise program

I began with a family in 1997 and was amazed by the honoring approach and progress- child is fully integrated now

What are the 5 stages of development in The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model?

what age range do you cover in your teaching of sonrise?

do son-rise teachers work with therapists like OT and speech? is son-rise done at clinic or in home

5 stages are organized by skill level in 4 fundamental areas:eye contact, language, interactive attention span, flexibility

we work with children of all ages, including adults

can you share some of the games from the book?

Does sonrise target any specific behaviors? Can it help redirect behaviors?

yes, if child has specific need for those therapies. Typically done at home but games can be used in clinics as well

what does the Son-rise program maximum impact cover? How long was this? Do parents learn these programs too?

for sample game ideas see inside our book at our site www.meirautism.org- too little space here for more details

do you see many children with sensory challenges? is this covered in training?

can you explain the flexibility aspect as one of the stages? sonrise

Does sonrise target any specific behaviors? Can it help redirect behaviors?

book is more about teaching skills through interactive play than redirecting- though Son-Rise does address this

what are the 5 stages that are organized by skill level in 4 fundamental areas

do you attend IEP meetings and offer input to the goals?

how is sonrise different than floortime?

yes- the Israeli equivalent to IEP

does sonrise encourage siblings to be involved in playing and initiating games, etc?

what does a sonrise assessment consist of and how long does the therapy last?

play time is in specified room, repetitive play is joined not redirected and the parents attitude has big focus

only if sibling wants to participate if so than yes!

Do you guys offer any ideas on how to capture initial involvement in play?

Identifying where your child's skills are in 4 areas. Developmental model can be downloaded at www.son-rise.org

do you work on life skills, self-advocacy and/or social skills with adults

any tips on dealing with a child who seeks deep pressure often, my son wants on his chin

yes- this is key.playroom, fun props, your child's specific motivations during presentation and through out the game

yes- social skills, conversations skills, social cues, reading body language, asking personal q's, etc

Thank you! Was wondering about any play to help relax

Are the 5 stages of development considered sort of like a "trade secret" or are you allowed to share them?

give to him on ongoing basis- this can be used as leverage in game to keep him interested /willing to be challenged

Just too extensive to share in a sentence- stages are explained in full detail at www.son-rise.org, download check out

Have you found that your strategies help any child populations in addition to those on the spectrum?

A great 'hot dog ' game-try rolling him like a hot dog in a thin blanket- give squeezes and roll out- kids love it

Thank you! My son is very "hugged" inclined, we use to soothe a lot.

yes- any child with social and language challenges- many of our children are not on the spectrum

does therapy last more than one year? How do you know when to terminate - when move thru the 5 stages?

If the play time is in a specified room, what do you do with a child who consistently refuses to stay in the room?

there are dangers to rolling up in blanket, suffocation, need to be very careful with that

start with 15 minutes, build to more time, once the children see the fun they go in and shut door themselves

Specified room? Can we incorporate fresh outdoor play? And does it offer help with classroom transition or trans into adolescence

yes- of course with child's head out!

do you use sign language, comm devices or picture cards to communicate with nonverbal kids doing sonrise?

yes, plus too much pressure in chest area can suffocate a child..sounds like a great program tho, will def check out

In stages 4/5 games can be done outdoors, in earlier stages in the room. Son- Rise does address transition to school

Yes, but some kids strongly desire to run/move in larger area, really want to leave room, do you force to stay at 1st?

If appropriate for child- yes, still with focus on verbal lang

we do recommend closed/ locked door (if necessary)for initial transition into the room- again, most kids love being there

how long has this program been around?

I recommend mixing it up- 15-20 minutes in room, energetic outdoor activity then room again- building to more time

That makes total sense, but doesn't it kind of go against the Son-Rise principles?

Will program work with kids with Ds who are also on the spectrum?

I mean doesn't the closed/locked door sort of go against the basic Son-Rise principles?

One of few places we go against the child- once in the room they have total control- effective environment is crucial

Is there a specific room we should use for a playroom in the house that would work to our advantage? Dont have spare room here.

Interesting! What are some of the other ways you would go against the child's wishes?

If you don;t have spare room you can use child's bedroom- just need to modify it so it can be used effectively

If child was hurting himself, others or destroying property

how do sonrise teachers address biting and hitting during therapy?

In short (obviously a bigger discussion) being preventative, give alternative (chew toy to bite), praise when gentle

also offering deep pressure squeezes (if child lets) on head and rest of body- could be a way to release pressure

Does "being preventive" include changing gears when see behaviors coming, could communicate power through aggression?

changing gears just before the aggression, also tracking if there is link to foods, time of day, over stimulation, sleep

Thank you Bonnie for this chat. You are a force of nature! I hope all you winners out there get a lot from the book

So if change gears right before aggression, might still be pre-aggression behaviors, but you honor as communication?

Looking forward to new ideas and less frustration, thank u again

Thank you for sharing your time and talents!

You can check out @playtogrow book on #sonrise program at: http://meirautism.org/principles

Joey Tote Bags Giveaway

2009-04-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote a review on Joey Tote Bags at my personal blog. Chris & Kate of Joey Totes are offering two sets as a giveaway to my readers. A set consists of 1 large and 2 small sized tote bags.

RULES FOR GIVEAWAY

Please make sure I have a way to contact you should you be the winner. You can include your email address with your comment. Please do one comment for each entry.

For the main entry please post in comments what you would use Joey Tote Bags for.

For extra entries leave a comment for each option

1 entry - list one of the cons or pros I have in my review
1 entry - follow this blog - can be found in the sidebar
1 entry - follow me on twitter (autismfamily) leave your ID
1 entry - grab my button from the sidebar - leave link to blog
1 entry - Fav Autism Family Adventures (this blog) in Technorati
1 entry - tweet this giveaway - leave your twitter id & date of tweet

This Joey Totes Bag giveaway will run through Wednesday, May 6, 2009 at 9 PM PST. The winners will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

Muvee Reveal Information Plus A Giveaway

2009-04-30T19:13:00.001-07:00

I have never made a movie online before or put something up on YouTube. It all seems too techy for me to figure out. I finally had the opportunity to make a movie through Muvee Reveal.

Animal Pics is the name of our Muvee Reveal , which consists of pictures from the Los Angeles Zoo, Sea World and the California Wildlife Center that had animals on stage Earth Day for the first day of showing Disney's Earth Adventure.

The download took over one hour to complete, which gave me a warning before the setup phase -

Your system does not meet the recommended system requirements of 1GB RAM and 128 MB dedicated Video RAM to run Muvee Reveal optimally. Overall performance may be sluggish especially when using High Definition material or saving option.

The setup took about another half hour before I finally got into the site to make my Muvee Reveal. The first step is to add pictures. They are loaded at the top of the page. In four easy steps we had Animal Pics.

1. Add photos or videos - we use pics from flip video camera
2. Choose the Style - we went with default, found options after finished
3. Select Music - I could not figure that out so I think it was default
4. Press play - I got a message a few times telling me that I needed to add more photos - I started at 12, ended at 18 with the message indicating I needed 6 more to have the pictures rotate faster to keep up with music.

Seems the pictures are slower in my Muvee Reveal due to the limited number of photos I uploaded. I liked the way the video turned out. It did not appear sluggish as the warning indicated after the download prior to setup. It seems 24 is the number of photos recommended.

The Reviewer's Guide really helped guide me through making my Muvee. There are 8 styles to choose from and at the end you can do a voice-over, put up a title and do the credits. Our microphone is not working but I did add a title and my name in the credits. There is a muveee share option for iPod, DVD burning and for various devices and through www.shwup.com you can import for private family album sharing.

There is a 15-day free trial at Muvee Reveal , as well as $20.00 off as a Mother's Day promotion.

Muvee Reveal is offering a CD program to one winner.

RULES FOR GIVEAWAY

Please make sure I have a way to contact you should you be the winner. You can include your email address with your comment. Please do one comment for each entry.

For the main entry please post in comments who you would feature in your Muvee.

For extra entries leave a comment for each option

1 entry - subscribe to my RSS feed or via email
1 entry - follow this blog - can be found in the sidebar
1 entry - follow me on twitter (autismfamily) leave your ID
1 entry - grab my button from the sidebar - leave link to blog
1 entry - Fav Autism Family Adventures (this blog) in Technorati
1 entry - tweet this giveaway - leave your twitter id & date of tweet

This Muvee giveaway will run through Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at 9 PM PST. The winner will be chosen using Random.org from all valid entries and notified via email. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is chosen. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.

A Few Autism Emotional Moments

2009-04-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

As the parent to two teens on the autism spectrum I have not been through the stages some families go through during or after the initial diagnosis. I have never been in denial or cried for what could have been or lost time, etc. I read stories of how Dads are sad they will never play ball with their sons or whatever.

While I do not understand that since it is not the end of the world to have a child with autism or for the person who is on the autism spectrum I have had a few moments over the years when I got emotional.

The ones that I can recall are when I listened to Temple Grandin at a Back to School Conference in August held in Pasadena. I felt the tears start as I got up to leave the auditorium to see the exhibitor tables out in the hall. A little while later I went up to Temple at the table she was hanging out at and felt awkward trying to come up with something to say besides great speech. It was like meeting a celebrity.

The other day we went to the autism fair at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. I was parking the car and got that emotional feeling come over me. It was quite a sight to see all these cars and families with their kids getting ready to do the fair and the walk. I am not sure if I was emotional because it was just me and my kids while the other vehicles had extended family members and friends with them or just knowing that this many families were at the same location at one time seemed amazing to me.

Then yesterday while I was agitated over some rude remarks on twitter my nonverbal son who likes to flip through the photo albums brought me one with a picture in his hand that fell out. He needed me to put the photo back into the plastic . I turned it over to see the first picture taken of him with me at the Hospital the day he was born. It was like he knew this was a special picture and it was a great moment to see that picture again after all these years. I got up from the computer and to be with my kid instead of dealing with individuals online that pushed my buttons.

Join The Play To Grow Twitter Chat

2009-04-24T22:50:00.001-07:00

I am hosting a chat with author Tali Berman of Play to Grow! Over 200 games designed to help your special child develop fundamental social skills. This is taking place on twitter Tuesday, April 28th at 11 am PST.

The chat will last for one hour with five books to give away. If a winner is located in Canada or International they will get the book for free, but have to pay shipping charges.

The hashtag used for the chat and promoting the chat is #sonrise. Talia is a Son-Rise Teacher located in Israel. I am in California so this is the best time for both of us to have the chat.

Over 200 games designed to help your special child develop fundamental social skills, is the essential companion to The Son-Rise Program® Developmental Model. This user-friendly book contains 201 fun, creative and simple-to-prepare games.

The games are divided according to the 5 stages of development outlined in The Son-Rise Program Developmental Model, and each game is designed to address a very specific goal listed within each stage. Now parents simply need to locate their child’s level on the developmental model and use Play to Grow as their guide.

There are various twitter applications that you can use. I prefer www.summize.com where you would just type in #sonrise and follow along in real time and click reply to respond to a particular post.

When I attend twitter events I keep a window open to the host and another one for the guest and then one for summize. When you hit reply in summize it opens a new window in twitter with the @ sign ready to respond to that twitter member. You might want to close window when it has finished posting. You will also need to make room in your tweet for the #sonrise hashtag.

There is also www.tweetchat.com where you would sign in using your twitter ID and password and when it asks what room to enter you would type in #sonrise. I have tried it a few times. You do not have to keep typing in the hashtag if you use tweetchat.

Another option is to utilize www.tweetdeck.com. I went there once and got lost so never tried to figure it out. There are many twitter members that use this if you seek guidance. I would test it out now with other twitter gatherings that take place on a weekly basis like Monday nights it is #journchat and Tuesday evenings it is #gno (girls night out).

I suggest trying these out if you are new to twitter to see how real time chat events work and how they flow, etc. When you RSVP below in Mr Linky you will be using your twitter ID, not a website as this is a twitter chat and going to your website is not going to help another twitter member follow you at the chat.

Feel free to post relevant questions in the comments. This chat will last for one hour on Tuesday, April 28th 11AM PST, 2PM EST. Five copies of the book will be given away.

Twitter RDI Chat Log

2009-04-24T16:25:00.001-07:00

This is a log of the tweets that were done using #RDI for the chat Friday, April 24, 2009 with the RDI Founder Steve Gutstein.

RDI stands for Relationship Development Intervention program - new book out called The RDI Book, read chapter at www.rdiconnect.com

A copy of the RDI Book will be given away during this chat as well #RDI this therapy is for PDD, autism, aspergers

RDI embraces the premise that all family members must be nurtured and cared for and that they all sink or swim together #RDI from the book

It is becoming increasingly clear to scientists that ASD derive from the failure of the brain to develop normal dynamic functioning. #RDI

here are some questions I have for @steveamherst on #RDI What are the most significant ways that RDI differs from floortime?

what are the age ranges for RDI, can a teen start doing RDI if not had any other therapies #RDI

Is RDI helpful 4 persons on the spectrum w/little language (verbal OR visual) and behavior probs?

RDI is not one specific technique. It is a new way of approaching ASD that can benefit anyone on the spectrum

RDI is based on empowering families

RDI is also based on recognizing that people with ASD are highly diverse in most ways

any tips for families dealing with self injurious behavior in young autistic children

RDI goal is providing potential for quality of life for folks with ASD

a new link now saying autism and anorexia, last few weeks was to vinyl flooring, what do you make of all these?

RDI consultants work with families on bio psycho social levels to customize

Process is disrupted in ASD due to neurological difficulties so dynamic intelligence doesnt develop

RDI started about 1999. Now 205 certified consultants, about 3,000 families in 18 countries

can you define "dynamic" functioning

What feedback do you receive most often from RDI families? (I'm an RDI parent. Husband & I have 11 yo Aspergers)

Parents report significant increase in child's flexibility

Parents report tremendous increase in child's desire to "open" their world to new experiences

Dynamic functioning means being able to solve real-world problems and participate in the flow of everyday life

can you give an example in flexibility?

RDI is also based on recognizing that people with ASD are highly diverse in most ways

Dynamic Intelligence is the single most important predictor of future success

any advice for parents of kids who are biters to themselves - self injurious behaviors?

do RDI consultants come to IEP meetings? Do they help with goals? how many hours does one usually do of RDI a week

For self injurious we first need to understand why

Is the behavior an avoidance? Is it a temporal lobe dysfunction?

What people with ASD have in common is that their brains don't develop in integrated manne

is there any connection to stuttering and autism?

People with ASD are much too diverse to ever give an "ASD answer" or solution without knowing that individual

what is the oldest person you know of who receives RDI

I am suspicious of those professionals who claim they know "the answers" for everyone on the spectrum

any advice on perseverations for a teen, should they be limited to specific times to speak on favorite topic?

my son is HFA (14) homeschooled for Middle school yrs, was in gen ed, he needs to say good bye to animal tv shows

If your teen wants to perseveratively talk to him or herself I wouldn't try to limit it. But I wouldn't let them do it with you

he was so upset crying the other day because the cat distracted him & he could not say goodbye to show, stumped me

RDI consultants can help you with IEP's. You and they set very specific goals and have very clear objectives

RDI is teaching your family how to be super functional and you to be optimal guide of children's mental development.

third person to tweet to me what RDI stands for gets the new RDI Book

can you explain the readiness stage of RDI

what are yr thoughts on taking RDI to developing countries where the need for need is great but the cost of RDI too high?

No connection I know of between stuttering and ASD

People with ASD typically have several co-occurring disorders

I like the information on scaffolding in The RDI Book, can you explain about that now

what are yr thoughts on taking RDI to developing countries where help is needed but cost of RDI to high

I love the fact that #RDI equips parents to be the ultimate guides as they work through process as a family. Progressive!

what are your thoughts on eye contact, is it required with #RDI?

Scaffolding is learning how to take a mental process and gradually transfer it from yourself to the child

We carefully select a mental objective from the approx 1,000 I wrote that are developmentally staged

We make sure child is ready and we have developed mental foundations for it

good info in the RDI Book on meaningful activities, can you share some here on twitter?

Then parents and consultant collaborate on a plan to break it into small steps and gradually transfer responsibility for it

how does RDI work with nonverbal kids, do consultants use pecs or devices, are they trained or learn thru family?

We are carefully building dynamic brains and minds

Responsibility means the child knows that from now on they are responsible for the mental process

Something like Piaget's scaffolding/concrete operational stage? Systematic

For example - from now on child must check to see that he or she is coordinating actions with partners

Or checking to see if others understand and are interested in what he is communicating

For older kids augmented communication might be necessary to provide purely instrumental, means-to-ends communication

Professionals can go to our website www.rdiconnect.com and find out information about becoming an RDI consultant

last call for questions for RDI Founder Steve Gutstein @steveamherst

It takes about 12-18 months but folks can do almost all training (except 3 wks.) in their local area

Your thoughts on RDI in conjuction with other therapies (ABA, VB, Floortime, etc) vs a 'strict' RDI approach?

OK. Well I have to get to the airport. Thanks for the opportunity

thanks to all who participated in #RDI chat sorry about twitter glitch

A Free Premium Membership Weekend to Find Help at Care.com

2009-04-23T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have been spending the last few days at Care.com checking out the free premium membership offerings that are available this weekend. It starts off at midnight pacific time Friday, April 24th and goes through this weekend.

I had heard of www.care.com but honestly I never really knew what the site was about. I am glad I had the opportunity to explore this site in detail because what I found was very organized search options for finding special needs care.

As the parent to two teens on the autism spectrum I require someone with related experience pertaining to behavior, feeding, communication, stimming, bathing/grooming and hygiene. I prefer them to have their own transportation and to be a non-smoker.

Your search can be limited to availability on short notice, various age groups, individual or company, hourly rate, age of caregiver, mileage from the home, disability and key words.

The initial search for someone to care for special needs has a drop down box with disabilities that include:

ADHD
Aspergers
Asthma
Autism
Blindness/Visual Impairment
Celiac
Cerebral Palsy
Down Syndrome
Epilepsy
Food Allergies
Fragile X
Seizure Disorder
Sensory Integration Disorder
Speech Delay
Tourette Syndrome

The next step is to input your zipcode and choose the mileage in five mile increments from 1-50. There will be a list in the middle of the page with results showing ten possible caregivers per page. This list can be changed according to age, name, city, experience, distance, membership length and refine the search. I have done this several times, changing the distance and the care service experience.

In all honesty it can be a bit overwhelming to see all the options to find someone to assist in the care of the special needs child. The profile pages of the caregivers contains all sorts of data at your fingertips.

I searched using "autism" in the keyword and also wanted to only see profiles of members with a photo and who had logged in within the last two weeks. This can also be last week or last month. I specified wanting experience with teens. This has the age range of 12-17. Another option here is if they are comfortable with pets. This I did not check off since we only have a cat.

The general information in this refined search has drop down boxes for the provider's age, gender, language and hourly rate. I left the default "any" for provider age, gender and hourly rate on all my special needs searches. I specified for housekeeping female only.

Some of the options for care service experience you can search include:

Assistive Technology/AAC
Behavior - Applied Behavior Analysis
Brushing Protocol
Epi Pen Injections
G Tubes
Respiratory Care
Sign Language
Stimming Attendance

There is also a willing to learn section - if that box is checked the caregiver is open to learning new skills. Under other services the options cover - medical transport, errands, shopping, laundry, meal preparation and housekeeping. There is another box for choosing part or full time plus live-in or out.

I really limited my results when I chose AAC and stimming, which left me with no one. Once I changed my search choices I found 6 caregivers within my categories. Their profiles had some interesting information for me to limit my choices even further.

At the profile of the caregivers I saw the last time they logged in, their reviews if any, their certifications, their background check - which is a verification of their social security number and a national criminal records search. You need to apply to obtain this information if it is readily available at their profile. The reviews are also available in audio. I found one profile that had one waiting for approval.

The profile has their name, age, years of experience, hourly rate, availability, response to messages, ratings, diagnosis experience, specific care experience, additional options, qualifications, education, language. There is a check mark indicating experience. The chart lists all days of the week and time frames with checks for openings.

What really caught my eye was not responding to all messages as I found some that had 50% listed there. I was quite interested in the blurb the caregivers used to describe themselves. I would think of this like the opening paragraph of a resume. The remarks by some had nothing to do with caring for special needs or their terms used were not appropriate.

I would prefer someone with CPR, First Aid for their qualifications. One of the choices in my search had let these expire but was willing to take them. I was surprised at this statement as I would rather someone want to do this on their own to speed up the hiring process.

There are green tabs at the top of each profile so you can switch over to child care, tutoring, pet care, housekeeping and senior care. These are all dependant on what the specified caregiver is interested in providing at www.care.com. One profile I read had housekeeping and tutoring while some others just had child care and special needs.

The other options in the green tabs is the contact to send a message, reviews to read, background check, videos and your notes on this profile. The notes are for your eyes only.

I like that there is a page for me that shows my messages, my stats, care exchanges, my jobs, my favorites and my profile and settings. When I logged back into the site my messages were at the home page for me to review. My stats showed that I sent 3 messages and received 1 reply, plus that I had logged in five times. I have two profiles in my favorites and two emails. When the background check was approved by the caregiver for me to access I received an email.

The care exchange is a way for caregivers to get service from other members/caregivers. I uploaded a profile picture and my settings allowed for me to receive listings of new members in my area and for weekly care tips and advice.

While in the special needs section at the main page for the initial search I noticed this was also an area for articles. I did not see anything pertaining to autism at the present time.

I received an email with profiles showing all new members in my location. I contacted two for special needs with specifics for summer help to go to a conference. The one reply said she is a college student and not sure her summer schedule yet. I also contacted one person in regard to Housekeeping. That is also an extensive search. I utilized bathroom, kitchen, windows and refrigerator cleaning for my housekeeping search.

They also have oven cleaning, attic or basement cleaning, pet cleanup, plant care, house sitting, laundry, dishes, cabinet cleaning. Too bad they did not have painting, but they did have wall cleaning, which is something a family with a child on the autism spectrum can surely use.

I rent the stove and refrigerator and would like to get my own refrigerator, so this is something of interest. I asked in my email how long it would take to do this type of job and what it entailed.

The hourly rates for special needs varied from $10-15 all the way to almost $50 per hour. The housekeeping was less expensive. I am looking forward to finding someone to meet my two search requests. The summer camp wants parents to go to a group orientation in June and children are not allowed. I need to find someone for a few hours one evening. Also every August is an autism conference on a Saturday and Sunday. I am waiting to see the schedule and considering going if I can find someone to watch my sons for about 6 hours one day.

I do have respite care through the Regional Center here in California, they pay very low and there is a revolving door. I have a problem with them not speaking English clearly and am hoping the results will be rewarding through Care.com.

I hope these details are helpful to other autism families, as well as other special needs so that you will sign up for the free premium membership this weekend to find care. We all need to take care of ourselves, an evening out for dinner, the movies, a concert, a day spa are all something to consider when you find the right caregiver at www.care.com.

Mother's Day is a few weeks away while summer is just around the corner. Maybe you need the house cleaned up, the dog taken for walks while away for a few days or at work long hours, or someone to assist with some light chores or child care.

I suggest taking advantage of the FREE Premium Weekend at www.care.com. I liked the layout and options so much that I am considering offering services in the fall to other families of special needs kids for mornings or senior care to help out another caregiver that may need a few hours break.

I hope to see you at www.Care.com

Twiter Notes From Autism Webinar on Multi-Treatments

2009-04-21T21:22:00.001-07:00

I belong to the Spectrum Gold Club through www.momsfightingautism.com at the cost of $14.95 per month via paypal. Through the club I get advanced notice of the free webinars, that are moderated by author Chantal Sicile-Kira and transcripts from the webinars at a later date.

This webinar took place on Monday April 20, 2009 with Jonathan Alderson in Canada as the guest. He specializes in merging best-practice strategies and techniques into cohesive customizes Multi-Treatment Interventions. His website is Intensive Multi-Treatment Intervention.

The following are the tweets I posted on my twitter page that I was able to gather. My son was in the kitchen at the same time so it was hard to get all the information.

After the introduction Jonathan gave some background information on himself. He went on to mention the principles for choosing a treatment plan.

1st principle to choose treatment program is to start with idea that dx of autism is multifaceted and multi factorial, not just 1 modality

physical health of child needs to be a priority

child has bowel issues, distended stomach, diet intervention working in conjunction with medical Drs within 2-4 months kid did play therapy

principle # 3 each indiv treatment/strategy (slp, ot, music) chosen & brought into an indication that are pre conditioned and timing

try behavior or swimming with other programs you are doing, ask W questions to therapists - what is this specifically for?

be wary if they say the product helps everything, which symptoms does it address and doesn't address, when (HBOT) is best time/age?

don't start HBOT first, do other Biomedical treatments first, this one company turned parents away, principle - which area does it work on

multi treatment does not mean doing them all at the same time or at once, review program that is happening already, might be able eliminate

service providers need to talk to one another, tell a parent if the treatment is not the right one, maybe try this one first

where do all the treatments fit in the map, now taking questions that were sent in, first from Puerto Rico asking about RDI and floortime

both programs fit under a play based model plus social and maybe even use pieces of both to address social dev and social communication

can start with play therapy and move on to behavioral therapy, might have better eye contact spontaneously,now structured adult led learning

son is 6 & does not speak, speech therapy is useless, what can I do. He says consider physical help, high # of kids have chronic ear infect

it is possible that certain sounds they are sensitive too, only one example, not for all nonverbal children, a health concern related?

go beyond hearing tests, speech therapy is low frequency & he says not enough, make sure the SLPs are teaching parents techniques to do home

parent needs to be included or switch therapists with someone who includes you the parent,also make language and talking a game rather than

an exercise that is controlled, be playful with words, mom pours juice, next time sing orange song in a playful way, make language engaging

the child may tug on parent to let them know they want song to sing again, also Chantal says might be motor problem, they need alternative

means of communication, many scared that they will not learn to speak if have a device to communicate, this is not true, will help speech

the focus could than be on the inappropriate behaviors instead of teaching to communicate, don't isolate out language, look at bigger picture

question now on stimming 4 yr old with classic autism likes air conditioners and fans, some say stop them from self stimulating, he is not

investigate - maybe biochemical - beta carotene someone named Mary M published papers on - peripheral vision, hand clapping

Dr in NY Kaplan specializes in vision a therapy not the colored ones but this is lenses that are designed to help depth perception

I typed biochemical, mistake he said bio medical both times

I just submitted a question about my sons vocal tics - burping and then asked about brushing protocol

other callers said the other kid could have yeast over growth

learn how to ask questions if the therapist cannot answer maybe find another one his website is www.imti.ca

next question about B12 shots, he is not a med Dr - personal opinion says there is good research on the B12 shot comparing to creams/spray

he has started four DAN conferences, last one in San Diego, he started long time ago, in Washington, NJ he was invited to Physician training

what does he think of the gfcf diet - what to do and when, specifically to eliminate the proteins in wheat and milk, families in conj w/Dr

a peptide test will tell them if the child needs those eliminated, determine if child needs it or not, dont jump in, others say just try it

at least close to a yr to get results, cannot determine in a few months, make sure full range of nutrition they are getting, SDC appropriate

gfcf does not address a yeast issue where SDC is, Chantal gets responses on trying the gfcf diet for a few months, at least 8 months

gfcf does not address a yeast issue where SDC is, Chantal gets responses on trying the gfcf diet for a few months, at least 8 months

autism can be co morbid with other disorders, can have aspergers and depression

In this brief presentation he will share his insights into how to effectively combine treatments

paying specific attention to phases of development, the order and timing of treatments.

GRASP is good advocacy program, 50% of the board are on the spectrum, also cognitive therapy is good to learn from #asd #autism

Brenda Smith Myles book and Chantal 's book on life skills are both recommended, she touted her own book, but it is good I have it

a teen with aspergers needs to have fun social experiences need a balance not only interact with just therapists #aspergers #asd

Chantal talking about her son who is 20 and he wants to have more friends and a girl friend, he is practicing at various locales, beach

next question about natural healing - oil of oregano, he runs a program with families following DAN protocol

dont do protocols under your own direction, find someone with state certification need right dose, etc.

they have not asked my question, this one is 12 yr old boy with PDD-NOS, tested for mercury levels, he has high levels,

now on vaccine schedule he said the Mom should go to a DAN conference, now about chelation - he has worked with kids with IV chelation

kids had other therapies so not scientific studies to see if was specific to chelation when memory improved

can adults benefit with auditory and music therapy, what about HBOT for adults, maybe higher functioning, they need to be participating

include the adults in the decision process for their own therapies, caregivers supporting the person, helpers believe help is possible, be +

auditory therapy - analyze what can help for them her son Jeremy has written a lot down and is publishing it,. he started vision therapy 19

the treatment map evolves with each new strength, clear up one issue like hyperactivity use play therapy first, by third phase better

isolate on other distractions to get their language

in the first instance make trial in ABA make more varied, opposite of how ABA is applied, a bit of reconstruction of ABA model,

don't prescribe the interactions, in a strict ABA each therapist is strict to give same verbal inst, he allows therapists to instruct dif way

kids can function in this way, all with autism dont need instruction the same way, change up where therapists sits or change their tone

Chantal says generalization to start with changing one thing at a time, good at ABA change tone but not stimuli, keep same tone & then chng

use puppets to practice scripts, play around and testing boundaries

get a session of therapy recorded and try to implement it, not an extra burden for parent to become therapist, use strategies at home

treatment effect speeds up as consistency across the environment and teach other therapists to do it too, ABA and speech, etc connect

a conduit for generalizing therapists, next question from CAIRO asking about homeschooling and HBOT for autistic infant at 2 yrs old

HBOT are used throughout North America in hospitals, for an infant need to speak to a Dr, not going to do an opinion

lets list what are your financial resources, family support, time, professional, do an inventory to see if comfortable to do homeschool

socializing is to be placed with other children and adults, research child can benefit from socializing in peer groups and play,

low eye contact, close to no language, more intensive adult led program best to begin with

toileting methods with severely autistic children, his method is - consider biomedical, autism correlated with gut issues, if kid has gut

seal up the gut issues of constip, diar, etc before trying toileting, kid could be in pain, no tug of war or effort until gut is resolved

if child is fairly regular, make toilet/washroom a place where the child has control - not an area to forced to sit on toilet -user friendly

keep consistent - associate bathroom with diaper changes 99% of time get them into the bathroom and do it beside toilet, yoga mat to use

keep all the supplies stocked in the bathroom, diapers, wipes, step one, two is how you respond & react with facial expressions, attitude

parents in gest and fun and the parents make comments about the diaper, the msg child gets that this is something they are not happy about

the presentation is to take off diaper, look at child even if not looking back, and voice is calm, enthusiastic, you did a ---- this is good

give the message that he did the pppp and the attitude is really important, empty contents into the toilet, make association - visual behav

pretend if not able to get into toilet and verbalize, once they are wiped, clothes on and they get to flush, he encourages use tp so kid

can see the process of taking the toilet paper off the roll and putting in toilet, than use the wipes to clean them up better,no force flush

empower the child to take control of their own body, encourage rather than force

child might not be ready due to hypotonia, an accessory is a foot stool for child to have feet flat and supported, can relax muscles

some books say take kids once an hr, he says no get more blanks and false negatives, no person on the planet goes once an hour

kids have a hard time feeling their body, this girl sets an alarm to remind herself to go to bathroom every few hrs when out in public

adults have told Chantal that they cannot tell the difference between a full stomach and having to go to the bathroom, timer helps them

if your child holds bowel movements until they come home - theory is that school overwhelmed they are more comfortable at home, so can go

some children with sensory issues modify bathroom with a rug - could have auditory challenges, bathrooms are super echoy & the flush

if a kid talks softly, covers ears often than use the rug and do not have them flush, paent can flush for them, tiles and seats cold, warmup

best way to find therapists in your area - he says parents ahead of you are beating the path, dont recreate the wheel with research

save parents hours of finding stuff, local support groups, list at ARI of DAN Dr's, the list is for Canada and other countries, TACA

TACA has real time chat now, local ASA chapters (I always say this)

they never did my question about brushing protocol

interview the professional - open to work with team members, do not engage in contract with someone not willing to engage with others

are they personable to you, your the child's advocate, how do they respond to you, parent friendly therapist

Henry Ford Health System Autism Conference

2009-04-18T22:06:00.000-07:00

Henry Ford Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (CADD) held the Living With Autism Workshop on Thursday, April 16th in Troy, Michigan. The workshop was tweeted in real time on twitter. Some of the information was retweeted later by Henry Ford News.

Due to the time difference as I am in California I was not able to follow along. I was given permission to post the tweets from the workshop, so these are the ones I collected. This lists the breakout sessions.

Check out live updates of our autism workshop Thursday, 8:30 a.m. here on Twitter. More info about the workshop: http://tiny.cc/eaj23

Tweeted by @metroparent and @henryfordnews

Hi Everyone. The Living with Autism Workshop in Troy will start in a half-hour or so. I'll be tweeting live here today, so stay tuned

Just talked to Amy Sanderson of EMU's autism center. Her 6-year-old son Owen has autism. Nice lady

We're putting together an advisory board for Special Edition, our special needs publication. Amy may be a great candidate

Our keynote speaker today is Eustacia Cutler, her daughter is Temple Grandin, the renowned animal behavior expert and best-selling author

Ruth Robbins, Metro Parent's associate publisher, is giving opening remarks.

Full crowd. Jill Robinson of Madonna University is talking now. Small university with a big heart, she says.

Their graduate program in autism is a great program for educators.

Madonna University faculty is teaching some of the breakout sessions today. "We're here to share our knowledge," she said.

Dr. Charles Barone of Henry Ford Health System is making remarks now. They're real pioneers on autism care and have a new center.

At Henry Ford, we're committed to helping children with autism and their families," he says. Talks about the autism clinic.

Offers comprehensive plan for patients with autism. Something that's music to the ears of parents with kids with autism.

Pediatricians feel frustrated at times. We don't have a silver bullet to treat autism," Barone said.

That's why the professionals at Henry Ford offer comprehensive treatment. It's not one treatment fits all kids, he said.

I'm at the Establishing Verbal Skills for Children with Autism, presented by Kaufman Children's Center's Nancy Kaufman

Deals with childhood apraxia of speech (problems with talking), which affects around 40 percent of kids with autism

Some kids can produce oral movements, but may not be able to produce oral motor movements

There are "pop-out" words sometimes, though. The child says cookie all of a sudden when he sees one, but may not be able to talk on request

Some kids have "marble mouth" communication, where words are garbled.

Kids who can't understand spoken language will memorize key words to get by, kind of like a person trying to speak a foreign language

Two-tong approach to help: teach how to talk physically and teach them how to understand language.

Methods to help kids get ready for vocal imitation...

Use sign language as a bridge. Have a child make a sign for general words like more, done, want. Leaves too much guess work of child's wants

Kaufman's teaches more specific signs for each child. Avenue to communication. Pair with vocals later.

Kaufman protocol is a behavioral shaping approach

kids can struggle pronouncing consonants. They help kids get close to that consonant as a bridge to the real sound.

test kids to figure out what vowels, consonants and combinations a child can produce

Work with kids on the syllable combinations that are hard for them

All the while working with child to improve vocalization

Kids still sign words too. They don't let go of sign until they have mastered pronunciation of that word.

Don't deal with strings of words until kids have mastered words that they use most

Some words are easier to say, kids should practice those for oral motor skills strengthening
Kids with autism tend to cut off last part of word, which can be really important to be understood

After a while, introduce pivot words that are used in combination with a couple other words. "Move the door." "On the desk."

If kids thumps on door to communicate he wants to go out

...don't just open the door, ask "Do you want to go out? Tell me you want to go out

Many children learn from memorization, so it's important to say things in a way that they would sound natural repeating it....

Say "I want a cookie." instead of "Do you want a cookie?" for instance

Parent asks: "Can all children learn how to speak?" Good question

Answer: At least all children should be able to achieve "functional communication."

Important to create a "willing and cooperative learner" for success

Pairing is critical, creating a connection with educator

For good communication, a child must learn to make requests, which are called mands. Very difficult.

Tact is a label for something. Cookie. Door. Chair. Spoon

echoic is vocal imitation

These and more are some of the classifications of language

Signs are important, but always should be paired with vocal approximations

If child requests something (huge in communication), it's important that you give them what they want. Reinforcement!

Now in ABA and TEACCH: Merging Methods in the Classroom, presented by Hilary Hitchcock of Madonna University.

TEACCH stands for Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communications-Handicapped Children

First of importance is having a physical space for learning

Next is creating a daily schedule (pictures or words) to help understand sequence of events in day.

Then Work system. What work needs to be done? How do we know when it's done. What happens then?

Having visuals for students clarify the communication process

Pictures of choices for free time paired with words helps kids absorb information.

visually structured tasks is another key to teaching autistic children. Gives kids help in taking next steps

Written instructions important, too, even for those who can't read. Helps them get familiar with words

Visual organization of items needed for a task in one container helps limit child's focus and keep his attention.

Limit the materials, too, so not to overwhelm

ABA, or Applied Behavior Approach, is often used. Includes individualized programming for each individual student.

Prompts are an important part of ABA. Pointing to a stop sign. Picking child up when you want him to stand up.

You can prompt verbally, with gestures, physically or environmentally (placing a cup in front of child to prompt milk request.

Schedules are important to kids with autism. Helps them expect and reach appropriately to what comes next in day.

Remember: visual cues are important. Show a bus and write the word for getting off the bus to school

visual schedule for going to the bathroom is a great example. Pull pants down. bathroom duty (wait one minute), etc. wash hands

visual schedule for washing hands, too. wet hands, get soap, rinse, dry

Great for helping kids with independent work, too. Put items in order of need for the task you want child to complete

Put items in top to bottom, left to right order to prepare or cement reading pattern. (cool tip)

Timers can give kids cue that certain part of schedule is over and time to move on to new task on schedule

Rewards, of course, helps kids keep motivated to stay on task

For older kids, give them coins they can use to trade for a cookie or treat over time. Helps them learn lesson in money, too.

Colors really help kids key into important concepts and cues

Label different classrooms with numbers and colors, so they can navigate better. "I have second session in the pink room," he can think.

Simple changes and deviations can help create a system unique to each child

Some kids respond to colors, others pictures, others numbers. Still, always include words

create work stations by using colored duct tape to differentiate each area

Have portable cards with pictorial instructions to take when kid is out and about, at gym or somewhere else.

The primary lessons: organization is key. Variety in prompts (color, words, pictures) are too.

Join the RDI Twitter Chat with Steve Gutstein

2009-04-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

Please join me as I host an "author chat" on twitter Friday, April 24th at 2:00 PM Central Time, 3PM Eastern time, which happens to be Noon for me on the west coast. The guest will be Dr. Steven Gutstein, the founder of The Relationship Development Intervention Program, also known as RDI.

RDI® is a program for educating and coaching parents and teachers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and others who interact and work with the child. It is a 'mission oriented' program. This means that it is not wedded to any specific techniques.

The mission of RDI® is to develop the most effective methods to remediate those specific deficits which impede people on the autism spectrum from productive employment, independent living, marriage and intimate social relationships.

Dr. Gutstein will be discussing his latest release, The RDI Book: Forging New Pathways for Autism, Asperger's and PDD with the Relationship Development Intervention Program.

The hashtag to be utilized for the author chat is #RDI. There are various twitter applications that you can use. I prefer www.summize.com where you would just type in #RDI and follow along in real time and click reply to respons to a particular post.

When I attend twitter events I keep a window open to the host and another one for the guest and then one for summize. When you hit reply in summize it opens a new window in twitter with the @ sign ready to respond to that twitter member. You might want to close window when it has finished posting. You will also need to make room in your tweet for the #RDI hashtag.

There is also www.tweetchat.com where you would sign in using your twitter ID and password and when it asks what room to enter you would type in #RDI. I have tried it a few times. You do not have to keep typing in the hashtag if you use tweetchat.

Another option is to utilize www.tweetdeck.com. I went there once and got lost so never tried to figure it out. There are many twitter members that use this if you seek guidance. I would test it out now with other twitter gatherings that take place on a weekly basis like Monday nights it is #journchat and Tuesday evenings it is #gno (girls night out).

I suggest trying these out if you are new to twitter to see how real time chat events work and how they flow, etc. When you RSVP below in Mr Linky you will be using your twitter ID, not a website as this is a twitter chat and going to your website is not going to help another twitter member follow you at the chat.

Feel free to post relevant questions in the comments. Follow Dr Gutstein on twitter. Find me on twitter . Read a sample chapter of The RDI Book.

This chat will last for one hour on Friday, April 24th 2PM CST, 3PM EST & Noon for PST. A copy of The RDI Book will be given away during the chat.

Service Dogs Have Appeal to Autistic Son

2009-04-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Last month I took my 14 yr old high functioning son Nicholas with me to the free exhibit day at the CSUN Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. A new roof was being put on the house we rent and I wanted him to get out of the house. He is homeschooled with California Virtual Academy.

This was the first year I have been able to attend to see all the exhibits. It is something I have known about since Matthew was in preschool and the AAC Accessor mentioned the conference to me.

This is an annual conference held at Hotels near LAX. Now that Matthew takes the bus and goes to Middle School I had enough time to drive over there and back before he arrived home. I do plan on writing about the exhibits I checked out over at Autism Spectrum Disorders.

I finally got to organize all the pamphlets and sample Cd's I got from the expo, but thought I would post here on the blog instead about the Service Dogs that were all around the exhibit halls at both Hotels.

The exhibit halls were all organized according to disability. There were many tables and displays for the visually impaired. This meant people bringing their service dogs. Nicholas is scared of dogs. During the eleven years we have lived at this house there have been many dogs in the neighborhood. We are a cat family and some dogs have chased and even killed cats.

One of the reasons he never took to bike riding is because all the kids that learn on the street have to endure the barking dogs from a few homes. The same with the skateboarders too.

Nicholas pointed out the service dogs to me. Some even had signs around their necks saying they were working and not to pet. There was no barking at all. Some dogs even seemed to be socializing with other dogs as they were grouped together when their owners were having a conversation.

We went to the second Hotel to see the tables and noted there were not too many service dogs at this location. We headed across the street to Burger King for lunch. Nick wanted to go back into the first Hotel where we had parked to do one more walk around the exhibits to see the Service Dogs again.

He also got to enjoy seeing the planes come in for landing and a few demonstrations of communication devices that would be a good fit for Matthew someday in the future. Nick talked about the dogs on the way home and for days later. He has started watching the Dog Whisperer again and the Dog Championship show recently on Animal Planet he put on DVR to see again.

Being around the Service Dogs gave him some confidence to be more comfortable around dogs. He even said he may try petting a dog someday. I thought this was such a positive experience for him that was so unexpected. I just wanted to get him out of the house and be the extra set of hands to carry more stuff for me.

It was nice to hear him talk about a different animal rather than just cats all the time.

Some New Skills For My Autistic Son

2009-04-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

We are wrapping up spring break for my son Matthew while my other son Nicholas has been on his spring break from California Virtual Academy since Friday. As I mentioned in recent articles Matthew has been in good moods lately and not having serious behavior issues.

I wanted to make note of some new skills he has shown this past week. Normally when Matthew comes home from school he will just leave his jacket somewhere in the living room on his way to the bedroom to remove his sneakers. He will place the sneakers in the crate where shoes are stored. Next he goes through his backpack for homework.

While we went on some errands this past week Matthew removed his coat and then proceeded to fix the arms so they were not inside out. He left the jacket on the bed instead of the floor.

The weather here has been mixed with one day wearing short sleeves and no jacket, but then the following day needing a jacket. I had asked Matthew to get his jacket. He brought me his heavier jacket so I told him that was not the right one. A few seconds later he was in front of me with the same jacket along with a hanger. I was impressed since it is hard for him to reach the bar with the hangers.

When I ask Matthew to remove his socks he will just take them off and leave them there on the floor inside out. This week he sat there and fixed them by inserting his hand in and pulling the sock out. This is much better than a rolled ball of socks on the floor.

I usually give him his meds around 5:15 so that he is asleep between 7:00 and 7:30 pm. On spring break I wanted to sleep in a little so I gave him his meds later, one day by even an hour. He still wanted to go to bed at the same time. He knows what show is on Noggin when he is in bed, so there was no escaping the usual bedtime.

He has two bottom corner teeth coming in, which appears to be bothering him as he is putting his hand in his mouth to touch them. He now is going to the mirror in the kitchen and regularly looking at himself. I have never seen him do this before and not even Nicholas who is 14 does this. It is funny to see Matt look in the mirror, open his mouth and look inside. Plus he is touching his hair and smiling or laughing at the mirror. He seems like a young teen checking himself out.

While at the grocery store he chose a box of unsalted saltines. I figured if he was not interested in eating them they were good for soup for me and Nicholas. Turns out Matthew likes the saltines and handed me the last package from the box this morning to put into a baggie so he can have some throughout the day.

Matthew will turn 13 on June 30th. He loves to look through photo albums.

Dei Fratelli Products for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Dei Fratelli is donating a case of their gluten free products for the gluten free twitter party being held Friday, April 3rd.

Dei Fratelli is a preferred tomato brand sold throughout the United States, offering whole, diced and stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, tomato sauce, pizza sauce and more,

Enjoy Life Foods Products at Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-02T16:17:00.000-07:00

EnjoyLifeFoods.com is donating three free product coupons along with an Enjoy Life reusable shopping bag for the 9AM and the 1PM pst time slots with panel members at the gluten free twitter party on Friday, April 3rd.

Enjoy Life Foods is the nation’s leading allergy-friendly and gluten-free foods company. The company offers 24 delicious products including allergy-friendly AND gluten-free soft-baked cookies, snack bars, granolas, trail mixes, bagels, semi-sweet chocolate chips and chocolatey bars, all of which are free of the eight most common allergens and made in a dedicated nut- and gluten-free facility.

For the 7:30 PM pst time slot Enjy Life Foods is donating the following:

1 box of Snickerdoodle
1 box of Cocoa Loco snack bars
1 bag Mountain Mambo trail mix
3 boom CHOCO booms bars (boom CHOCO boom dairy-free rice milk, boom CHOCO boom dairy-free rice milk with crispy rice, and boom CHOCO boom dark chocolate)
1 Enjoy Life reuseable Enjoy Life shopping bag

The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Meal Planner for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Meal Mixer is offering a three month subscription to The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Meal Planner at each time slot at the gluten free twitter party being held on Friday, April 3rd.

MealMixer Meal Plans Include...

A Custom Meal Plan based on your taste and time preferences, nutritional information, and meals/items/recipes that avoid your specific food allergies.

Shopping List generated from each recipe on your menu, plus any additional items you need on your list.

Tasty Recipes nicely formatted for easy reading in the kitchen, and scaled to the number of servings needed to support your diet plan and family size.

sample menu list

Tastes Like Real Food Bread Mix for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

TastesLifeRealFood.com is imported from Norway and known as #1 Gluten-Free Brand. One bag of their white bread celiac-safe bread mix will be given away at each time slot at the gluten free twitter party on Friday, April 3rd.

The mix makes one loaf and has the following ingredients:

CORN STARCH, BUCKWHEAT FLOUR, PRE COOKED RICE FLOUR, GLUCOSE, POTATO STARCH, VEGETABLE FAT (PALM OIL), RICE STARCH, STABILIZER 9GUAR GUM, E 464), SALT.

*Made with naturally gluten-free ingredients

Feel free to follow them on twitter. More info on the gluten free twitter party.

Future Horizons Donates Books for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Future Horizons Inc. is donating the book Special Diets for Special Kids: Understanding and Implementing Special Diets to Aid in the Treatment of Autism and Related Developmental Disorders, by Lisa Lewis, Ph.D. for the gluten free twitter party. This will be done at the 9AM pst timeslot with panel members.

Special Diets For Special Kids Two: More Great-tasting Recipes and Tips for Implementing Special Diets to Aid in the Treatment of Autism and Related Developmental Disorders.

In this book, Dr. Lewis reprises her original medical explanations in condensed form, with informative updates and new recipes. This will be given away at the gluten free twitter party at the 1PM pst time slot.

For more details on the gluten free twitter party and resources. Feel free to follow Future Horizons on twitter.

Allergaroo Products at Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-04-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Allergaroo products are ready made dishes in microwaveable pouches. They are donating one pouch of each product for all time slots of the gluten free twitter party taking place Friday, April 3, 2009.

Allergaroo is the country’s only allergy-friendly, gluten-free brand of delicious, convenient, ready-made dishes. The company was founded by a mother of two children with multiple food allergies who longed for a convenient and delicious meal alternative that her kids could safely eat without worries. All Allergaroo dishes are made on dedicated equipment in an allergen-free dedicated space.

Rice Spaghetti with Tomato Sauce The ingredients and nutrition facts

Spyglass Noodles - Penne Rice Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Ground Chicken. The ingredients and nutrition facts

Chili Mac - Elbow Rice Pasta with Mild Chili Sauce, Pinto Beans and Ground Chicken. The ingredients and nutrition facts.

The gluten free twitter party is set for Friday, April 3, 2009 at 9AM, 1PM and 7:30 PM PST. Please check the blog home page for panel members, other prizes and further details.

Autism Research Institute Donates Books For Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

Autism Research Institute (ARI) is donating three sets of books for the gluten free twitter party that is taking place on Friday, April 3, 2009. Panel members are set for discussions at 9AM, 1PM and 7:30 PM pst. This is the time prizes will be given away. There are three copies of each book for the giveaways, meaning three sets during each time slot - each done individually.

Special Diets for Special People: Understanding and Implementing a Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Diet to Aid in the Treatment of Autism and Related Developmental Disorders.

The Kid-Friendly ADHD and Autism Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet.

Nourishing Hope for Autism: Nutrition Intervention for Healing Our Children.

For more details on the gluten free twitter party, please see the panel members post.

Das Foods Caramel Candy Assortment for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

A gluten free caramel candy assortment is donated by www.dasfoods.com for the 7:30 PM pst time slot of the gluten free twitter party taking place on Friday, April 3, 2009.

This assortment includes Classic, Chocolate & Walnut and Ginger & Pistachio. All their candies are gluten free.

Our Caramels are made 100% natural ingredients – no preservatives or artificial flavors. We try to procure our ingredients as locally as possible.

You can follow them on twitter. For more information on the gluten free twitter party and resources.

Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet Giveaway at Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

Jessica Kingsley Publishers has donated the book by Susan Lord, Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet as a prize at the gluten free twitter party.

The easy-to-follow meal plans, complete with delicious recipes and ingredient lists, will guide you with confidence in providing a nutritionally-balanced diet for your child, as well as healthy meals the whole family will enjoy. Here is a listing of the contents.

Susan Lord is a registered dietitian with the American Dietetic Association. Her daughter was diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder at the age of five and has been on a gluten-free, casein-free diet for almost nine years.

The party takes place Friday, April 3rd. I will be giving this book away at the 7:30 PM PST time slot. More details and resources for the party.

Kay's Naturals Protein GFCF Cereal for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

One case of protein cereals that are gluten and casein free is a prize at the gluten free twitter party on Friday, April 3, 2009. A case consists of six 9.5 ounce boxes with the winner choosing from:

French Vanilla

Honey Almond

Apple Cinnamon

The nutritional information is found at www.kaysglutenfree.com More information on the gluten free twitter party with resources. This prize/giveaway will be done at the 9AM PST time slot with panel members.

One-year subscription to GFreeCuisine.com for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-28T13:49:00.000-07:00

A one-year subscription to www.gfreecuisine.com will be given away during the 9AM time slot with panel members at the gluten free twitter party on Friday, April 3, 2009. This is the only gluten free recipe website to offer an automatic grocery list creator.

GFree offers simple and delicious gluten-free recipes, every day. Each week you choose five entrees you'd like to make for the week. Gluten-free bread recipes, freezer recipes and gluten-free dessert recipes are also on the site. Here is a sample menu.

The winner will receive their subscription via email. You can also follow GFreeCuisine on twitter.

Navan Foods Gift Certificate for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Navan Foods is donating a $25 gift certificate along with free shipping for the gluten free twitter party being held on Friday, April 3rd.

You can visit Navan Foods at their website. This is an allergy free food shop that understands food sensitivities. Their physical shop is located in Virginia.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

RSVP for gluten free twitter party.

Receive a Copy of Nourishing Hope for autism at Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-25T17:15:00.000-07:00

The Nourishing Hope for Autism: Nutritional Invention for Healing our Children book is written by Julie Matthews, who is a leading US autism nutrition expert and Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) Practitioner helping parents worldwide find hope and healing for their children on the spectrum.

Although the image shows a DVD this giveaway during the gluten free twitter party is for the Book. The book will be given away during the 7:30 PM PST time as there are autism parents on that panel.

Nourishing Hope for Autism is an autism diet book for parents that provides the scientific explanations for why and how autism diets work to help recover children from symptoms of autism. It shows how to successfully implement diets and cook creatively for families - even picky eaters! Used by parents and autism physicians, this book gives practical steps for dietary intervention, a roadmap for getting started as well as evolving and customizing the varied approaches.

Through her autism nutrition practice, Julie provides one-on-one parent counseling, an online resource center, and autism diet intervention tools. She welcomes families from diverse backgrounds from cities, suburbs, towns and rural areas in the US and abroad. You can visit the nourishing hope website for more details.

Gluten Free Party Beans for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

The good news for families is that JellyBelly beans are gluten free and Kosher for Easter and Passover. partybeans.com is donating 10 giveaways for the gluten free twitter party that takes place on Friday, April 3rd.

Each of the 10 winners will receive 5 "small snip snap tins" that are shown at the website to the left. The candy stays fresh and preserved in the tin.

Winners of these tins can upload their own photo, add text, and choose their favorite JellyBelly flavor, plus wwww.partybeans.com will ship the tins out to them. There will be a code sent to the ten winners to place their orders online.

The son of the CEO of partybeans is on the autism spectrum. Portions of sales go to autism research.

Flavors include - lemon drop, blueberry, cappuccino, Dr Pepper, orange juice, island punch, cotton candy, mango, cinnamon, chocolate pudding, plum, root beer, pina colada, peanut butter and many more to choose from.

RSVP for gluten free twitter party - Friday, April 3rd

my twitter ID

Gift Baskets from Shabtai Gourmet Brand of Gluten Free Cakes & Cookies

2009-03-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

My 14 year old son and I have become fans of the gluten free desserts from
www.cinderellasweets.com and are happy to spread the news that they are donating three different gift baskets for the Gluten Free twitter party on Friday, April 3rd.

You will have a chance at winning the contents below at 9AM, 1PM and 7:30 PM pacific standard time.

Each gift box will include:

Devils Food Seven Layer Cake

Raspberry Roll

Meltaway Crumb Cookies

Florentine Lace Cookies

Brownie Bites

Please join the party. Follow the panel members on twitter. Leave your twitter ID at the RSVP page and check out the resources page.

Panel Members for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

The panel members for the Gluten Free Twitter Party that takes place on Friday, April 3, 2009 are listed below with their twitter id. Please make note these times are Pacific standard time:

9AM

gfhomemaker - Linda Etherton is a gluten-free wife and mom who enjoys cooking and baking. Her website is The Gluten-Free Homemaker - preparing gluten-free food the whole family enjoys!

lend4health - Tori Tuncan runs Lend 4 Health. Lend4Health facilitates community-based, interest-free "micro-loans" as a creative funding option for individuals seeking optimal health. Tori has a GFCFSF Blog.

Switch2GF - Mike is a struggling gluten-holic! His website Switch 2 gluten free has gluten-free jokes and celiac sandwich recipes. The first 3 people to post good, unique questions, for the party in his article will get a free GLUTEN FREE Wristband!

1PM

Hellokittiemama - MaryTara writes on New Jersey Shore life with Autism, the Gluten & Casein free diet, a neurotypical diva, and then some at The Bon Bon Gazette. She can also be found at New Jersey Moms Blog.

ElizbethChannel - Liz is a quirky Christian mom makes humorous (and sometimes serious) observations about accidental homeschooling and the autism spectrum blogging at Three Channels.

KarinasKitchen - Karina cooks, paints, edits scripts and is known as the Gluten Free Goddess. Her blog has a section on how to start living gluten-free.

7:30 PM

momcooksgf - Karen Fine is a Mom, wife and author who writes about gluten free living. She is also Co-founder and Executive Director of Gluten Free Foundation. Her book, How I Eat Without Wheat tells the story of a young boy who eats gluten free to restore his health.

tcdzomba - Thomas is a Husband, Father of 4, autie dad who writes about adventures in Gluten Free/Casein Free Living at The GFCF Experience. He can also be found at The Autism Experience.

sendchocolate - Tina Cruz is a friend to social media, mom, homeschooler and founder of autism sucks. She has a child on the gfcf diet for over five years. Her blog is send chocolate plus she is the Editor for Special Needs Parenting at Type A Mom.

5DollarDinners - Erin is a SAHM attempting to make $5 Dinners every night! She has the 5 dollar dinner site as well as a gluten casein soy free site that has recipes, tips and hints for those on a gfcfsf diet.

Food Allergy/Epi-Pen Panel Members

To tweet on the topic of food allergies and the epi-pen are the following twitter members.

9 AM

bestallergysite - Ruth Smith is the Editor of Best Allergy Sites, the largest directory of general allergy and food allergy web sites and blogs.

1 PM

7:30 PM

Foodallergybuzz - Jennifer has a child with a peanut allergy. Jennifer owns fab snacks. She can be found tweeting as fabsnacks. Jennifer also runs the blogs peanut free baseball and food allergy buzz.

Please check out the Resources I have been gathering on these topics.

RSVP for Gluten Free Twitter Party

2009-03-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

Please join the Gluten Free Twitter Party that is set to take place on Friday, April 3, 2009. This is coinciding with my 49th birthday. There will be panel members to share their experiences plus answer any questions you may have. Feel free to post any questions in the comment section here and I will tweet them to the panels that are set for 9AM, 1PM and 7:30 PM PST. Please do note this is pacific standard time as I am located in California and these times are doable for me and cross over timezones to cover more twitter members.

The hashtag to be utilized for the gluten free twitter party is #gfree. There are various twitter applications that you can use. I prefer www.summize.com where you would just type in #gfree and follow along in real time with the other twitter members. I keep a window open from panel member(s) and summize. When you hit reply in summize it opens a new window in twitter with the @ sign ready to respond to that twitter member. You might want to close window when it has finished posting. You will also need to make room in your tweet for the #gfree hashtag.

There is also www.tweetchat.com where you would sign in using your twitter ID and password and when it asks what room to enter you would type in #gfree. I have tried it a few times. You do not have to keep typing in the hashtag if you use tweetchat.

Another option is to utilize www.tweetdeck.com. I went there once and got lost so never tried to figure it out. There are many twitter members that use this if you seek guidance. I would test it out now with other twitter gatherings that take place on a weekly basis like Monday nights it is #journchat and Tuesday evenings it is #gno (girls night out).

I suggest trying these out if you are new to twitter to see how real time chat events work and how they flow, etc. When you RSVP below in Mr Linky you will be using your twitter ID, not a website as this is a twitter party and going to your website is not going to help another twitter member follow you at the party.

The party is not just on gluten free, but also covering gluten casein free, otherwise known as gfcf, also gfcfsf (soy free) there is also dairy free (casein) and nut free. Some may be going over food allergies, covering preparing lunches for school, implementing a diet or lifestyle change with the whole family, how to handle birthday parties, school parties, holidays, visiting relatives and if special notations on food containers or the person is necessary.

Discussion on how to get an Epi-Pen funded and how to inform other parents at school if contamination is a life threatening issue. We will learn where to get recipes, how to cook from scratch and which sites sell the mixes and other food related products.

Panel members will tweet about books they utilized when starting a lifestyle change and which magazines they subscribe to, which restaurants have a gluten free menu. Prizes will be given out at the panel times that relate to the topic.

RSVP with your twitter ID

Listing of Games from Twitter Party

2009-02-27T20:35:00.000-08:00

There was a party on twitter Friday, Feb 27, 2009. The topic was board games with #timetoplay the hashtag. This was a sitewarming party for Time To Play Mag. "TimetoPlay is a site about family entertainment/toys"

Many twitter members were sharing their favorite games and I wanted to keep track of those being tweeted so I have compiled a list of them. I will begin first with the ones I posted on:

1. Kerplunk
2. Battleship
3. Connect Four
4. Uno
5. Checkers
6. Topple It
7. Air Hockey table game
8. Leap Frog Memory Mate
9. Leap Frog Spell & Match
10. Lego Bionicle
11. K'nex
12. Parcheesi
13. Pegboards
14. Operation
15. Chinese Checkers

Now the list of games that was tweeted on:

Banagrams is a word tile like Scrabble

The great thing about Banangrams is that since each person has own grid, 6+ can play.and you can handicap for kids #timetoplay

Sequence by Jax is a great learning game

Rummikub is coming out, FINALLY, with a Jr version

PERFECTION has the weird shapes and timer

Wild Planet, who makes Hyperdash, makes a version for younger kids called Animal Scramble

Best part of Stratego..placing the bombs

Card Games from GAMEWRIGHT, they have the best card games for kids 6+

Loot

Battling Tops

Wig Out

Hottest toy this Spring: Skimboard Surfer. Boogie Board for the backyard

Sidewalk Crayons washes away just like chalk

Best Game EVER that didnt make it: Shout!

Guess Who

Scene It

Wait to you see the new Candy Land, in which you build your own path

Masterpiece

the new Chicken Limbo is called Giraffalaff - similar game, new character, lots of fun

they added two new characters to Candy Land this year - the game is celebrating 60 years

Hungry Hungry Hippo

Wack a Mole

Canasta

Hasbro's coming out with a new Game of Life based on extreme reality - should be fun

Twister Hopscotch

Chutes and Ladders

Uno Flash

Uncle Wiggly Game

Apples to Apples Jr

Guillotine card game

PayDay

Old Maid

Caterpillar Color Race by Discovery Toys

Spoons

Barrel of Monkeys

Hi Ho Cherry

Rummy Royal

Bingo

Hullabaloo

Scattergories

Pictionary

Mouse Trap

Blokus

Battle of the Sexes

39 Clues best for 8-12 somewhere around that age

Cranium

Clipo

Rushhour

Monopoly

Tic Tac Toe

Pic Up Sticks

Simon Says

Qwitch is a card game w/ numbers & letters, you each get 1/2 the deck and the here are + - & = cards, it's fast moving & fun

another GREAT game for the little crowd that gets them moving is Hyper Dash or Hyper Jump

Clue

Sorry

Scrabble

Yahtzee

Bop-It

Go For broke

Scrutineyes

Comparing Differences Between Verbal and HFA Sons

2009-02-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

My two sons are on opposite ends of the autism spectrum with totally different personalities. They both are in Middle School. One is homeschooled with the other in special education. One is verbal and one is not.

My son Matthew is 12, in special ed with an aide. He is nonverbal, not toilet trained, drinks only rice milk and has a limited diet. He is on an anti psychotic called Geodon. He gives good eye contact, screams and yells a lot and bangs the walls constantly. His finger prints and marks are evidenced on the white walls. He is a sensory seeker, loves to play with strings, belts and ribbons. You can hear him a block away.

My son Nicholas is almost 14, homeschooled, obsessed with the cat and perseverates on animals. He is high functioning with some social deficits and going through the puberty stage with his voice cracking and catching up to me in height.

These are the obvious differences, but in the home there are some that might surprise the average person. The computer is in the kitchen giving me an open walkway to the living room to see where Matt is, plus the bedroom is off to the right before the table here so he goes in and out there.

He follows me around the kitchen - I cannot sneak anything out of the refrigerator without him noticing and looking in my direction. He is fascinated with the whip cream can that I use to spray into my mouth at times. No one else in the house uses the whip cream but me for my hot cocoa or ice cream. I have to open my mouth so he can see what is happening. The same is true when I remove my dentures to clean them and he all of a sudden is at my shoulder trying to get a glimpse of my mouth.

He helps out quite often in the kitchen. He will stock the rice drink containers in the cabinet, pull apart the string cheese and place on shelf, he will get out the butter and salt when requested and can distinguish between maple and chocolate syrup. He will put away the egg carton and when done eating his fast food fries will shake out the paper bag into the garbage before disposing of bag in the paper bag for recycling can outside.

If he uses the last paper towel he will toss the cardboard roll into paper bag and retrieve another roll from under the sink. If he cannot open it he will hand it to me. Nicholas will toss out the empty roll but not attempt to get a new one out for the next person. Nick will not tear the string cheese apart but lay it on the shelf. Nick still gets confused between two paper bags in house in opposite spots. One is for the recycle bin and the other is to take to get money for recycling since we pay a fee at the store for these.

Matthew gets five cases per month of Huggies Goodnites. They are delivered and left in the living room and we bring them into the kitchen. Matthew will carry a box and drop it on the floor or on island table and try to open it. He will hand me each diaper bag to place in a top cabinet where I stand on foot ladder. He helps in tearing down boxes.

Sometimes during the day while I am cooking I will forget it is Nick and ask for things and he is not receptive, plus usually either doing school work or playing with the cat.

Matthew knows where everything is in the house. Each morning I ask for a washcloth to wipe his face and hands before we leave to go wait for bus. He will put videos and books back where they originated. He is all about order and very organized. He drops the jacket down as he enters the house, goes in bedroom and removes his shoes and puts back in spot, grabs out his homework and gets a crayon to scribble on homework page before handing back to me to place in backpack.

I need to teach him to remove his socks the correct way and not inside out. His aide is working on teaching him how to zip his jacket and we discussed tying shoes this morning.

These are just somethings that make them unique in their own way.

Advice sought for teenager wth autism who has cat obsession

2009-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

My son turns 14 in March and is in his second year of homeschooling. We are doing the homeschooling during the Middle School Years. He is considered high functioning with deficits in comprehension, social cues, idioms and obsessions. For about 17 months now a former feral cat from outside has been inside. This is because he broke a leg and I invested a lot of money in this cat.

My son is fixated on the cat - considers the cat his best friend. The minute the cat wakes up my son is right there following him around. In the morning the cat goes in for about 15 minutes since my nonverbal son on the spectrum needs to catch a bus and gets up earlier.

He follows the cat around the kitchen when they retreat from the bedroom. He gets on his knees and rubs his face on the cats face. Yesterday I caught him with his cereal bowl on the floor and milk container being held for cat to sniff. He tells me that he was showing the cat his breakfast.

For dinner I allow him to eat on the couch since other son touches food, stands at the kitchen island watching you eat, makes noises and is loud. So to keep the peace he eats in the living room. This is usually the time the cat wakes up and is sniffing the plate. Tonight my son could barely move on the couch because the cat was lying down and he did not want to disturb him.

The latest accommodation my son has made is to put the volume on low or mute so that the cat is not disturbed and to use the closed caption. When the cat is sleeping my son looks lost, aloof and sullen because he seems to have nothing to do or he is crying because he thinks he hurt the feelings of the cat. When I bring up this is a cat he says I don't know if the cat has a memory or not. Seems my son feels bad that he yelled at the cat once and wants to make sure the cat is ok.

This is beyond my comprehension. We have books galore on cats and they do not seem to be helping. He is in a rut and cannot get out. He will talk randomly about the cat or other animals like I have a clue what he is talking about. It is this cat 24/7!

I try not to make a big deal about it since he is here day in and day out doing homeschooling with numerous breaks to pet the cat, play with the cat, feed the cat, blah blah blah.

If something were to happen to the cat I believe he would go ballistic and need to get counseling. If his brother were to do something to the cat I would have to protect my son. My nonverbal son runs throughout the house plus the cat does this several times a day. An accident is waiting to happen.

My son is not interested in music or sports. He hardly plays his games anymore and books he reads is on cats or the drawings are of cats. I recall reading over the years how parents have some sort of system in place where the child on the autism spectrum can only speak on a certain topic so many times a day. I am thinking this would be good, but then I feel I need to compensate since he is home schooled and not going anywhere or connecting with other kids.

We cannot do functions in the afternoons due to the bus and my other son. The same thing with weekends. He thrives at the summer autism daycamp and has many friends there, but they really do not do well on the phone.

Is this just teenage angst or an obsession that needs to be modified? Today when driving another Mom home from a meeting she told me that she was considering finding high school kids to play with her son and paying them. I thought the idea was interesting and said we could post on craigslist. Our sons were in Kindergarten together but they are at opposite levels of development.

I need to motivate my son. We plan on going to the Zoo next week. We usually do a visit once every month if possible.

Would some sort of system where he can only talk about the cat certain amount of times per day, or at specific times and then the spending time with cat - does that need to be adjusted?

Maybe this is depression or just hormones and he can only relate to the cat at this point in time? I am open to ideas and suggestions.

Notes from Food Aversions Webinar

2009-01-28T16:44:00.001-08:00

I spent two hours on Tuesday, Jan 27, 2009 listening in on a Teleseminar thru Moms Fighting Autism that was moderated by Chantal Sicile-Kira. The speaker who responded to questions posed beforehand and during the Webinar was Dr. Lori Ensperger.

The topic Autism, Food Aversions, and Eating Challenges: Effective Answers that Help

I spent the time typing my notes on twitter, basically I tweeted them instead of handwriting in a notebook like I had planned to do. On twitter you use 140 characters, so these will be brief tips I typed out while listening. The following are those tweets:

At the start of the webinar Dr. Ensperger mentioned her book, Just Take A Bite.

Dr says there is no scientific evidence on gfcf diet helping kids with autism. she follows evidence based method.

statististics for typical child to acquire a new food - introduce peaches or broccoli - can take several months based on research.

can take up to ten-fifteen times for the 1-2 yr old to take to a new food - accept it, ones with dev disabilities - put food on plate.

an offer of food is not the same as forcing a child to eat, it means just putting it on the plate.

offer new gfcf food to pair it with another food they are eating, use in systematic way, small portion of item that might have gluten.

when trying new foods have foods that we are comfortable with, feel safe with the food, 3 months not long time to do diet 4 yr old.

does not want to see a 4 yr old getting hungry since not into the gfcf, do not take all foods away at one time from child, explore new food.

another question on gfcf. she is reminding about her position that relies heavily on science for the gfcf diet, mentioning the cost now.

check with Ped for an allergy, many have not mentioned age of their child in their questions, talk about food jags now, we have those.

food jag - same food, same cup, same way the food is on plate, certain brand name only, maybe even music in background all the time.

food jags are normal typical behavior - a 2 yr old might eat peanut butter every day for a month, those with ASD do food jags for yrs.

my son used to have bacon breakfast, hotdog for lunch, nuggets for dinner, now none of those,she says ASD kids do not go back to food jags.

happens to me where I stock up on item,then food jag stops, left with lots food serious issue she cautions parents dont support food jags.

keep exposing them with changes, if always chicken nuggets to turkey nuggets, change brand of nuggets, add sauce, change fork.

if we keep their food jags in tact and no changes, they will eventually stop and never go back to that food again, need to change it up.

parental responsibility, how to change mac & cheese, put food coloring in it, does not change taste, add texture, make slight gentle changes.

do not hide or sneak foods into another food doesn not work guess I will not be buying Jerry Seinfelds wife book.

she is talking about sensory issues and the temp of the foods and how they work for or against trying a new food.

just becasuse you gag does not mean you have low muscle tone. Book covers signals in low muscle tone - Just take a bite (book)

practice chewing with chewy tubes - wont work for my kids she recommends Thera Pro website, always adult supervision.

put knot in chewy tube, have kid play tug and war to practice swallowing techniques, use baby safe feeder from target.

gagging can be a learned behavior that kids use to get food away from them. If I gag mom takes food away.

kiss the food goodbye, do not over react to gagging, be calm, leave it there, maybe tomorrow we will try again.

food meal phobia - real thing - fearful of putting food in our mouth, fear of new foods, a true fear (yes I have that with seafood)

Chantal Sicile-Kira wants to know how cultural the foods of kids with autism is, doesnt think kids in France eat mac/ch,, fries & nuggets.

food jags, list of foods kids eat is prevalent in other countries too, Lorna Wing did study at her clinic, 70% of kids in UK had aversions.

question about school OTs not working on feeding since it is not educational, an issue heard often that public schools are responsible.

school OTs and SLPS are not taught on feeding aversions, need to be highly trained, can do more damage if not trained, oral motor dev

I heard that yrs ago from two diff OTs, she says put it in writing, do ltr to school by registered mail, been denied OT svcs, kid not eating

child with low weight, going all day without eating, school does need to address this as it is impacting their education/learning, advocate

listening to the teleseminar now, typically ASD kids eat mac/cheese, hot dogs, fries and chicken nuggets, that is what they stated, google?

talking about window of opportunity = question reading now

one of the myths is that children are not going to starve themselves, not true among ASD kids

Ellen Satter - she says she is a role model for mothers, a registered Dietitian, how to get your kid to eat but not too much.

How to get kid to eat, but not too much

we are responsible for where kids eat, how often they eat, the serving size, not following parent responsibiltiesi if allowing these

here are my articles for Feeding Teens, any suggestions let me know.

www.usda.gov - food pyramid for kids - says print and put on refrigerator

always a serving size of preferred food so kid can make transition to a new food

1 hr done, none of my questions yet, although she seemed to group many about trying new foods & mentioned older kids, refer to me maybe

she is talking about fight or flight over food, going over rules for parents, start a schedule for food, check for times to eat

4 yr old is too young to be picking out their own food, parents responsibility, appropriate and child friendly foods for 4 yr old

www.new-vis.com New Vision - site to see Suzanne Evan morris, on oral motor stuff, OT, etc

talking about me right now, doing my links for my review of her book

talking about utensils from my question

kids only use fingers for food, goes back to sensory processing, body awareness, spatial awareness, proprioception, no body awareness

after trying several times can use fingers easier, have child eat in front of mirror, allow them to use visual system to over compensate

can see the fork in the mirror, motor planning will assist child in using the utensil. plastic ones instead of medal (yes) safe, coated one

weighted utensils, proprioceptive delay, use this instead, grasps similar to pencil grips, neat answers

lil dipper from Gerber is a good spoon with chunky grip, spoon part is small with a guard so child cannot get in too far, no gagging

Gerber LIL DIPPER spoon, baby safe feeder - recommended items for kids at any age

bowling with food, bop for kiwi or chicken legs, put music on, 5-10 mins daily, not forced and no pressure there, away from table

playing with food is separate from eating time, reason why not at table for play, use your imagination to create ways to introduce new foods

they are more willing to move along those 35 steps to tryng food, kiss it goodbye, get used to it gently

play guess the food, get shoe box, put hole in bottom, put food in there, they need to feel food in the mystery box, they might lick it too

try to stay calm and not react to their trying new food, do not need to call grandma and not over zealous, puts pressure on kid

do an obstacle course on foods,like to feel, - movement/motivating, pillows to crawl under box crawl over - our OT used to put food on swing

schools need to do ongoing assessment for preferred items, they dont like to use food as reinforcer at school

kid motivated by edibles, get sugar free gummie bears at the diabetic aisle for kids that are heavier, music is good motivator

tangible or activity based reinforcers at school, at home get kids to experience different things, like sports and music,books, etc

www.dole.com tips for parents to introduce foods, fruit and veggie bingo game and talk tools is another company we have their stuff too

talking about kids seeing dentist, food issues can be related to issues in their mouth, yep my kid lost a tooth recently, go to CHLA

cavities affects if doing a feeding program, especially with textures, smells, she mentioned my name again about my review of her book

I think I have a review on amazon, if not willl get one there drlori@cox.net - her email with questions, can give you answers

her book is from future horizons, just take a bite sicilekira@mac.com that is Chantal Sicile-Kira email address, has son 20 with ASD

Webinar has finished.

First Virtual Stop For In My Mind Tour

2009-01-18T11:44:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the first stop of the Virtual Book Tour, 'Globe Trottin' for Autism In My Mind : The World Through the Eyes of Autism by Adonya Wong. Adonya's tour runs from January 19 to January 29.

January 6, 2009 marked the world-wide release of her children's book, In My Mind: The World Through the Eyes of Autism. This is available as an eBook and with the purchase of the book customers receive an audio version in Adonya's own voice. Check out the podcast Adonya did with Autism Hangout.

Adonya's son is named Nicholas, same as my older son. Besides both being on the autism spectrum, they share other similarities as both are not fond of dogs, schooled at home, have artistic talents in drawing, plus received their autism diagnoses from School Psychologists before their fourth birthdays.

In My Mind is how Adonya perceives Nicholas's thoughts on the world around him and based on his actions how the world views him. In My Mind is also a tool for him someday to learn more about himself and autism. I agree about utilizing books to help kids gain insights into their own diagnosis. We had numerous books to guide my son Nicholas into autism awareness. Now he is at the point where he will offer opinions on whether a child at autism daycamp is low, medium or high functioning.

I recall many years ago reading that yellow is a common favorite color of kids on the autism spectrum. I noticed on the pages of In My Mind that yellow stood out on his shirt, scarf, duck and shower curtain. The illustrator really captured the likeness of her son Nicholas within the pages of In My Mind, as noted in this Tulsa article.

In My Mind : The World Through the Eyes of Autism is a book for kids of all ages to see what makes a child happy and how those thoughts are brought to life through a Mother's vision. The dreams, fantasies and motions of one child on the autism spectrum will open the eyes and spark conversation among readers.

This is a great opportunity to start discussions on the autism spectrum within a classroom of students, at a support group with family members and parents. It is also appropriate for one on one with a therapist to initiate a dialogue on the illustrations within In My Mind where a child can share what their hopes and dreams are in the future.

My son Nicholas viewed the fifteen page ebook with me and shared his impression:

"It shows nice things that the boy is doing when really all he is doing is nothing but seemingly happy just the same." His favorite pages were nine - having fun on a roller coaster with animals and a cowboy along with page twelve inside the bathtub with the snorkel and his hand up in the air waving.

One lucky reader will win a gift basket containing an autographed copy of In My Mind, a copy of Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wish You Knew, packages of Enjoy Life™ and Namaste Foods™ goodies, and an eco-friendly cleaning starter kit (Whole Foods® 365™ brand), and (1) $50 Amazon.com gift card!! This prize is valued at $200. The winner will be announced 4 days after the tour ends (Adonya will revisit each blog to retrieve names).

**Simply comment about your relationship with autism, what you are doing to raise awareness, and how In My Mind has touched your life. Be sure to visit all of her stops to qualify for this amazing prize!**

Excerpt:
In My Mind, I see many colors, bright like a rainbow, shooting about like comets in the night sky. [turn page] What you see is a child staring into nothing.

Monday, Jan 19 you are here - please comment
Tuesday, Jan 20 Doctorious.org
Wednesday, Jan 21 The Bon Bon Gazette
Thursday, Jan 22 The Queen’s Pen
Friday, Jan 23 Rawtism
Saturday, Jan 24 My Autism Insights
Sunday, Jan 25 Rainbow Project DFW
Monday, Jan 26 Tanner’s Dad’s Blog
Tuesday, Jan 27 Imperfect Clarity
Wednesday, Jan 28 Autism Learning Felt
Thursday, Jan 29 Healing Through The Eyes of Autism

To learn about her book, In My Mind, and living with autism, please visit her at Through the Eyes of Autism website and Blog!

A portion of the author’s proceeds benefit Autism Center of Tulsa (formerly Tulsa Autism Foundation).

Adonya's book is available at Amazon and a bookstore near you!

In My Mind: The World through the Eyes of Autism (Tate Publishing 2009)
Published: January 6, 2009
Genre: Children’s Fiction
ISBN 10: 1-60696-601-4
ISBN 13: 978-1-60696-601-3
28 Pages (full-color paperback)
$9.99 (includes audio book version)

I asked author, Adonya Wong, the following two questions. Her responses are in bold:

1. How would you describe your Nicholas in a few words - what sums him up?

What an excellent question. Trains are currently Nicholas's passion. He has an old timey electric train set, a train calendar (that he somehow managed to instantly locate in a store of hundreds of other themes), a train magazine... he's borderline obssessed. ;) So, summing him up is challenging, but I'll do my best. If he continues down this path, his claim to fame may be as the designer of a zero emissions locomotive.

2. His hands are always outstretched or doing something within the pages of In My Mind, except for the coloring page - is this based on your son doing the same movements?

Yes. Nicholas can often be observed flailing his arms about. It's almost as if he's conducting some music or directing a scene because the flailing is usually coordinated with a song he may be listening to or something he's watching. In my observations, I've learned that his flailing is like his own language because if you pay close attention, you can see when he's "drawing" something in the air or coordinating his hands in such a way that they form letters. It isn't ASL because we never took classes for that, but it sometimes looks like it is.

Please remember to ask your questions in the comments when sharing about your autism connection. Good luck in winning the prize. I look forward to following along the tour and seeing the comments.

Responding to the Tough Questions

2009-01-08T18:49:00.000-08:00

There are a few questions that no matter what will always be asked. As the parent to two kids on opposite ends of the autism spectrum they are inevitable, but still surprising.

My sons are now 12 and almost 14. When my youngest son was nine years old I attended training sessions through a clinic for Floortime. In order to get funding through the Regional Center families had to go through the training classes, which were held on a weekly basis during day and evening hours. The Regional Center is for those in the State of California.

I was able to answer all the questions that were posed to the class each week and gave examples of our experiences. Most of the other parents were there for their very young children. There were some professionals taking the class as well.

At the end of a class another Mom asked me one of these dreaded questions. She wanted to know why I was just starting Floortime for my 9 year-old-son. It really was none of her business, plus the answer is not an easy one to respond. Being in the same class for all those weeks she should have known that I am a single parent with two kids on the spectrum doing it all alone, no family in the same State.

I did not want to go into the explanation that a few years earlier we had a Floortime assessment in the home from another agency. I did not appreciate the way they portrayed me in their report or the way they handled being in my home. I am not about to have an agency bring their employees into my home who disrespect me or my children and will not be utilizing the pecs cards for my nonverbal child or appear irritated because my son needs a diaper change.

I am not about having people in and out of the house disrupting our lives and routines, no matter what the end result may be from the therapy. Pros and Cons of Assessments offers insights into our experiences. You might want to consider some House Rules for in home personnel. Here are our Rules for a Respite Worker.

A few summers ago I thought we were getting some behavior therapy, but it turned out to be parent training. The girl who came for the assessment looked like she signed on for a modeling assignment. The actual so called therapist was a singer in a punk rock band. The three months did not go fast enough. The clothes and attitude they brought into my home that summer was unreal. The supervisor girl who did the assessment wanted to do pecs with my son and DTT. She was to be supervising the punk rocker. The punk rocker's mission was to be the one to get my nonverbal son to talk. Just in case I forgot to mention - we live in Los Angeles.

Over the years I meet up with someone via email or in person that wants to be the one to turn my son into a verbal kid. They seem to forget that I am the parent here. I did not ask anyone to try to get my son to speak, especially those clearly not qualified to do whatever they think they can.

I really do not know how to respond to those who want to tell me about miracle stories of someone learning to talk through this or that therapy at the age of 9, 12, 15, whatever. I really want to say it is none of their business. If it happens, it happens, not the end of the world if my child cannot speak. Evidently it is something they cannot accept and need to get over it.

My son did turn 12 in June and is still wearing Huggies Goodnites. I do not particularly like the questions from people asking me why he is not toilet trained or when do I plan to do it. When we are both good and ready. Case closed, butt out.

So to recap the questions I find annoying and wish they would stop:

1. Why did you wait so long to try XXX therapy - or why did you not try XX therapy?
2. What have you done to get him to be verbal - have you tried XX, I know so and so tried and now talks after being nonverbal.

3. When do you plan on toilet training?

I can do without hearing these three questions. Every kid is different, nice that yours now does this and that and was trained in one hour, two days or whatever. Stop bugging me.

Autism & Healthcare Twitter Day, part 1 - for the Obama-Biden Transition Team

2009-01-03T14:22:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Autism & Healthcare Twitter Day, part 1 - for the Obama-Biden Transition Team

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: twitter microblogging)

My Podcast on Autism Hangout

2009-01-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

Check out my Podcast of December 30, 2008 on Autism Hangout, where I discussed autism twitter day, autism articles at BellaOnline and a future autism twitter day in April of 2009.

Autism Twitter Day, A Digital Scrapbook

2008-12-17T22:49:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Autism Twitter Day, A Digital Scrapbook

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: twitter social)

Precision Education for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

Catherine Whitcher, M.Ed, founder of Precision Education, holds multiple teaching certificates and has been featured in multi-media nationwide on special education issues and IEP accountability. Ms Whitcher is the proud sister of a successful man with Down Syndrome.

Catherine is offering her Power of 5 services as a prize on autism twitter day.

Available for Parents of Children
(all ages & disabilities)
With Individual Education Plans

Includes:
60-90 Minute Phone Consult with Catherine Whitcher, M.Ed
Review of IEP Prior to Consult
Written Summary of Your Power of 5 for Your Child Provided within 48 Hours

Your Power of 5:

Learn the 5 most important parts of your child's IEP
Decide the 5 critical skills your child must learn this year
Take 5 actions to change your child's education
Learn what 5 questions to ask your child's education team
Discover how 5 minutes a week can assure your child is learning

The development of Back to the Future IEP Planning ™, exclusively presented by Precision Education, is based upon both her professional and personal experiences in the special education world and has led students to become productive and contributing members of society.

Catherine is a panel member for autism twitter day at 12:30 PM PST. Feel free to follow her on twitter.

Receive free IEP tips from Precision Education.

This is available to US twitter members only.

Mia Hysteria for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

Mia Hysteria is donating a brand new copy of the book, Behavioral Intervention for Young Children With Autism: A Manual for Parents and Professionals for autism twitter day. Mia has three children, one of them has special needs.

This also happens to be one of the first books I purchased ten years ago when I first got the diagnosis of autism for my now thirteen-year-old son. Here is my review.

Mia has a great post on BlogHer on autism twitter day. Feel free to follow MiaHysteria on twitter. Her blog is located here.

This book is available for US twitter members only.

Moomettes Magnificents for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T21:21:00.000-08:00

Cindi Matthews of Moomettes Magnificents is donating a Webkinz Halloween Black Cat by Ganz as a prize for autism twitter day.

This is a limited edition with unused tag that is soon to retire.

You can follow Moomettesgram on twitter. Learn more about Webkinz.

Prize is available for US twitter members only.

Mickey Fanatic for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Connie Foggles of Mickey Fanatic, has donated a Mickey Mouse 50th Anniversary Lanyard Medallion as a door prize for autism twitter day. While at her site check out some of the articles on visiting Disney World.

Mickey Fanatic - Travel with Family & the Mouse

You can follow Connie on twitter. This prize is available for US and Canadian twitter members.

Kim Dean Art for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T20:03:00.001-08:00

Kim Dean is an Artist and Mother to three boys. Two of her sons are on the autism spectrum. Kim is donating a framed tile from her Family Fun Modern Art Designs.

Rounded edges and quality construction make this Framed Tile the ultimate wall accent.

Frame measures 6” x 6” x 0.5”,
with 4.25” x 4.25” tile
Constructed of stained Cherrywood
Two holes for wall mounting

The Tile reads I love someone with Autism

Check out Kim's Jewelry shop on Etsy. Feel free to follow Kim Dean on twitter.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

Reiki Manual for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T18:14:00.001-08:00

Alternative Autism Solutions is donating three copies of
Dr. Mary E. Riposo's book, Using Reiki with Children: A Guide for Parents and Professionals.

Reiki is done with the child fully clothed. During the session, the hands of the therapist are placed on or near specific areas of the body in order to activate the healing response. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders often have sensory integration problems, which may result in discomfort with imposed touch. If this is the case, the hands can be placed above the body or on the child's hands or feet.

More information can be learned at the Alternative Autism Solutions website.

The books are available to US and Canadian twitter members.

Ultra Mind for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

Dr. Mark Hyman is donating four copies of his soon to be released book (December 30, 2008), UltraMind Solution. Readers can download a free sneak preview of the book at the UltraMind website plus sign up for his blog posts and newsletter.

Dr. Mark Hyman is a sought-after medical consultant, three-time New York Times bestselling author, educator, and a leader in the emerging field of functional medicine

Dr. Hyman will be live on The Martha Stewart Show January 6, 2009. You can follow Dr. Mark Hyman on twitter.

The books are available for twitter members worldwide.

Animal Agentz for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T23:39:00.001-08:00

Animal Agentz is a web based CBT program. They are offering a free subscription for autism twitter day. All you need is the password.

Children do not understand ‘how’ to relax on demand, but through playing with the Animal Agentz, they learn such techniques and can repeat them in stressful situations. Your child will remember the actions and behaviours of Bubbles the fish, Yo-Yo the Cat and the other Animal Agentz and use them when they need to remain calm.

Subscribe to the newsletter. Check out the Demos and print out a poster.

It is successful as a relaxation and coping device and makes it ideal for dealing with children in stressful clinical situations e.g. when they are facing an injection, visit to a dentist, hospital or family doctor. It is also useful in non-medical situations to help calm your child during school examinations, difficult meal times or when shopping and your child may have a tantrum, Animal Agentz can help.

Feel free to follow Animal Agentz on twitter.

This prize is available to all twitter members.

Autism Earrings for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T23:12:00.000-08:00

Kristin Broussard of www.Iloveachildwithautism.com has donated a pair of Sterling Silver earrings for autism twitter day. I have purchased autism awareness merchandise from her site over the years and written about it on my autism site.

All the Autism Awareness Jewelry pieces are handmade. Kristin will also do
special requests. You can find clothing, tote bags, coffee mugs, buttons and mouse pads, plus articles on the topic of autism at I love a child with autism.

This prize is available to US and Canadian twitter members.

Personal Chef To Go for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

Personal Chef To Go has donated a $25 gift card for autism twitter day . They have the Busy Singles Menu, Couples On The Go Menu and Family Favorites. Sign up for their newsletter or order from the menus here.

Fresh delivery means that each meal is packaged and shipped within hours of preparation in our spotless, licensed and routinely inspected commercial kitchen. Personal Chef To Go uses Thermal Shield lined shipping containers that are guaranteed to keep your meals properly chilled and flavor fresh at your office or home.

How It Works. Read the reviews at the Personal Chef To Go Blog.

This prize is available to US twitter members only.

Goosie Cards for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T22:06:00.000-08:00

What To Wear Goosie Flash Cards is a prize for autism twitter day. Check out the
Goosie Gallery to see the What to Wear collection.

Another Goosie Card prize is a gift card for ten custom Goosie Cards. Check out their gift certificate options.

Readers can use freeship08 code for free shipping through December 31st (US only), plus there is a 15% discount for families who have a child on the autism spectrum.

Goosie Cards® are colorful, quality photo cards that provide opportunities for parents to learn and explore with their kids in creative ways.

Play some Goosie games.

The What to Wear Goosie Flash cards are for US and Canadian twitter members. The Ten free custom cards are for US twitter members only.

Fundoodies for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T21:51:00.001-08:00

Fundoodies are donating two decks of their fun cards for kids to autism twitter day. These cards can be used for special needs, caregivers, babysitters, homeschooling and positive parenting.

Fundoodies are recommended for ages six and up. Here is how you play. They are made in the U.S.A. Families can print out the free score sheet and use the wild cards for tasks or rewards.

You can follow fundoodies on twitter.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

Playtime with Zeebu for AutismTwitter Day

2008-12-14T18:53:00.000-08:00

Playtime with Zeebu is donating the DVD and Zeebu puppet for autism twitter day.

Playtime with Zeebu is to help your child think socially through interactive play and designed specifically for children diagnosed with autism, PDD-NOS, nonverbal learning disorder, ADD/ADHD and developmental delays.

You can sign your child up for the Zeebu Kids Club to receive games each month. Check out the calming techniques video, making choices or spotlighting emotions at their website. Puppet show ideas and user guide.

Zeebu and his friends let the child experience “perspective taking” or “theory of mind.” Creator Kimberly L. Gallo has two children on the autism spectrum and started Playtime with Zeebu in their playroom.

This prize is available to US and Canadian twitter members.

Fun and Function LLC for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T18:12:00.000-08:00

Fun and Function LLC is donating one of their Magical Apparel! 3in1 Dressing Outfits and a set of five accompanying weights. These one-size-fits-all weighted vests allow children aged 3 to 8 years old to practice dressing while engaging in the magical world of pretend play.

They feature lacing, snaps, buttons, zipper and hook and loop closures! Weights can be safely added to pockets inside the vest to provide a reassuring deep hug that calms and provides great sensory input for children.

The Fairy Princess Dressing Vest has two optional skirts. They are a Ballerina Skirt and a Ball Gown Skirt. These are not part of the prize giveaway, but can be purchased separately at Fun and Function.

The winner will be able to choose from one of four vest designs - policeman, fireman, EMT or fairy princess - and either 1 lb. or .5 lb weights.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

Leap Frog Tag Reading System for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T16:34:00.000-08:00

Leap Frog is donating a Tag Reading System for autism twitter day. Designed for children four to eight, the Tag Reading System works with a broad library of more than 20 books and games . For more information on the Tag Reading System, visit Leap Frog.

Amazingly easy to use, the Tag Reader holds audio for up to five books at a time. Simply connect the Tag Reader to your computer with the included USB cable, download the audio for your Tag books and drag-and -drop up to five of your children's favorite stories onto your Tag Reader.

Recommended for ages 4 to 8. Many kids on the autism spectrum do well with Leap Frog Toys. Here are some articles I have written on Leap Frog. Leap Frog Toys For The Nonverbal Autistic Child and Leap Frog Phonics for the Low functioning child.

This prize is open to twitter members worldwide. Feel free to follow LeapFrog on twitter.

The Ethics of Autism for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T15:59:00.000-08:00

Indiana University Press has donated the book, The Ethics of Autism: Among Them, but Not of Them for autism twitter day.

Understanding autism and the unique ethical questions it raises. Written by Deborah R. Barnbaum, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Kent State University.

"This book will be of great interest to philosophers and students of philosophy on the issues of autism and what it means to be a person."—Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures

Table of Contents:

1. A Philosophical Introduction to Autism
Voices of Autism: Jim Sinclair
2. The Value of an Autistic Life
Voices of Autism: Wendy Lawson
3. Autism and Moral Theories
Voices of Autism: Gunilla Gerland
4. Autism and Genetic Technologies
Voices of Autism: Donna Williams
5. Research on Persons with Autism
Voices of Autism: Temple Grandin

For more details on this and other books available at Indiana University Press.

This prize is open to US twitter members only.

Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Souls: Beneath and Beyond Autism was awarded The Autism Society of America’s Literary Work of the Year award for 2003. Two copies of the book have been donated as prizes for autism twitter day.

You can visit Portraits by Thomas Balsamo to learn more about this project and see a portfolio of his work.

The books are available to US and Canadian twitter members.

Resiliency For Life for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

Resiliency for Life has donated one of their Imagine Yourself .. Energy Management for Kids Programs for autism twitter day. Skills to slow and quiet the mind ~ Changing Behaviour

The four programs are :
Volume 1
Be a Bird,
Be a Ball

Volume 2
Be a Horse,
Be a Cat

Choose from one of these audio programs. The target age-range is 3/4 to 7/8 years old.

For those interested in these programs: you can order them and download them from one of the several iTunes stores they are in. Look them up on iTunes under Children Music, Imagine Yourself.

To learn more about the benefits of Resiliency for Life, visit their website.

This prize is available for US and Canadian twitter members.

Sensory Edge for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T11:56:00.000-08:00

Sensory Edge is donating a Alphabet Train Floor Puzzle from Melissa & Doug for autism twitter day.

The puzzle is shown in 4 rows but it can extend into one 10 foot long train, suitable for ages three and older. There are 27 jumbo pieces. Made of heavy duty cardboard that's 20% thicker than other puzzles.

Here are other puzzles at SensoryEdge. You can follow SensoryEdge on twitter.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

Say It With Symbols for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-14T00:36:00.000-08:00

Say It With Symbols is donating a Weekend News Communicator for autism twitter day. This is for nonverbal children. Now your child can "tell" his weekend news to the teacher and classmates using this interactive talking card!

Includes a two-sided laminated communication board for commenting about the weekend and home activities. Can also easily be used to communicate news from school to home.

Feel free to visit their site for notecards, gifts, supports and software.

This prize is available for US and Canadian twitter members.

Autism Community Store for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

Autism Community Store is donating two prizes for autism twitter day. This is ABC Dough Cutters. Cut letters and numbers easily with 40 dough cutters, includes 4 tubs of dough (1 oz/28g each) This is found in the Art Supplies section at Autism Community Store.

Dinosaur Bin with Toys comes with four dinosaurs, mat and storage case. This toy is located in their pretend play section.

I first came across www.autismcommunitystore.com from an ad they placed in the ASA newsletter. I got the lollipops for my son and gave away to classmates at my younger son's class. I also picked out some fidget toys that are at school and inside his backpack.

Please check out their website for great toys, reinforcers, biomedical supplies, personal hygiene products, weighted and sensory products as well.

These prizes are for US twitter members only.

Let's Get Ready Books for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T22:00:00.000-08:00

Cedar Valley Publishing is donating two books for autism twitter day.

Let's Get Ready For Kindergarten! and Let's Get Ready For First Grade! are award winning books that will be available by the end of the year in Spanish. Check out the sample pages for both books by Stacey Kannenberg.

Here is a fun activity for kids to color shapes at the Cedar Valley Publishing Company website.

These books are available for any twitter member and can be drop shipped globally.

Amacom Books for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T19:57:00.001-08:00

AMACOM Books is donating two books by Peggy Lou Morgan for autism twitter day.

Parenting Your Complex Child is a book I have and reviewed here. Learn how to become a powerful Advocate for the Autistic, Down Syndrome, PDD, Bipolar, or other Special-Needs Child.

Parenting an Adult with Disabilities or Special Needs is a new book due out in January by Peggy Lou Morgan. You can read an overview here.

The author's website. Feel free to follow AMACOMBooks on twitter.

These prizes are available for US and Canadian twitter members.

Swingset Mamas for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T18:49:00.000-08:00

Swingset Mamas are donating Swing, Dance and Sing DVD/Video, Dance Around the House CD and Music for the Whole Family CD for autism twitter day.

Swing, Dance and Sing DVD/Video - Winner of the 2008 Parents Choice Award, 2008 iParenting Media Award, 2008 Dove Foundation Family Approval, 2008 NAPPA Award, and Kids First Endorsement.

You can check out the lyrics to their tunes, as well as visit their myspace and facebook pages.

Marlowe has a daughter on the spectrum and is a panel member who will be tweeting on music therapy, national inclusion week, plus her daughter is involved in Special Olympics. She will be on twitter for the 9AM panel. Feel free to follow her on twitter.

These prizes are for US and Canadian twitter members.

Parent Coaching Time for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T15:22:00.000-08:00

Dr.Susan Giurleo is offering free parent coaching as a prize on autism twitter day. She will be speaking as a panel member at 10:00 AM PST and answering questions. Her expertise is on Executive Functioning.

Dr. Susan Giurleo is a psychologist and coach for families living with ADHD, autism spectrum and learning disorders. She specializes in empowering parents to create peaceful, functional families.

If you are in the Atlanta area you can visit Dr.Susan Giurleo in person. More information on her parent skills & strategies coaching programs beginning in 2009, visit her website. You can also peruse her articles here. At the site is the option to receive the bi-weekly newsletter and get her free guide Parenting Your Unique Child: 21 Ways to Survive and Thrive.

Feel free to follow her on twitter.

Coaching is done by phone and available internationally.

Wings of Epoh for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

The Wings of Epoh DVD and Book are prizes for autism twitter day. This youtube clip is a bonus on the DVD.

Autism Spectrum Quarterly Winter 2008 issue has a three-page article on Wings of Epoh. You can learn more about the magazine here. The DVD is an animated film.

Wings of Epoh tells the story of a young boy with autism who struggles to communicate with the world, leaving him feeling very much alone.

You can learn more about the writer and illustrator at the website. Feel free to follow Wings of Epoh on twitter.

The DVD and Book are available to US twitter members only.

Horizons Developmental Remediation Center for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

Horizons Store is donating the DVD, Flex Your Brain for autism twitter day.

Help your preschool and elementary students learn to: think creatively; flexibly adapt to change; notice similarities and differences; and compare and contrast perspectives.

For more information on the Flex Your Brain DVD Program and to sign up for the Horizons newsletter, please visit their website.

You can follow Nicole Beurkens, director of Horizons on twitter. Nicole is a panel member tweeting and answering questions at 8 PM PST.

This DVD is available for US and Canadian twitter members.

That's Life with Autism Books for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Donna Satterlee Ross, Editor of That's Life With Autism: Tales and Tips for Families With Autism is donating two copies of her book for autism twitter day.

This book is written by parents for parents with specific topics addressed in each chapter. You can read the amazon reviews.

This prize is available for US twitter members only.

Tattoos with a Purpose for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

Tattoos with a purpose has donated three Lost and Found Temporary Tattoo Kits for autism twitter day. These are made in the U.S.A. Here are the
directions for applying the tattoos. They will last from 3-5 days.

The tattoos are:

SAFE
NON-TOXIC
HYPO-ALLERGENIC
USE ONLY FDA CERTIFIED PIGMENTS

Please note the ingredients before trying for this prize:

Acrylic Multipolymer, Alkyd Polyester Resin, Phenolic Modified Gloss Varnish, Petroleum Isopariffinic Hydrocarbon, Petrolatum, Cobalt Tallate Drier, Black Iron Oxide, FD & C Blue #1 Brilliant Blue FCF Lake, FD & C Yellow #5 Tartrazine Lake, D & C Red #7 Lithol Rubin B CA Lake, FD & C Yellow #6 Sunset Yellow FCF Lake, Titanium Dioxide

Here is their listing of temporary tattoos available at their site.

This prize is available for US Twitter members only.

Baby Banz for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-12T23:44:00.000-08:00

Baby Banz is donating a hat and sunglasses combo as a prize for autism twitter day.

Features

Lenses 100% UVA/ UVB protection
Durable polycarbonate
Ophthalmic quality; capable of being replaced with prescription lenses
Strap: Neoprene elastic band matches chosen color of sunglasses
Allows for flexibility, breathability, and comfort
Side adjustable Velcro® allows for years of wear as the child grows
Sporty, sleek design

Baby Banz has a complete line of sun protection. This combo is for ages 0-5. There is an array of colors to choose from for your prize along with two size choices.

You can find more info on their products at their website and you can follow them on twitter.

This prize is available to US twitter members only.

Wei East We Help Bring Hope Collection for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

Wei East is donating their Wei East We Hope Collection for autism twitter day. These are eight best selling formulas. I have purchased the hand cream on HSN in the past. It has a wonderful scent and works well on my sensitive skin.

China Herbal Foaming Cleanser 6oz
China Herbal Youth Recaptured Serum 1 fl oz
China Herbal Eyes Alive 0.7oz
China Herbal Ultimate Renewal 1.5oz
White Lotus Defining Moment Finishing and Correcting Serum 0.5 fl oz
White Olive Tinted Lip Smoother 0.28oz
China Herbal Hand & Body Perfection 3.5oz
China Clay Purifying Masque 3.5oz

Wei Brian the founder of Wei East has a son on the autism spectrum and donates 100% of the proceeds of this collection to autism organizations.
Together WE will Help Bring Hope to Autism

This prize is available to US twitter members only.

Personal Child Stories for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Personalchildstories.com is donating a personalized child story as a prize on autism twitter day. The books are not based on age but the child's level and stage.

When you order, you will simply tell us what theme you’d like, send us photos to go along and answer some questions to help us organize your book. We will help you every step of the way and can offer book theme and photo suggestions, too!

To learn more about the different levels of books, please visit their website.

This prize is for US and Canadian twitter members.

My Precious Kid Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

My Precious Kid has donated two prizes for autism twitter day. Make sure to check out their autism safety page.

The child locator is available in brown or pink. Winner can choose which they prefer. Here are the specifications. Batteries are included - this is for children 1-7.

Two Angel Guards are the other prizes donated from My Precious Kid. This is a seat belt buckle guard. Here are the directions and other carseat products. You call follow My Precious Kid on twitter.

These prizes are available to US twitter members only.

Navan Foods Gift Card for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-11T23:34:00.001-08:00

Navan Foods is donating a $20 gift card along with free shipping for autism twitter day.

You can visit Navan Foods at their website. This is an allergy free food shop that understands food sensitivities. Their physical shop is located in Virginia.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

Notecards from Adult with Autism for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-11T22:26:00.001-08:00

A set of six rose hearts notecards are being donated as a prize for autism twitter day by Betty Refour. Her sister is an adult with autism and designs these cards. Check out their etsy store and see more art at
website.

You can follow Betty on twitter. This prize is available to US twitter members only.

Kidz Comfort Prize for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-11T22:14:00.000-08:00

Kidz Comfort is donating a bed bumper for autism twitter day. These are available in an array of designs geared to girls and boys. They velcro to the wall for the side to keep wall cozy or could even be used in the headboard area if you do not have one. We have tried both ways for my sons so they both could experience the bed bumper. My 13-year-old chose the space design, but I also liked the Dinosaur option.

Check out the designs and other products at their website. Bed Bumpers are made in the USA. Feel free to follow kidzcomfort on twitter as well. This prize is available for shipment to US and Canada.

Author Joanna Velasco for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-11T21:28:00.001-08:00

In His Shoes A short Journey Through Autism is a new book by Joanna Velasco. The main character in this book is a 13-year-old boy in a self contained classroom.

Joanna has worked in the classroom for several years as a classroom aide and facilitator and substitute teacher here in Southern California. She is donating both her books as prizes for autism twitter day.

A is for Autism was Joanna's first book about a girl on the autism spectrum. Here is my review.

You can visit Joanna's website for more details on public appearances.

Books are available for US Twitter members only.

Panel Members for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-11T08:08:00.001-08:00

Autism Twitter Day is Tuesday, December 16, 2008, taking place on www.twitter.com. More details are available here. Please do RSVP with your twitter ID and follow the other RSVP members to keep up with the tweets.

The panel members will be specifically addressing their topic and your questions at the following times - 9:00AM, 12:30PM and 8:00PM Pacific Standard Time.

I advise having a window open at www.summize.com to follow the conversation at set times and throughout the day using #ASD and then refresh as needed. Speakers and other tweeters will need to have another window open in www.twitter.com to do their initial tweets and then hit reply at the summize page to respond to questions. This will open another window in twitter when you hit reply to answer a tweet. Simply close that window when done so you don't have too many open.

You may also want to collect links and have them in a word document so that you can post them during the day. It would be best for speakers to have a window open to their website as well. I highly recommend going to summize now and seeing how previous conversations with hashtags flow to get a feel for it.

I will be tweeting the prizes throughout the day and linking to the blog post so members can know what they are tweeting for as a prize. Please also note the prizes that are only open to US members of twitter and then those that can be shipped to Canada, as well as the ones available for International users.

The times listed are the starting times for the panel, since there are several for each timeslot and I have numerous prizes to give away the time is longer than one hour for them. The morning and evening time will be the longest time periods.

9AM PST

http://www.twitter.com/modelmekids - Sue on social skills, video modeling
http://www.modelmekids.com
http://modelmekids.ning.com

http://www.twitter.com/swingsetmamas - Marlowe on music, Nat'l Inclusion
http://www.swingsetmamas.com
facebook group

http://www.twitter.com/CARDtherapy - Sue will be discussing therapeutic riding
http://www.card.ca/
Community Association for Riding for the Disabled - Toronto

10AM PST

http://twitter.com/susangiurleo - Susan on executive functioning, parent coaching
http://www.childdevelopmentpartners.com/

12:30PM PST

http://twitter.com/AdvancedBrain - Auditory Processing
http://twitter.com/AlexDoman - (CEO of Co.) brain training, memory
http://www.advancedbrain.com/
http://www.abtmedia.com/

http://twitter.com/childrenscare - Jeff on ABA, w/Bd Certified therapists
http://cchs.org/blog/

http://www.twitter.com/specialedsolved - Catherine Whitcher, M.Ed, - on special education and IEP issues
http://www.precisioneducation.com/

8:00PM PST

http://twitter.com/nbeurkens - Nicole is an Autism Specialist
http://www.horizonsdrc.com/

http://twitter.com/Dianne_ - Dianne on Early Intervention, location Australia
http://www.aspireearlyintervention.com/

http://twitter.com/MMiller20910 - Mark on Therapy Dogs
http://specialneeds08.blogspot.com/
facebook page

RSVP for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

Please join in on autism twitter day Tuesday, December 16, 2008 to promote positive autism awareness. There are blog posts here showing the prizes to be awarded based on your autism knowledge.

There will be panel members at 9AM, 12:30PM and 8:00PM pacific standard time. Questions will be tweeted at those times as well as throughout the day. Please follow and use #ASD hashtag to post on autism by sharing about your family experience, school, bus, behavior, therapies, diets, social skills, independent living, hygiene, bullying, IEPs, respite, books, toys, etc. that have helped your family. This includes sharing links to your sites and blog posts.

This is open to twitter members, specifically those who are members of the autism community, whether it be a parent, sibling or relative. If you are on the spectrum you are welcome to take part. Anyone can take part to learn more about autism spectrum disorders. Most of the prizes are geared to children and young adults with autism or asperger syndrome. Some prizes are available to US members only, others are for US and Canada with International available for a few as well. It will be noted when tweeting about the prize who is eligible to receive it.

I do recommend opening one window in www.summize.com to follow #ASD and have one window open in twitter to post your own tweets. You will click on reply at summize to tweets you see in summize and this will open a new window with the reply @ already listed in box to tweet.
Join us:

DATE: Tuesday, December 16
TIME: throughout the day, panel times 9AM, 12:30PM and 8PM PST/ Noon, 3:30 and 11 PM EST)
PLACE: www.twitter.com and www.summize.com to follow along
WHO: see panel link on blog
TO DO: RSVP at Mr. Linky then check back and click on the names listed there to "follow" them on Twitter.
RSVP: Enter your twitter ID (e.g., autismfamily) in Mr. Linky and your twitter URL (e.g., http://twitter.com/autismfamily). NOTE: Please do not enter your blog URL here!

Advanced Brain Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-09T20:29:00.000-08:00

Advanced Brain is donating eight of their Sound Health CDs as prizes for autism twitter day. This CD collection includes music for stress, relaxation, concentration, inspiration and motivation. To learn more about these products, visit their website.

Another prize is a copy of Shelley the Snail software. Shelly’s, My First Computer Game is for children ages 3 to 6, introducing them to basic computer skills and then reinforcing those skills by engaging children in a richly animated interactive story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the Activity Center, children will enjoy seven, developmentally appropriate activities that reinforce computer skills while enhancing letter recognition, early reading, memory and critical thinking.

Here are the computer requirements:

• Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, XP, ME
• Processor: Pentium III 733 Mhz (1.5Ghz or better recommended)
• 128 MB RAM (192 MB or better recommended)
• 8x CD-ROM
• 100 MB available hard-disk space required; (200 MB or more recommended)
• 256 color video graphics card; (High color or better recommended)
• Windows compatible sound card

I saved the best prize for last, BrainBuilder. This is suitable for children, teens and adults. The BrainBuilder program is designed to improve memory and attention.

The BrainBuilder prize includes CD-Rom, Introductory DVD, Brain Diary Booklet, Brain Health and Nutrition Guidebook plus 2 Sound Health Premium Music CDs. The system requirements are listed here at their website www.abtmedia.com

This prize is open to US, Canada and International twitter members. You can find Advanced Brain on twitter as well.

Uno Chicago Grill Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

Uno Chicago Grill has over 200 locations across the United States. They have participated in autism walks and are donating four $25 gift cards to autism twitter day.

Here is their gluten free menu. Uno Chicago Grill® invented Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza in 1943. Check here to see if there is a location near you. This will help you before tweeting your response to the questions for this prize on December 16, 2008.

This prize is for US twitter members only.

A blogpost review of Uno Chicago Grill from Jan 2009.

Chica Children's Hammock for Autism Twitter Day Prize

2008-12-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

Kids Dream Gym is donating this Chica Children's Hammock that is for kids ages 3-10 as a prize for autism twitter day. You can visit their website to see their other products as well.

The specifications are as follows:

☼ Cloth surface: 140 x 100cm
☼ Total length: 230cm
☼ Carrying capacity: 50kg
☼ Product wight: 0.7kg

☼ Product will be delivered in cotton bag matching hammock in color, fabric and design. This bag can be used as a cushion cover.

Directions for hanging up the hammock either indoors or outside on a tree. Parental supervision is necessary for this product.

Please be certain you can hang this inside or outside your home before trying for this prize on autism twitter day.

Mary's Gone Crackers for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-09T14:23:00.000-08:00

Mary's Gone Crackers has baked goods that are wheat-free gluten-free. They are donating two boxes - one of Sticks & Twigs and one of their original crackers. Sticks & Twigs comes in Chipotle-Tomato, Curry, Sea Salt and Cinnamon. Original crackers are available in Black Pepper, Caraway, Herb and Onion.

Winner gets to choose the flavors for their box from Mary's Gone Crackers. You can learn more about their ingredients by visiting their website.

Coromega Supplements for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-09T12:31:00.000-08:00

Coromega Supplements come in three flavors - Orange, Lemon-Lime and Orange Chocolate. One box of each flavor is a prize on autism twitter day.

There are thirty Coromega squeezers in each box. They can be placed on a spoon or squeezed into your mouth. Check out their website for more creative ways to take Coromega.

One of the winners wrote a review on the lemon-lime Coromega.

FoodShouldTasteGood Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

FoodShouldTasteGood has chips in a variety of flavors - Olive, Multigrain, Sweet Potato, Chocolate, Buffalo, The Works and Jalapeno. The bags are available in 1 and 6 ounce bags.

Sweet Potato was a big hit with my twelve year old nonverbal son, his teacher, aide and classmates. My 13 yr old liked Multigrain flavored chips the best. Chocolate was another winner in the classroom. You can visit FoodShouldTasteGood. Two gift box cases containing both size bags in a variety of flavors are prizes for autism twitter day. This is available to US twitter members only.

The chips are certified by the Gluten Free Certified Organization.

Challenge Software Program for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

Challenge Software is to be used with children struggling with self-regulation and social skills. A one-year subscription to this all internet based program is a prize on autism twitter day. You can activate online.

This is a prize that is suitable for anywhere in the world, so international twitter members who use #ASD hashtag, as well as be the correct responding tweet to the question asked pertaining to each prize have an opportunity to win this prize. Check out Challenge online. New users get a thirty-day free trial.

My 13 year old son and I have utilized the site a bit and should be exploring it further later this week. A review is forthcoming at BellaOnline. Challenge Software is now on twitter.

Model Me Kids Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

Time for School is a DVD from Model Me Kids that is being donated as a prize on autism twitter day Tuesday, December 16th. This DVD is geared to the elementary school levels.

Conversation Cues DVD is on social skills for kids in Middle School and High School grades. This is a prize for autism twitter day. This also happens to be a DVD that my high functioning son who is 13 watched and reviewed a few years ago.

Model me kids is on twitter and has a social network group for Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

The prizes are available for US and Canadian twitter members.

Storytime Felts for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-08T20:53:00.001-08:00

The Jungle Toggle Book is being donated as a prize by Storytime Felts Independent Consultant Tammy Lessick #12699. Please visit Learning Felts to see their array of felt products that can be ordered cut or pre-cut. This prize is for a precut book.

Tammy has a nine year old son on the autism spectrum and writes Product Reviews and about her son. Tammy is on twitter. This prize is for US twitter members only.

The key to winning prizes on autism twitter day is to remember to use the #ASD hashtag and be the correct responding tweet to the question asked pertaining to each prize. Good luck.

Kubit 2 Me Prizes for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

Kubit 2 Me is donating three of these Lil' Scholars games as prizes on autism twitter day, Tuesday December 16th. This game is geared for kids three and older.

Kubit2Me is donating three Now You're Talking games as prizes on autism twitter day. This game is geared towards kids 10 and older. Please visit their website. You can also follow them on twitter.

The key to winning prizes on autism twitter day is to remember to use the #ASD hashtag and be the correct responding tweet to the question asked pertaining to each prize. Good luck.

The Prize Patrol for Autism Twitter Day

2008-12-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

You may have read somewhere online about Autism Twitter Day. This will be on Tuesday, December 16th. Three timeslots are set for panel members to cover various topics. These are Pacific Standard Times as I am located in California with these times the most convenient for me without any distractions - 9AM, 12:30 PM and 8 PM. They will last more than one hour with the last timeframe open for discussions after the topic section panel member has finished.

I will be tweeting questions relative to the topic at hand and the winner will receive the prize once I obtain their mailing information and send it on to the prize donor. Throughout the day I will offer other opportunities for prizes. There are a few prizes that are for online usage - these are open to those twitter members anywhere in the world. To be eligible for prizes the twitter member needs to use the #ASD hashtag in their tweet response for said prize. Prizes are for US & Canada members, unless otherwise specified.

I tried unsuccessfully to get the images of the prizes into one blog post. I was unaware that Blogger puts all images at the top of the page during the editing process. Therefore to make the process easier on me and my sanity, there will be one blog post for each prize. I will edit ones later in the week with links to reviews I have done. Also for those winners who are going to blog about their prize, they can email me the link and I can add that into the appropriate post, keeping it all organized.

The listing of all twitter members who have an autism or asperger connection can be found at my Tumblr page.

Calling for Twitter Members to help a Family out this Holiday Season

2008-11-29T20:43:00.000-08:00

This request is for another Special Needs Mom on Twitter. Her daughter Janelle is six years old and has a rare form of Epilepsy called Lennox Gastaut Syndrome. The Mom, Kelly was diagnosed on Thanksgiving Day with a form of Leukemia.

I would like to bring a gas card for her husband to have to help with the expense of traveling to visit Kelly. I want to get a gift card or gift certificates from some websites for presents for her kids Jack and Janelle. I live fairly close to a Toys R Us and can get one to bring to Kelly so she could order items online for her kids. I think a grocery store card would be a welcomed gift also.

She was transferred from Orange County to UCLA in West Los Angeles where she will be for one month. She is hopeful to return home by Christmas. I live in Los Angeles near Downtown. I spoke to Kelly on the phone this evening and will be visiting her later next week.

Anyone who contributes please let me know your twitter ID so I can add it to the card to Kelly. This is the Holiday Season, please consider helping the family out by donating any amount possible so that some gift cards can be delivered. Thank you for reading this and wanting to help out a fellow twitter member.

Picture of the family.

Autism Twitter Day

2008-11-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

I am putting together an event at Twitter to promote positive autism awareness. This is still in the planning stage and not yet finalized on the date, number of hours and time frame for this to take place.

I placed an inquiry on HARO - Help A Reporter Out last week. Here is that posting which appeared in the afternoon edition Thursday, November 20, 2008:

"Will be promoting positive autism awareness on twitter one day in mid December. Seeking products geared to the autism and asperger community to give away as prizes for questions answered and pop quizzes on the subject. Looking for products to cover all age groups and including sensory type items. Here is a listing showing all those in the autism/asperger community on Twitter.

I can also do reviews on my autism site. I am listed at www.twitter.com/autismfamily Help brighten the lives of autism families by contributing to this positive event."

If you are also a member of twitter or joining twitter, please post your ID here so I can add it to the page listing all autism connections. If you have a product you would like to offer for one of the giveaways please contact me through email listed at this blog or through twitter direct message system (DM).

I would like to find out when the majority of families who are on twitter can participate in this event. I have a poll here for a few days, please comment here in regard to your vote.

I need to know if it is best on a weekend day or weekday. I see many events taking place on twitter and they all seem to be at night on a weekday. I am on the west coast and would prefer Friday or Tuesday so I can prepare and be ready while my other son is at school. I am running for Secretary of the CAC with LAUSD and will be at elections on Monday.

I have been thinking that 4-6 hours is too long and would like to try it at two to three hours. If you have an opinion on this please give me some feedback so I can finalize this before the end of this month, get a logo or something for a button to promote the event and share with others. Plus I still need to get all the pics of the giveaways and have a sign up with Mr. Linky for those who want to attend.

Again, please take part in the poll and offer any thoughts in the comments. I am using my Pecs Club Ning Site and created an autism twitter group to post ideas and examples, a brainstorming group for this event.