My Family's Experience with Autism: My Blogiversary

Sunday, June 6, 2010

My Blogiversary

Another blog I read had a "Blogiversary" to celebrate it's one-year anniversary, and I thought that idea was kind of neat, so I'm doing the same. Yes, it's been a year since I've started this blog. And it's been a crazy year. I don't even remember what I intended this blog to be when I started it -- I only know it's turned into something completely different. And my life is completely different then it was one year ago. And, as I say in the description of this blog, that's not necessarily a bad thing. There is so much that I've learned. There's so much that my FAMILY has learned. There's so much that has changed. It's just a LOT!!!!!

Writing this blog has been amazing for me. I never was able to find such a release in writing. I was never any good at it (still not, but that's not the point) and loathed having to write anything for school, to the point where I would never even consider writing anything on my own. But it's amazing how much I've been able to put into these posts and, looking back on them, really use these posts to organize my own thoughts.

So, for those of you who have been reading, thank you, and please continue to follow my journey. For those of you who have stumbled on this blog, welcome!

1 comment:

MaubeJune 7, 2010 at 12:04 AM
Blogging is a good way to get out frustrations, celebrate victories and honestly just keep your sanity! It is a safe place for you to just get everything off your chest =) Good for you!
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A Little Bit About Me and My Family

Every once in a while, something happens to a family that seems to change everything, whether that change is positive, negative, or in an uncertain direction. One such thing happened to us in March 2009, when we were informed our 26 month old twins (girl/boy) were BOTH on the autism spectrum. Their older brother (nearly 4 at the time) had always been ahead of the curve for most developmental milestones, so we had never really considered that some of the delays the twins were having had anything to do with autism. Well, we were wrong. Since then we have been learning about learning techniques and doing everything we can to make sure they get any and all help they need so that they can live normal lives. This blog chronicles that journey.

The Autism Pizza

I don't know where this came from originally, but I found it on a post on Circle of Moms. It's a good explanation of how things line up on the spectrum.

1. The Crust: Lack of Social Interaction (poor eye contact, not sharing interests with you, no pointing/gesturing)

2. The Sauce: Impaired Communication (possibly no speech, poor conversation skills, repetitive language, echolalia, no make-believe play)

3. The Cheese: Stereotypical Activities & Interests (extreme routine, strong interest in certain things, stimming [flapping, atypical play, etc.] -- like spinning wheels, lining toys up, stacking, etc.)

If you have all of those things: crust, sauce, cheese, you made an Autism pizza. It might have different toppings, but you can look at it and know it's still a pizza. If your pizza doesn't have sauce, that's Aspergers's. If your pizza is missing more than that but still kind of looks like a pizza, that's PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified)