My Family's Experience with Autism: Who reads my blog?

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Who reads my blog?

Like many people, I feel I have a story to tell. That's one of the reasons I "blog".

Babble.com is looking for the Top 25 Autism Blogs. My blog was nominated and is (thus far) placing quite well, but dropping. Actually, it's been nominated twice. If you read this blog and enjoy what you see, please click the link and vote for "My Family's Experience With Autism" as well as your other favorite blogs listed. Also, feel free to nominate others. New ones are being started all the time, and all the stories deserve to be recognized.

But my story here is constantly changing. First I wanted to educate. Then I needed a place to cry and get all of my frustrations out. Then I went back to trying to educate, but in a different way. I explain what we see. I still tell specific stories of our lives. But I also try to get others to see what living with a child learning through autism is like. The phrase I use is that I try to press others to "get it". How we have to plan out every detail. How we can't take anything for granted. And how every day is another story. And the direction of this blog will probably change again. And again. And again. In other words, this blog is whatever I need it to be at the time I sit down to write.

So, I hope you enjoy reading it. I hope you have been inspired to vote (and vote often) for this blog at the link above (you can vote daily). And I hope you will vote for other blogs that have inspired you or that you are writing yourself. Because we ALL have a story to tell!!!!!

1 comment:

AmandaJuly 15, 2011 at 8:38 AM
I voted for you :) every story you tell is such an inspiration! Thank you for blogging about you and your families experiences it really helps others and I think you know that ;)
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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)