My Family's Experience with Autism: Making a Difficult Decision

Friday, July 6, 2012

Making a Difficult Decision

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Yesterday, I received a phone call (well, a message) from Music Man's teacher. His school was opening for the day today. Transportation would be provided. I then checked my email and Ballerina's school was also going to be open.

First, I think I need to fill in a gap.....I previously spoke about the schools being closed due to the power outages from the thunderstorm that came through our area last Friday. They were initially closed on Monday and Tuesday. Then, they would be closed as planned for 4th of July. But they were supposed to open on Thursday. Well, on Wednesday night, the decision was made to keep the schools closed for the rest of the week because many still didn't have power restored. But apparently, enough schools have now had their power restored that they made the decision to open those schools who's power had been restored.

This poses an interesting dilemma. You see, today is Friday. So, they would be going to ESY program for the first time this year today, and then have the weekend. Then they would return on Monday. I am going a little batty as these kids have been home since June 12. And we are getting a little punchy. I would really like for them to be with their friends. I would really like to have these 3.5 hours without having to worry about them (Big Brother would still be home, but I can send him to the basement while I take a long shower).

What's a Mom to do?

This Mom made a decision. She actually made it last night, almost as soon as she heard that the schools would be open this morning. She decided to keep these kids home for one more day. Friday is a bad day to start a new Monday thru Friday routine. This is likely to introduce far more problems than the number of problems it will solve.

So, Ballerina and Music Man stayed home.

Hopefully, on Monday we will be able to get our new routine going and it will start off on the right foot. Because, right now, all 3 kids are going to camp on Monday morning. Ballerina and Music Man may be done after the morning, but they all need to be doing their own "thing".

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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)