Musings and What-not

This is the response Mother Teresa once gave when someone asked her what they could do to help. As a species, we are living in a state of being that is centered around "me", or "I", and we have steadily morphed into a consciousness that has become extremely self-serving. But times are pressing us to expand our way of doing things, and the pressure is at its boiling point. We are no longer receiving a gentle nudging from the Universe to change. Paradigms are shifting at a rapid pace, and many are scrambling to keep up. The old way... can no longer be sustained if we are to shift to the next stage of our evolution.

As a mother to one of the MOST amazing people I have ever known, I cannot even fathom thinking these words, let alone stating them out loud... in a court of law, or anywhere else. Yet, Ariel and Deborah Levy did just that. Now, before you jump all over me... hear me out. When it comes to the choices in my life, I made them, and I have zero regrets. I'm here, living this life, as a result of all of them... and I am immensely grateful. I am also a special needs mom... a label, no matter how you slice it, is one that I will proudly wear until I leave this earth.

As children, the strength of our voices is determined by our parents. If you were raised in a household where children were supposed to be seen and not heard , then speaking out and standing up for your needs would have been a difficult task that would inevitably worsen the older you got. This was my upbringing. Too often, I was told that I wasn't to air our dirty laundry in public or discuss family business with strangers . I was also told to just be quiet, particularly, during those times when my parents were tired and didn't want to be bothered.

It is common for a person with autism to have certain food allergies.  And it is also common, within the community, for those individuals to be on very restrictive diets; the more popular being GFCF (Gluten-free Casein-free). Although, precautionary measures are taken to ensure one does not consume foods containing any triggers, some thought may not be given to whether or not the allergen-free foods are manufactured by companies who do not use genetically modified ingredients.

According to a recent article , 70% of doctors and nurses and 62% of health care workers do NOT receive this annual vaccination.  What's even more surprising is their reasons for not doing so: They didn't believe the vaccine would work They believed their immune systems were strong enough to withstand exposure to the flu They were concerned about side effects My son has never received the vaccine, and it's not because of the vaccine-autism "link".  I just never

Like autism, ADHD has become a common diagnosis among youth.  There are currently 5 million children in America living with the disorder, and the "symptoms" can be exacerbated due to lack of treatment (i.e. medication, dietary restrictions, behavioral therapy, etc.). And like autism, ADHD also affects boys more often then girls. What is ADHD? Almost all children have behavior issues from time to time. But, for children with ADHD, behavior problems are persistent and occur over a long period of time. For a child with ADHD, their symptoms can create challenges all day, every day.

A medical diagnosis, of any kind, can be life-altering.  A life that once offered some measure of stability would now be forever changed. In 2005, our family received two blows to our way of living.  That April, my son was diagnosed with autism, and a few months later, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. What is very interesting about the two disorders is they both affect a person’s neurodevelopment; however, the affects are experienced at the opposite ends of a person’s life.  While autism affects the youth and how they interact with the world, Alzheimer’s typically affects the elderly (over 65) and, ultimately, their interaction with the world outside.

Traveling can be challenging. Enter your neighborhood airport, and you’ll be faced with long security lines, crowded concourses, uncomfortable waiting areas, and once you’ve dealt with that, there’s still the hustle and bustle of trying to get in your seat without being ran over by other passengers seeking to do the same. Now, if you’re a person with autism, the challenge is dealing with this seemingly chaotic situation without having a meltdown.

Autism doesn’t have a "look". Down Syndrome, Spinal Bifida, and Cerebral Palsy all have one thing in common. They have a "look". When you encounter a person with one of these different abilities, you can see their uniqueness. However, if you were to encounter a person with autism, you wouldn’t know that there was more to them than what you see, and for some observers, seeing is believing.

The title of this blog, which was also a groovy tune back in my heyday, rings loudly in my head whenever I read something about autism so incredulous that it makes the blood in my veins practically freeze. {Note to self... really need to get crack-a-lackin' on that meditation practice before said self kills over from those things that are not supposed to get to me.  Self?  Are you listening?  Breathe in... breathe out!} The other day, one of my internet autism buddies told me about another blogger's post that, for the first time since its debut, had brought up the subject of "autism".

Is this post about autism?  No, it isn't.  Then again, I don't always blog about autism.  Tonight's post is about another topic of which I am very passionate about.  I'm an advocate... what can I say? I like chocolate, but I don't love chocolate.   I know a lot of people who can't live without it; I think they call refer to themselves as "chocoholics". Most of us don't always pay attention to how that tasty bar or little kiss came to be.  We don't normally put a whole lot of thought into it because we don't want to ruin the moment . Some of you may only look as far as the label and that may very well be the extent of your concern. Then again, some of you may look beyond it, and see the dirty little secret that most chocolate sellers don't want you to know. Man!  I feel like this post is about to turn into the sequel of The Da Vinci Code ©. ;) The following is an excerpt from a Global Exchange article. In 2000, a report by the US Stat...

This slide show does an amazing job explaining what took place on December 16, 2008!  I was proud to be part of it!  It was an amazing day! Thank you, PF Anderson, for putting this together!  Bravo! The rest of you... enjoy! [slideshare id=855621&doc=asdautismtwitterday-1229572866190311-2&w=425]

Black Friday is also known as Over-Consumption Friday. We have become a world where the Christmas lists are endless, and no one is ever satisfied. What happened? Where did we go wrong? How can we stop this vicious cycle before it's too late? Wall-E is an excellent example of what will happen to us if we keep over-consuming the way we are. Here's an excerpt from the Rolling Stones review: First image: the Earth as a garbage dump, a future reduced to ruins. For the past 700 years, what's left of humanity has been cruising the skies in a spaceship. Only a tiny robot, WALL-E (for Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class), scoots around on urban terra firma compacting trash into piles that grow into skyscrapers. BNL which stands for BUY n LARGE reminded me of Wal-Mart aka Wallie World 'cause it's reminiscent of an amusement park where practically everything you want is at your disposal. BNL is a conglomerate that sells everything at low prices...

Fellow blogger, Kari , wrote a post at Silicon Valley Moms Blog about the hit ABC show, Grey's Anatomy and their extremely insulting portrayal of Aspergers Syndrome. Kari very eloquently expressed her feelings about this new, and, thankfully, temporary character. Something I am unable to do at this moment in time.  The reason I am unable to eloquently express my feelings is because I am so incredibly ticked off right now, I can't even think straight. Here's an excerpt from her post. I had high hopes for Mary McDonnell's three-episode-arc character Dr. Virginia Dixon on Grey's Anatomy . I thought, "It will be great to see someone a little quirky take on the already strange social scene at Seattle Grace." Unfortunately, when the episode aired, I was disappointed . Instead of a brilliant cardiac surgeon who happens to have Aspergers , Dr. Dixon is a very impaired Rainman -like stereotype of autism. While the words I write about autism are read by a couple ...

[et_pb_section fb_built="1" admin_label="section" _builder_version="3.22" custom_padding="7px|||||"][et_pb_row admin_label="row" _builder_version="3.25" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.25" custom_padding="|||" custom_padding__hover="|||"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" _builder_version="3.27.4" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"] Something's amiss down under. One news report spoke of over-diagnosis, now another speaks of misdiagnosis. What is going on? According to ABC Local Radio , Experts say diagnosis of the condition in Australia is patchy, because doctors here don't apply the internationally accepted diagnostic criteria. Some patients are diagnosed as au...

My son is one of the fortunate ones. The Oklahoma Health Authority (aka SoonerCare ) covers his twice weekly speech and occupational therapy sessions.  Who knows, they may even cover a third speech session.  We'll see because it doesn't hurt to ask. Like I said, he's one of the fortunate ones. But things aren't going so well for other Oklahoman children who are also on the spectrum. The Developmental Disabilities Division of our state's Department of Human Services is about to let a pilot program expire "sooner than expected" due to the lack of behavioral specialists. What does this mean exactly? The program had offered a budget of $12,360 to spend on services.  As for the 30 families who were selected to participate?  They will be left, once again, to fend for themselves. Michael McNutt of The Oklahoman reports , Oklahoma lacks enough therapists and behavioral specialists to take care of the state’s autistic children, according to the preliminary finding...

The circus is in town this weekend, and my husband really wanted to take our son. While fetchin' dinner, he told me he saw a group of circus protestors, hanging out across the street of the BOK Center . He told me they were holding signs that spoke of animal abuse... If I hadn't have transitioned to a holistic lifestyle, I wouldn't be sitting in front of my PC right now, blogging about animal abuse and circuses. But I did. And here I am. Fired up. How do I explain this to my son? He doesn't always grasp the other things I try to explain to him.  But abuse, in all its forms, is something I am ill-prepared for. How do I look into those amazingly big, brown eyes, and tell him that I'll never take him to the circus? That it will be a cold day in hotsville before I pay to see abused animals perform for my or his delight? That the elephant isn't trumpeting because she's happy... she's trumpeting because she's been wounded by a bullhook meant to make her ...

Come on, everyone. Won't cha sing along with me???  I'm sure John Paul Young won't mind if we change a word of the 70s hit, Love is in the air , will he? Imagine this if you will... You're autistic. You've been placed on a bus... heading off to school. Your parents, who love you dearly, leave you in the loving care of your bus driver and bus monitor. They, in turn, take that trust... and reject it. They abandon you on a bus... for several hours. Ladies and gentlemen, it has been confirmed.  The world has truly gone mad, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this isn't not an isolated case! Seems like October is the month where we'll have to stop thinking about Halloween and start thinking about keeping our children out of school for fear that they'll be tagged for what seems to be an annual event for abusing our children. 2007 2008 Is this going to be the norm when we leave our children in their care? Is this what's become of all t...

DES MOINES, Iowa – After failing to finish a reading assignment, 8-year-old Isabel Loeffler was sent to the school's time-out room — a converted storage area under a staircase — where she was left alone for three hours. The autistic Iowa girl wet herself before she was finally allowed to leave. Appalled, her parents removed her from the school district and filed a lawsuit. This is very disturbing. Is this the direction our school's are going?  Is this the treatment our children can expect to receive? I'm not always going to be homeschooling my son.  One of these years, he's going to have to return to "typical" school life. However, this article leads me to wonder what that life will be like for him. I don't know if Isabel is considered high-functioning or not, but I do want to know how someone justified leaving her, alone, under a stairwell, for 3 hours because she failed to complete a reading assignment? I also want to know if she hadn't wet herself,...

The people who are criticizing the "Autism Schmautism" chapter in my new book "Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid" clearly have not read it. Or if they have, they missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic child. Okay, Denis.  You got me.  I didn't read your book.  I saw the comment, put on my armor, and was prepared to battle... major battle! Do I owe you an apology?  I'll concede.  I do.  I should have done what I normally do, and that's to get the facts BEFORE I react. But you see, I wasn't only reacting for myself.  I was reacting for my son who does not and would not understand that those few lines were "teasers" to something "meaningful". Does this mean that I will g...