Taking the Scenic Route

Beautiful, but no, NEVER, really…you could not pay me enough.  *shudder*

You know those foot pads that are supposed to rid your body of toxins?  Interesting discussion of it.

For the frugal:  The Grocery Game  I had been hearing about it but never went to the site.  Looks interesting. 

For those interested in vaccine issues, a huge scandal at Merck, one of the main manufacturers:  http://www.fda.gov/foi/warning_letters/s6756c.pdf

A company I really like (and several of my therapists rely on) is being attacked by Mattel:  Small Special Education Company Battles Mattel Over Right to Use the Words “AND SAY” on Its Products

I thought this was interesting…charts that show what people are spending on groceries, updated monthly.

 

eta:

I am going to add one more rather than starting a new post:  3-Year-Old Has Never Fallen Asleep.  Wow.  Zane never slept more than 3-4 hours in any given 24-48 hour period until he was between 3 and 4, and I thought that was bad.  I can’t even imagine how sleep deprived those parents are.  I really think that the sleep deprivation affected my ability to really understand what was going on in those early years.  I just felt like I was a terrible parent and stopped sharing how bad it was with people.  I know now that lack of ability to sleep is fairly common in autism, but I didn’t know it then and blamed myself.

http://joanneaz_2.tripod.com/positivedisciplineresourcecenter/id4.html

http://joanneaz_2.tripod.com/positivedisciplineresourcecenter/id17.html

Sarah Ariella wrote a great post on IEP process and the problems faced when dealing with the education of her son.  I could identify with a LOT of it.  I think the biggest, most discouraging, thing I could identify with is the overall attitude of unwillingness to see the gifts and strengths, nor the desire to put in the effort to really push ds.  I don’t think it is everybody, and I don’t think it is limited to just SN kids, but it was there.  I knew what it felt like to have people push him and recognize who he is because I was getting that at WSU and Heartsprings.  It is intangible, but probably the single most important thing for any child in their education. 

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Fee has a neat post about Bedeism, and instead of leaving a blog in her comments, I thought I would share some Zaneisms, also computer related.  (no surprise, since both Bede and Zane are accomplished on the computer) 

“Next Level” - means he wants to do something again, usually also means he wants to modify it some way or make it more challenging.
“2 Player!” (or 3 player, 4 player, ect) – means he wants you to play a game with him
“click on it” – means “look at that” or to press some button
In a funny coincidence (probably heavily influenced by parents who buy candy on clearance sales) the day she posted about Bede wanting a “J” candy cane, Zane was bugging us all day for “stick candy”, which we finally determined was the stick candy canes we have up in the shelves.

eta:

“Oops!  Try Again!” is said with the same intonation by both boys…we figured out it comes from an educational internet site they both like (when I think of the name of the site, I will add it, but I am having a brain fart right now)

Examples of Functional Echolalia. 

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KAKE, the local ABC affiliate, did finally post his video in their video links.  (on the right side of the page, but will probably have to scroll to see it if you don’t see it right away.

This is a really good documentary from HBO about a group of families that are involved in making a musical about Autism.  All of the actors are autistic.  http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/autism/video/

c&p from a parenting board I post on

Several years ago this woman found a sick, malnourished lion cub in the jungle. She took the cub home and fed him and brought him up until he was too big to keep anymore. She then made arrangements with a zoo in Colombia to take the lion. Here’s a video of what happened when she went to visit him in the zoo for the first time: http://www.telestereo.com/Archivos/video.html

You can just see the love.  Amazing

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   “You have a Midland accent” is just another way of saying “you don’t have an accent.” You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
Philadelphia
Boston
The Northeast
The West
The Inland North
The South
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fs20071218a1.html

Don’t worry, ‘hostages.’ We’re here to help!

Illegal immigrant rescues boy after van crash

 RECALL for lead in weighted therapy equiptment like lap pads, vest & blankets