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Lincoln’s First Year of Preschool

Lincoln only has a few days left of preschool and this is his first year of preschool. Lincoln has an IEP and is in a special needs preschool classroom but he hasn’t been formally diagnosed with anything yet although I suspect he’ll also be on the autism spectrum. 3 of my 4 kids on the spectrum, I think we can make a case for genetics in our family.

I got an update on how Lincoln’s doing on his IEP goals and he’s done really great this year. He’s made progress on everything.

I decided I’m keeping him home from summer school this year even though he qualifies. Firstly, he’s little, he’s only 3 years old and I want him home with me. They’re only little for so long. Secondly, he needs potty trained. I’ve taken a run at potty training with him a couple times but it turned out he wasn’t ready. When school is out this child is getting potty trained and it’s just easier to do it when he’s home with me the majority of the time. Lincoln did pee in the potty at school today though woohoo!!

I don’t worry about Lincoln the way I’ve worried about Adrian but we’ll see how he does with time. He reminds me a lot of Sanura and she’s doing really really well now so I guess no sense worrying about the future too much. We’re doing everything we can to move him along development wise.

Here is Lincoln at school, they were having a picnic:

Lincoln at school picnic

and here he is going down the slide at school:

Lincoln on slide

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Taking Care of Yourself when You’re Raising Children with Special Needs

I have been not very good about taking care of myself over the last several years, really since I had children. I would try here and there to hit the gym and try here and there to diet but my weight was generally steadily climbing over the last 11 years.

In December I decided to make a change. I joined Sparkpeople and jumped in with both feet. I read the articles, joined challenges, tracked every bit of my calories, gave up all soda, drank at least 8-10 cups of water a day, and began exercising via walking or workout videos.

In the last almost six months now I’m approaching 70 pounds lost. I am really proud of myself and I feel so positive and motivated to keep going, I’m not done yet.

Sometimes when I feel like giving in I just need to look at my children and know that I need to be here for all of them. When you have a child who has special needs they really need their parents around as long as possible. If you have children and need to make a healthy change I want to encourage you and give you that nudge in the right direction. There is absolutely nothing better you can do for your children then to get yourself happy and healthy. Nothing better.

This is my before and “so far” picture. Since the so far picture I’ve lost about 10 more pounds:

 

 

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A Crazy Couple of Weeks

I haven’t been responding to much blog wise and I have a lot of stuff to take care of (including shipping off the winners of my last book giveaway!) but it has been a crazy couple of weeks.

My husband had a car accident, everyone is ok. Nevaeh was the only one with him. Our only transportation was totaled. I was just thankful that nobody was hurt but there were some major things to plan and figure out since we have to have a car to get around. Well we got a vehicle last week and now all that’s left is to register and title and all that fun stuff. Hooray for waiting at the DMV right?

My Crunchmaster Gluten Free Crackers Giveaway ends today and I had 3 entries. I used RaffleCopter for the first time for that giveaway and I thought that was pretty cool. RaffleCopter lets you click “choose a winner” and it just randomly picks a winner. And the winner was the first comment which was Jordan!

Family and Autism-The Rollercoaster Journey of Raising Children with Autism gave me an autism blog shout out today. I’m humbled that she chose my blog to share on her first of many Autism Blog Shout Outs. All links relating to my blog or my featured posts on other blogs can also be found on my Contact Me page.

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Giveaway Winners

I am thrilled to be giving away two copies of A Full Life with Autism. This is really a fantastic book. I had four entries and I’m giving away two books so if you entered those are very good odds. I’m using random.org to choose two winners. The first winner is #1 who is Laura and #2 Deborah. I will be in contact with you!

I thought my other giveaway ended today but I realized that it continues until May 10th. There is only one entry for that giveaway so far so get in there if your family is gluten free.

If you didn’t win A Full Life with Autism it can be purchased here on Amazon where it’s rated 5 stars!

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Last Day to Enter my Two Giveaways

I have couple giveaways that are ending. You can enter until midnight tonight.

The first one is for an amazing book called A Full Life with Autism. It helps you with strategies and resources for helping your child with autism transition to adulthood. Click here for details on entering that giveaway. As of right now there are only 4 entries on that giveaway and I’m giving away 2 books. Those are very good odds.

The second giveaway is for Crunchmaster Gluten Free Crackers. If you are doing a gluten free diet for your children this would be a great opportunity to sample a gluten free product. I am giving away 1 package of crackers and there is only one entry so far. Click here for details on that giveaway.

I couldn’t fit in all my giveaways in April. I know I’m expecting at least one more book giveaway soon. Get your name in the hat for these other drawings though, you have a very good chance of winning.

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Crunchmaster Gluten Free Crackers Review and Giveaway

I know that a lot of families who are raising a child or children with autism have not only special diet considerations but they also have children who may be picky or have sensory issues related to eating.

I can attest to how difficult it can be to get a child with autism to eat anything but their few specific things they enjoy. Adrian has only a certain number of a foods that he’s willing to eat and trying new things is not easy for him. Adrian does enjoy crunchy snacks though so we had to try out these Crunchmaster Gluten Free Crackers.


We tried the original and sea salt varieties and they are delicious. They’re crispy and thin, kind of a cross between a chip and a cracker. They have a nutty sort of taste to them which I really loved. I served them to the whole family as a snack with cheese cubes and they all loved it.

So aside from the fact that most likely if your child likes crunchy snacks they will actually eat this, they’re also healthy. I am extremely picky where my calories go. It has to taste good and it has to be healthy because I’ve lost 60 pounds so far and I’m not done yet. I would spend my calorie allowance on this because it’s worth it. These crackers are a nutritious choice – 100% whole grain, cholesterol free, low in sodium, low in saturated fat and with 0 grams of trans fat.

I am giving away a bag of Crunchmaster crackers for you to try. I will run this giveaway until May 10th. Winners need to live in the continental United States.

I’m using Rafflecopter for this giveaway for the first time so hopefully it goes smoothly. Let me know if you have any issue entering this giveaway because I’ve never used this format before.

Continue reading →

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Audio of Teachers/Aides Bullying a 10 Year Old Boy with Autism

My friend shared this on facebook this morning and I spent the last 20 minutes telling me husband about it and crying. This dad has some serious class for not going to that school and hurting somebody because that would be hard to swallow. Only one aide from this video has been fired. The rest are still working with children. That’s absolutely unbelievable and horrifying. Please go sign this petition so teachers can’t get away with bullying students and keeping their jobs. Our children deserve better!

 

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Currclick Autism Awareness Month Charity Bundle

I use CurrClick occasionally to purchase things for homeschooling. I follow them on facebook and I just noticed they have an Autism Awareness Month Charity Bundle. It’s basically a bundle of curriculum that can be used with any student. It normal retails for $48.84 and they are selling this bundle for $10.00 and 100% of the proceeds go to Autism Speaks. So that’s an 80% savings for you and a donation to an autism charity so check that out.

Currclick also hosts a Parent’s Lounge Live! Special needs addition which is basically an online support group for people who are homeschooling children with special needs.

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AMC-Sensory Friendly Films

I was researching a little bit about The Autism Society of America and I came across a really useful link. I had heard about AMC movie theaters doing sensory friendly film days. They keep the lights up, the sound down, there are no previews or ads, and you can bring in your own gluten free/casein free snacks if your child is on a special diet. Perhaps most importantly kids who have trouble sitting still or being quiet don’t have to worry about it because audience members can walk, sing, talk, shout, flap…whatever they need to do.

So the link I came across has the name and date of the next movie and lists all the participating locations of the AMCs all around the nation that are doing the sensory friendly films.

Our family personally is not going to do the sensory friendly films simply because Adrian can already sit through a movie very happily and quietly so it’s not something he needs right now but we definitely could have utilized it in the past and I’m sure it will come in handy for tons of families. If we don’t take advantage of these programs they will go away. If they are not profitable the businesses won’t continue to do it, so if it’s something your family could benefit from use it so you don’t lose it and share with your friends and support groups!

And with all that CLICK HERE for the website.

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Winner of the Jamberry Autism Awareness Nail Shields

I assigned everyone’s name a number and used random.org and the winner was number four and that number was Missy! Congratulations Missy, I’ll be in touch with you.

If you didn’t win and you want to order check out TJ’s site and order yourself some. My nail shields have been on for a little over a week and there is no peeling or chipping. I really do love them and they have been a wonderful conversation starter because people ask me about my nails all the time. If you buy the Autism Awareness Nail Shields then $2 is donated to The Autism Society of America.

I have another giveaway going on right now so check out this post to enter my other giveaway and I have more coming in the days to come.