Comments for Adventures in Autism

Comment on A Pick Me Up by Kathy (your sister)

Kathy (your sister) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:08:34 +0000

What a wonderful list – we would all use a list like this. I’m always here for you, and I really like the idea of watching AFV (or sitcoms) – anything to make you laugh. And, what about reading a book? Talk to you soon!! xoxo

Comment on chiseling away her self esteem by Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:41:36 +0000

Amazing how schools are all taking a zero tolerance approach to bullying between students, but the adults are exempt. So sorry yesterday was a hard day!

Comment on Stress comes in waves by Lee Ann

Lee Ann — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:38:20 +0000

Peggy – everyone is busy and I totally understand the “shame on me” feeling, but it is impossible to do it all. The sad part to me is there wasn’t more realization from the school/teachers/paras that changes like these affect all kids – multiply it by 100 for kids with autism! I can guess your daughter wasn’t the only student having a hard time this week.

Comment on service dog progress by Ramon Selove

Ramon Selove — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:08:13 +0000

I have a son with a service dog in school. He is in 9th grade and this is his third year with the dog.

We struggled with our local school system at first but things seem to have worked out well (finally). At first the school asked us to sign an agreement that was a clear violation of the ADA. Because of that I am very curious about the nature of the “release” that the school asked you to sign. Could you possible post a copy of the release here so that I (and others) could see it?

Comment on reflective listening/theory of mind by nittin

nittin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:36:35 +0000

The trouble with too much praise-This is precisely the same issue my daughter is going through right now.
At the start of the year,with new students in class,she took the opportunity to share about herself to help them understand her better.
To illustrate the difficulty she has with praise she decided to draw a picture of herself with a beautiful painting in hand surrounded by classmates who were impressed about how beautiful the picture looked.She added a thought bubble to it which said- Help ! I’m embarassed.That’s too much praise.
Her new classmates were genuinely impressed and complimented her right away and the teacher emailed me on how impressed she was by the way she could communicate her feelings.
Iam now left with a child who cannot deal with this kind of attention and has flatly refused to share about herself to anyone in the future.She is so focused on deflecting attention from herself and wants to maintain that sanctity at all cost.

Comment on melatonin worked for us! by delayed2sleep

delayed2sleep — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:53:52 +0000

In addition to autism spectrum, melatonin is being used in some countries in kids with ADHD. As I’m sure you are aware, there’ve been no long-term studies with either children or adults; that should be pointed out.

I have a primary circadian rhythm disorder (see my blog ), and I use melatonin. To begin with, I went along with the “standard” dose of 3 mg. Then, wondering why exactly 3 mg, I cut the tablets in half. For me, the effect was exactly the same (that is, sleepiness one-and-a-quarter hour after medication, if the timing is somewhere near reasonable). OK, how about half of that? Exactly the same effect. My sleep specialist was a bit wary of prescribing such a small dose until he’d consulted with colleagues. Now he’s as happy with my discovery as I am. (I now use the liquid; a lot easier to “cut in half”.)

My sleep specialist has had kids with ADHD come in who were taking 6 or even 9 mg. He gets quite worked up, telling about that. No one needs more than 3 mg. So my advice is to try 3 mg first to determine if it helps at all, then keep on reducing the dosage as long as the effect is the same. Good luck!

Comment on I believe by Nittin

Nittin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:02:43 +0000

God bless !

Comment on breaking through her shell by Nittin

Nittin — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 16:57:17 +0000

So true………
What I seem to hear this year is-
hmmmmmmmmmmmm-never mind.
Those words just send the alarm bells ringing.

Comment on she’ll blossom when she’s ready by awalkabout

awalkabout — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:06:07 +0000

Yes! Little Miss is the same way. She absolutely goes through phases where she leaps forward, then there might be six or eight frustrating months. Makes you sign…a lot. Best wishes for Belle.

Comment on Snakes in a school by lookingforlifeshumor

lookingforlifeshumor — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:08:54 +0000

My son was obsessed with dinosaurs to the point where everything at school had to be in dino-speak.. i.e., dinoinches, dinosandwich, footasaurus, you get the picture. It made for some interesting homework directions! Good thing is that it soon passed as he got tired of the extra syllables.