BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Autism Spectrum Disorders Welcome to the new Autism Spectrum Disorders forum

I can't remember which thread I posted about my yahoo group called AutismCardClub - but it was just posted on Sat so should be easy to find. Right now it is a commercial break on Y&R so cannot do much as I am putting away laundry and then have a chat to do and pick up kids.

But I am trying to get a chat for us at the site, hopefully by this coming weekend. I thought Sun at 1 pm CA time, which would be 4 pm NY time.

Anyway I got a call from my Brother yesterday before getting kids from school. It had been 10 years since we seen or spoke and he told me my Dad died. Turned out he died last Tuesday and I just find out now. Talk about family!

So he had not spoken to them in 10 years either, seems we both stopped contact when I left NJ the second time when pregnant with Matthew.

I did contact them a few months later to say I had Matthew and then not again for 2 years to say Nicholas was dx and then 4 years ago stopped contact due to negativity.

My brother just learned my kids have autism and he thought both could not talk. They found a paper in my Dad's wallet with my address on it, but no phone number. I have not move and live at the same place for 8 years with same phone number. My Brother used the internet to find my number. My Aunt is 3 years older than me, Mother's younger sister and lives in NJ - her hubby is a copy and she learned my Father died by reading the Obituary.

So I have a sister who is either 40 or 41, just turned one of those earlier this month. She is blind, has been since the age of 8 after the third brain tumor operation. She works with ARC and now the issue of a group home for her.

Also - I took over the Insurance section on Sat and have to explore life insurance for me and want to write about older adults who have disabilities and what happens to them.

Please also head over to the Insuranc forum, it is under Money but not yet listed on home page. I used another ID for that site.

Got to run and catch Y&R.

Has anyone been to meetup.com? There is the topic of autism and you input your city and see if there is a meetup in that area.

They changed awhile ago and now there is money involved to run a group. I was going to do it until that happened.

I have a profile on a site called co-abode.com it is for single mothers to share homes with another single mother. It would be nice to use that format specifically for autism.

Also the same for dating sites and one for autism. I sent that idea to match.com a few years ago and never heard back.

The co-abode site has a space where those who have a home and want roomates and then those that want to look together for a home.

I liked it at first, but there are lots of issues like holidays and religion, eating habits and schooling that come into the fold.

Someday maybe I will try to do something like that for those with disabilities.

I would think it would be very hard to set up living with another person who has a child on the austistic spectrum. That would be blending 2 families with autistic children, and making ALL of the austistic children go through some pretty major changes. Realistic for a night of babysitting, but for living conditions?

Of course I'm looking at it from the problem angle; (4 tantrums instead of 2, eating peculiarities of 4 instead of 2 etc.) What do you see as the benefits of living with someone else who has kids with autism?

Hi Rhonda:

Thanks for the feedback on the site and thanks for taking the time to join. You sure are a busy parent with your msn group, the state group and caring for your daughter.

Visual supports is an area I have issues with and made a complaint since they are not in the classroom and are listed in Matthew's IEP. That is interesting that a psychologist is working on that with you. I communicate with the AAC dept and last year they conducted a few meetings with the therapists, teacher and aide to get it all working in the classroom, but not really at that level yet.

Hello. I'm a parent of a teenager with autism. I have a lot of experience advocating for my child. I saw this forum thru Google alerts. That's all for now.

Hi there and thanks for posting. Feel free to jump into any discussion or start your own on the subject of advocating.

Hello , My name is Lynn, 34 years old mother of a 6 (almost 7) with Asperger's Syndrome. she also has OCD. She is bright, verbal ( was not always) She spent 5 years in speech, I saw her problems very early on. I was fighting the school from giving her an ADHD Dx'ed and won (with her doctors help) as of now she does not need any type of special services in school she in a mainstream class and does her work on 1st grade level. but I'm worried she having more "meltdowns" and when she get in a place where she is scared. she talkes to herself. well I guess that's it

HI Lynn - welcome aboard and thanks for sharing. What State or country are you located in? IS the OCD an official diagnosis? I have not been able to get one for my son and not sure which avenue to take to get that, which type of Dr did you see and do you do any of the CBT therapy?

My son really does not have meltdowns at school, he saves them for the way home when things get uncomfortable or upsetting on the playground, which happens at the end of the day anyway and he holds it in until we get home. I think most kids on the spectrum release their tension in the comfort and privacy of their homes once they get out of school. Not great for the parents, but at least they can maintain until that time.

Hi Lynn!

Michael was (still is) in the mainstream classroom, but we always made it a point to give him the special ed "option", so that if he was having an especially bad day, or was having a hard time getting himself under control - he would have someplace safe he could go to. We made it part of his IEP. All he had to do was tell his regular teacher that he needed to go to Mrs. Clark's room (or whichever teacher for that particular grade once he got into middle school) and they knew exactly what he was talking about and there was no problem.

Maybe your daughter needs a "safety zone" like that. She knows she's in the regular classroom, but if she gets overwhelmed, she can step out and pull herself together without the entire class watching her do it. You might speak to the counselor or special ed teacher to see what kind of accomodations can be made.

Hi Sorry I have not been here in a while.. Had a house full of sick people. Ok To Bonnie I live in In southeast Ga, Near Savannah. In a small county called Effingham. Her OCD is an "official Dx" She got it last year by an Child psych. I went to nero dr first, who sent me there to get it. She also sees an child psychologists Who does an wonderful job.
Michelle,The idea of a safty zone is a gret idea, in the past she would have a lot of her problems home, but that is changing, I see her teacher's next week I will look into trying to give her a "time out"