Archive for the ‘Communication’ Category

Autism & I: iPad and Proloquo2go

Well, I’m back after a loooooong break from blogging.  Why the break?  It was because everytime I tried to log into this website to update it I got an error message.  And seeing as it was Summer break and the kids were at home, I just haven’t found the time to hunt for the solution [...]

September 7, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Entertainment, Food, Main, School  No Comments

Autism & I: Antibiotics… again!

This time, it’s for a double ear infection.  About 4 days ago, Jake didn’t go to sleep until 1am.  Although he wasn’t complaining, we did wonder why he wasn’t sleeping.  At 3:30, we woke to the dound of Jake crying.  When we went in, he was half-asleep and banging himself on the side of his [...]

June 3, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Illness, Main  No Comments

Autism & I: Cheeky little monkey

As I mentioned yesterday, I attended an IEP meeting at Jakes school and when it was done, I visited Jake in his Homebase classroom for a few minutes.  ‘Homebase’ is the room that is reserved for the special needs children, of all ages.  Jake has his own desk, with his name on it in big, bold letters, as well as [...]

May 18, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Entertainment, Main, School  No Comments

Autism & I: An iPad for communication

Jake has been in a very cheerful and giggly mood today, which is strange considering he did his first pee around 4pm!  That surely can’t be good for him and we’re very worried that he’ll cause himself another infection.  But we just don’t know firstly why he holds it and secondly how we can stop [...]

May 9, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Main, Photos, Toilet Training  No Comments

Autism & I: Video of Jake at 21 months

In this video, Jake is 21 months old.  It’s interesting – in a not-so-good way – to look back now at him at that age babbling away to himself and to know that his range of sounds hasn’t grown much in 5 years. When I visited him at his school today, he ran towards me [...]

May 3, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Main, Video  No Comments

Autism & I: A Pretty Good Weekend

The antibiotics are working!  And I know this because Jake is happy.  He’s spent the weekend smiling, sleeping well and eating like a horse.  As I mentioned previously, we feel pretty bad that we didn’t know that he wasn’t feeling well, but in our defense, he went downhill slowly and gradually and we could be [...]

April 17, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Illness, Main, Toilet Training  No Comments

Autism & I: A little understanding, please

Jake has an infection.  His school called me yesterday to pick him up because he was crying and they believe that he might need to see a doctor.  They were right and I called Jake’s pediatrician, who I like to call Dr Useless. I’m sure that you can guess why I chose that name, right?  [...]

April 14, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Illness, Main  One Comment

Autism & I: Where does it hurt?

I can’t believe it.  Jake fell asleep around 10pm last night.  Amazing!  That’s what he used to do but over the last few weeks, he’s been going to sleep much later.  What a treat! And he seems much more cheerful too.  One of two things is happening here: Jake is more cheerful because he’s getting [...]

April 13, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Main, Sleep Habits  No Comments

Autism & I: An All-day Meltdown

Today has been hell.  Not so much for me – I’ve been at work all day – but for Stephen and Abby it’s been a day of listening to Jake meltdown.  He woke up in a decent mood and it went quickly downhill from there. I should preface this by describing how I wake Jake [...]

April 9, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Main, Sleep Habits  No Comments

Autism & I: The Journey Starts

Everyone says “I don’t know how you do it” or “I couldn’t do it” and my answer is always: “I didn’t ask to have a child with autism, but he’s here now and I would never want to be without him.” I also say: “Yes, you could do it.  We all can… if we want [...]

April 8, 2011   Posted in: Communication, Main, Toilet Training  No Comments