Thrive As You

Last week I had the privilege and honor of attending a conference hosted by one Dr. Temple Grandin. One word: Wow. Once again, I thought I knew all there was to know about autism. I thought I had read it all, heard it all, seen it all. Nope. Not even close. Dr. Grandin said A LOT of really amazing things. The fascinating part about listening to her is that she speaks not only as a PhD, but as an autistic person herself...........what an absolute GIFT it is to get the REAL perspective from her not just from a "clinical" perspective, but from a "real" perspective. As the talks, it's almost hard to listen and focus because you are so in awe of all this woman has accomplished. Temple said something that just keeps haunting me. My friend Michelle and I looked at the slide and then looked at each other.........not saying a word but just sharing that, "Holy $hit," moment. "Fear is the main emotion of autism." What? I thought it was frustrat...

I've been neglecting my blog duties. Again. Can't help it, y'all! The sun is shining... there are weeds to be pulled and worms to be had. Luke thinks worms are cute. And I think Luke is pretty cute. So we dig for worms together. Today is Monday, which means that in just a few short days, World Autism Awareness Day will be upon us. Did you know that there are only 3 "world" days recognized by the UN? Autism being one of them? Kinda cool. Sorta. I mean, sucks that we NEED a day but kinda cool that autism is one of only 3. Anyway, I digress. Are you ready? Autism Speaks is sponsoring a " Light it up Blue " campaign. (You may have noticed the ginormous sidebar?) The EMPIRE STATE BUILDING is going to be lit up blue on April 1. Wow. That's a lot of lightbulbs. I bought ONE lightbulb. I'll be lighting up my house blue, will you? What about your autism gear? Got a tshirt? No? Well, you should have ordered one from my etsy store ! ...

I've read about Temple. I've even read a few things written by Temple. But somehow, watching the movie.............the visual representation of what Temple, or a person like Temple (autistic) lives through........... changed. my. life. I thought I had this thing knocked. Not a chance. HBO , I commend you. Thank you for airing a major television event on the topic of autism. Mick Jackson (director), I commend you. Your vision, Temple's vision...the way you brought it to life, the way you brought it home -- without words. Claire Daines , I cannot wait to watch you win your emmy, although it will not even begin to give you the accolades you deserve. For you this may have been "just a role," or perhaps even "just a paycheck," but........what you showed us.........was nothing short of a miracle. I cannot stop thinking about this movie. There's a scene where Temple first walks into her new bedroom and the camera zooms in on the ceiling fan, then b...

Woah Nellie! I got props from Jen at Noting Grace. She gave me a Kreativ Blogger Award!!! I think she may have given it to me because I'm so mad at her for moving to Vegas but, alas, I'll take it anyway!!!! I was having a few weeks of blog dundrums..... you know...anyone who blogs must get in this funk, right? What to blog about? Time to actually blog? So this came at the right time for me. Gave me the "feel good" that I needed to push forward! Here's the rulez.... 1.Post the award. 2.Thank and mention the person who gave you the award. 3.Pass the award on to seven bloggers whom you think embody the spirit of the Kreativ Blogger Award. 4.Name seven things about yourself that others don't know. 5.Don’t forget to notify your seven Kreativ Bloggers about their AWARD and post links to their blogs. My Kreativ Blogger Seven are: (in no particular order, of course!) 1. Right back at ya Jen. I don't know if that's "legal" to give it b...

sometimes... just life. And you do your best to get through it. Sometimes we say, "one day at a time." And sometimes we say, "one hour at a time." Because that's all you've got. And you know what? That's ok. So right now, at this time of year when we're all in the winter funk and we're wishing and hoping for more sunshine and more hours in the day........I say..... it's ok to just do your best to get by. You don't have to be super parent or superwoman or superman every single day. Just get through. The sun also rises. The sun'll come out tomorrow... and all that jazz. And also? The laundry will still be there tomorrow, so will the dishes, so will the dust, so will the bills, it will all still be there. So just get through today doing the best you can. And be ok with it.

I've mentioned before that Luke is an awesome eater. He's got about 6 total things on his list that he will eat. At all. Period. I know most of you autism parents out there feel me on this one. One of the things that Luke will eat is waffles. For awhile we had him eating homemade, organic, loaded with sneaky stuff waffles. That was good. And then somehow, someway, we switched to Eggo ONLY waffles. And for about the last year and a half we've been regularly eating, "Waffles with syrups in a bowl." He like us to cut up the waffles and then he dips the pieces in a little bowl of syrup. So "waffles with syrups in a bowl" has become part of the vernacular at the Schmidt house. The other day I was re-organizing the pantry in all of my spare time and the good old waffle iron was sitting on the island. Luke spots it and says, "I want square waffles please." (Waffle iron = square waffles. Eggos = round.) I say, "Luke you'll ha...

I just stumbled upon this fabulous blog. My friend Tammy is a photographer and member of a camera club here in TN. A few weeks ago, a new book was featured.... about autism. (Really?) So she told me about it. And I googled it and not only found the book, which can be found here but also the author/creator/brainchild of the book here . Her name is Leisa Hammett and she's an autism mom like me, but I'm guessing she's a little higher on the autism food chain because a) her book is published and b) she got a "press copy" of the Temple Grandin movie! Below is an excerpt from Leisa's blog, but I strongly invite you to go visit it for yourself. http://www.leisahammett.typepad.com/ Leisa's Review of the Temple Grandin movie Whenever autism is portrayed in the popular media, seasoned parent advocates become leery, skeptical. After 13 years on the journey, I've learned repeatedly that in the end, It's All Good. No matter how inaccurate, offens...