Thrive As You

EEEEEEK, I haven't posted since Christmas.  Ouch. Today I sent out this email to my autism support group members and realized it kinda sounded a little like a blog post. Go figure.   So here goes. No one asked for my two cents.  They usually don't but they get it anyway.  So here goes. Today is World Autism Awareness Day.  That's awesome, but for us, every day is "autism awareness day."  What *IS* important about the UN recognizing autism as a "world" day is that it "shines a light" (pun intended) on autism.   I'm sure you've all read the CDC report by now that the rate of autism is at 1 in 88.  The scariest part of that report is that it was based on data from 2008.   And yet EVERY SINGLE DAY I get asked "What is autism?" Is fundraising important?  Yes. Is research important?  Yes. Is finding solutions important?  Yes. Is finding answers important?  Yes.  Is providing help, support, and services ...

A few years ago, I decided to start an autism support group in my town.  It went pretty well but, as small groups tend to do.... we decided to break for the summer...and then sort of fizzled out.  I got busy with, well........ life and no one really wanted to help sooooooooo we disbanded.  Not really my proudest moment. Today we started our group up again.  Except this time we had all new faces.  And I was once again reminded why I do what I do.  Why I started the group in the first place, why I work with Autism Speaks , why I write a blog, why I get silly on facebook, why I put myself out there....... My friend Barbra Streisand said it best  ~  "People who need people are the luckiest people in the world." Truly -- without each other we have nothing.  I know that recently I myself have been in "the hole" and if I didn't have people around me to pull me out -- I'm not sure if I'd still be there or if I would be... somewhere else....

I'll admit, most of my life I've been somewhat of an entertainment junkie. And by somewhat, I mean........ totally. But in recent years, my priorities have shifted quite a bit and I can't even remember the last year I watched the Emmy's. I mean, who has time to WATCH television let alone watch a show that celebrates the accomplishments of said media? Not me. But not this year. Oh no. I was GLUED. How many years in the past have we all watched the "documentary of the moment" walk on stage and scoop up their prizes? In years past we've seen made for TV movies ranging from war to depression to religion to politics to disease and everything in between. And it's been great. I'm really happy for all of the winners (hits FF button on the DVR remote). But this year, I cared. A lot. Because this year, I was up for an Emmy. Luke was up for an Emmy. Anyone who has been touched by autism (and there's a lot of us) was up for an Emmy. It was OUR...

Every single day of my life people ask me what autism is. And that shocks me. 1 in 110 kids in the United States alone are being diagnosed with autism. If you don't know what it means...hang on to your hat. Because autism is about to become "the new norm." Whatever "the norm" means. Here's what our friends at Wikipedia have to say about it. "Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication , and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. [ 1 ] Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. [ 2 ] The two other autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are Asperger syndrome , which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and PDD-NOS , diagnosed when full criteria for the other two disorders are not met ." Autism Society...

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...

Dear Readers, please excuse this ugly format. It's the only one I could use to make my video work. Next posting I'll go back to normal! OK, I know my posts are supposed to be about you know, the journey of raising a special needs child. But this week my friends, it's about....... Holy $hit! The walk is 6 days away! You see, I've spent about one billion, 4 hundred and sixty two hours planning this walk. Give or take. Phew... it's a lot of work! And if you've read my previous blogs, you'll know that I've had some moments in this journey where I've questioned... ummmmm motivation. Let's not open that can of worms again, OK? And you know what I just realized? I AM writing about the journey of being the parent of a special needs child. THIS is part of the journey. Putting it out there. Letting go of the fear that people are going to judge you or your child, standing up and saying, "I'm a part of this!" and spreading the word. Becau...

Guess who I talked to today? No really, you'll never guess. Oh alright, I'll tell you. The CFO of Autism Speaks. Yep, the little blog that could made it's way to the eyes and ears of some people here and there and Mr. Thomas Hetzel gave me a call on Friday. I'm glad I missed the call though, because the weekend gave me some time to really pour over the 990. ( Click here if you want to see it yourself.) I'll be honest, it's a lot of accounting stuff that's wayyyyyyyyyyyyy over my head. But from reading the document, there's a few things I know. $3.9 million in office expenses is unacceptable. $2.4 million in printing services? Not ok . Geri Dawson, the Chief Science Officer referenced in The Examiner article as making in excess of $600,000/ year? Good news! It's not true. What is true is that she makes four hundred and something and she got $270,00o in moving expenses. Nope, not a typo. $270,000. And yes, my dear readers and supporters. I *DID* as...

Do you ever wish you could live your life over and erase all of the mistakes you’ve ever made? You don’t? Neither do I. My mistakes have made me who I am, quite possibly more than the “good choices” I’ve made. No one’s perfect. Today I read something that literally broke my heart. It’s a nasty ~albeit possibly true~ at least in part~ article about Autism Speaks. Specifically where they put the money we all work so hard to raise. Want to read it? Are you sure? Click here. In a nutshell, it says that Autism Speaks pays their executives too much and doesn’t give enough back to the families. I mean, of course it does. It’s true. But this broke my heart for many many reasons. Reason number one: I have spent 2 years of my life dedicated to the Walk Now for Autism. When I say, “dedicated,” you have no idea. Let me give you a clue. Luke hasn’t had clean pajamas in 3 days because I simply cannot catch up with laundry. I could fill the rest of the internet with how much I do, and I’m not saying...

Well, in case you haven't figured it out, I do a lot of work with Autism Speaks and the TN Walk Now for Autism . I've mentioned before why I feel it's so important to raise awareness but... I'm going to say it again. This week a group of high school kids asked Autism Speaks to send someone out to talk to them about autism. How cool, right? They wanted to learn more! And my "more," I mean, "at all." Of the 42 kids in that room with me, ONE of them even knew what autism was. Newsflash: 1 in 150 kids are being diagnosed with autism in the United States. In the UK it's estimated that the numbers are more like 1 in 67. We need, *NEED* to educate the masses. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to teach these kids about autism and what it looks like and I encouraged them to go tell 10 people about what we talked about and make the information viral. I mean, Comic-Con and Twilight are trending topics on Twitter and yet autism is not? Really? The ...

So wow. People are starting to read my blog. So for those of you out there who don't know me personally, here's the abc's on who I am, today anyway. a- April, it’s my name.. or so they tell me. In any given day I don’t hear it too much. Everyone I know has a nickname for me, including Myra who calls me, “Hooker,” Jeff who calls me, “Pet” (it’s a joke), and of course the name I’m called the most is….”MOM!!!!!!!” I would be remiss if I didn’t include autism under “a.” So I will say ~ autism: it’s part of my life but doesn’t define my life. b- Boys. I gave birth to two and married one so I’m outnumbered! c- Chiropractor . I’m one of “those.” I’m addicted. I love mine. He made my headaches go away. Without meds. And I used to get A LOT of headaches. Also? Candy. I friggen love it. The sugary kind like nerds or runts or gummy bears or orange tic tacs or gobstoppers. It’s really good for my 6 pack abs. d- Doctors. I have the utmost respect for them (see: ...

Before kids, I was one of those people who liked things, “just so.” A place for everything and everything in its place. I was, what you would call, “anal.” In general, I am a very detail oriented person. And a planner. So I like to plan everything down to the very last detail. And then I had kids. And I tried it for awhile, I really did. When I had one child, it could sorta manage it. I mean he would nap and I could tidy up. We weren’t outnumbered yet. And then I had #2 and….well now things were technically tied up but in reality the energy of two boys wayyyyyyyyyyyy outnumbers the energy of 2 grown ups. And then Jared started to get a bit older and get into stuff (read: needed to be chauffeured everywhere) and Luke got diagnosed with autism (read: needed to be chauffeured everywhere, too) and then I got a part time job and then I started doing all kinds of volunteer work at the school and with Autism Speaks and sometimes I even throw in a minute to craft and if I’m lu...