Tuesday, May 31, 2011

http://www.squidoo.com/sleep-disturbances-and-behavior-in-autism

Sleep problems are a common issue for kids with autism- learn more about it and find out why this is actually the simplest symptom to manage! http://amplify.com/u/a147ff
http://www.squidoo.com/creating-a-sensory-friendly-environment-for-children-with-autism

Kids with Autism need a relaxing retreat. Easy tips to create a relaxing and sensory friendly bedroom, for them without breaking the bank. http://amplify.com/u/a1472u
http://www.squidoo.com/haircuts-for-kids-with-asd

Haircuts and nail clipping are really tough for most kids with Autism. Over the course of a few years we practiced a lot, now our son tolerates haircuts! http://amplify.com/u/a146mt
http://www.squidoo.com/books-on-autism

A collection of books on autism for parents who are new to the diagnosis. If you visit please feel free to recommend a book! http://amplify.com/u/a1464o
http://www.squidoo.com/what-to-target-in-autism-therapy

Parents usually need to practice things with the child to supplement therapy but often become stressed by trying to address too many issues at once. How do you choose goals? http://amplify.com/u/a144br

Just finished a few articles this week!

This past week has been crazy! I write on Squidoo which is usually lots of fun and pretty easy.  Last week they changed  a lot of features- while these changes are great, I am not exactly queen of the internet.  I spent a few hours yesterday panicking about Facebook, I have a user account and 2 pages under it (although I meant to have one) but I have NO idea how to mingle the user account with the page- I can advertie the page but my friends can't see it.  And there are also Twitter, Digg and Amplify.


Any way, I did not get as much writing done as usual because I was pre-occupied with trying to understand social networking!

My recent topics included the Mozart effect  and how it's benefits to spatial reasoning (although short lived) may prove beneficial in aiding children with Autism problem solving during therapies.  Hopefully the solutions to the problems solved will stick with the child and give them some information to build from in future problem solving endeavors!

I also wrote an article about chores and autism last week.  I felt that I should write this because it seems that a lot of the parents I speak to have given up trying to assign chores to a child with autism- some admit that they never really tried.  This article covers the benefits of chores for kids with autism as well as giving lists of developmentally organized chores and how to modify them for safety or ability.

Oral aversion is really hard to deal with, especially in the younger children.  There is help but unfortunately few parents are given the information early in the child's life and the family must endure torturous feeding times, anxiety, fighting and watch their child essentially starve for years longer than necessary.  Be sure to ask your child's doctor about getting a feeding team if your child has an oral aversion.

Well, there are three of my recent articles, I need to go learn something else about social networking.  I hope that as I get better established in those communities I will have more time to write articles and blog!

Monday, May 30, 2011

May 30, 2011 My first entry at Blogger

I am an Army wife and mother of a beautiful 7 year old boy who has Autism.  Before our son was born I worked as and EMT-S, trying to save up enough money to go to med school.  Those plans changed a bit!

After my son's pediatrician announced his suspicions the first time (when my son was only 12 months old) we got heavily involved in the world of autism.  I have met other families affected by the disorder through school groups, military functions and out at various activities.  Somehow I wound up helping many of them with some of the challenges that they were struggling with such as advocacy issues at school, behavioral problems and sensory integration.

One of my son's special education teachers came to our home a few years ago and watched as I "therapized" him (a general term that my son selected for any of his activities that help him in some fashion) and she suggested I start advocating professionally and asked if I would write a book.  Later, another special education teach of his also suggested I write a book!  I felt that a book might require more time than I can give as I provide most of our son's therapy myself due to long wait lists and frequent moves and I still have so much school left to complete.

I study everything I can find regarding autism, aspergers and genetics.  My new path seems to be leading me toward molecular biology.  My husband is a soldier and also a full time student- although he has enough credit hours for 2 doctorates!  He has applied to a Physician Assistant program because at this point neither of us has the patience left for medical school and residency!

Any way, I did want to share some of my knowledge about autism with the world so in January of 2011 I started writing on Squidoo!  The articles I write there are more about the personal experiences, tips and discrimination- I found that on that platform, the scientific research held very little interest.  I do hope to write a detailed article on each of the copy number variants on genes that have been associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders, but for now I am writing more about the topics that seem to interest the readers more!

Please be patient with me!  I struggle with using the cool codes and designs, also I know virtually nothing about SEO (other than some of the words) so while I plan to enter something daily... if I am having trouble with something "internety" I may miss an entry or two!

You will notice that I refer to my child as "Cutie" online.  This is for his privacy- his real name does not need to be floating around the internet.  I share pictures of him but usually part of his face is a bit obscured - unless they are his baby pics.  I have heard internet horror stories and not being internet savvy I would prefer to be overly cautious.

Here is a link to my "table of contents" at Squidoo, please visit me there for autism tips and personal stories!

http://www.squidoo.com/sidthers-lenses