The Animal Helper Club

Summer has started and my girls have quickly found an activity to keep them busy. They have started an Animal Helper Club. Each girl has a nifty "Animal Helper" badge that either indicates that they are an "Animal Helper" or an "Animal Helper in Training". Raina and Sienna are in training and Asia and Raven are full Animal Helpers. There are a few of the neighbourhood kids in the group as well. It is just so cute. Asia looks all official when she wears her badge and Raven runs the meeting in such an orderly manner. Yesterday I laughed SO hard. Asia and Raven decided that since there were no animals to save, she would teach Raina and Sienna how to be good to animals. Raven organized the containers and Asia handed out the peanuts to place in the containers. Raina listen very carefully to the bigger sisters and placed the nuts all around our property for the animals to find. I suppose it was a treasure hunt for the animals. There were peanuts running along our fence, balanced on tree branches, and hidden around flowers. The girls had a great time doing this....until...... Raina started screaming and crying. I came dashing out to see if she was hurt and all I saw was Raina in tears pointing at Sienna. There was Sienna, the other animal helper in training following behind Raina... with her mouth totally full of peanuts. Raina had been placing the nuts in special spots and Sienna had been collecting them and eating them. I tried so very hard not to laugh but I couldn't hold it in. It was hilarious because Sienna really didn't understand that the nuts were for the animals. She felt hungry, so she ate the nuts. Well, when Sienna finally understood what she had done wrong she promptly walked over to Raina and spat the remainder of the nuts into Raina's bowl. I was then in the dog house because I laughed.

So, that is how our summer has started... so far a club has started, the peanuts were placed and the 4 year old learned how to spit nuts into a plastic container. There is never a dull moment around here. This summer is sure to be full of surprising fun!

Happy Summer Everyone.

Seizures, Seizures, and Autism

In the autism community a child who suffers from autism is often described as a child who is "hard to reach". A child surrounded by walls and on the other side of the walls you will find the parents and therapists who dedicate themselves to breaking down those walls. Visualize a beautiful young child who can't understand the world around him/her and therefore resorts into his/her own little world. There are times when the child is motivated to stand on his tippy-toes and peer over the walls and see what is on the other side. Then there are those days when the same child just can't bare the thought of even looking at the inside of the walls. Today was one of those days for Sienna. Seizures cause her to have so many challenges and today she had more seizures. Eleven days ago she had a 20 minute tonic-clonic seizure and we lost almost a years worth of work with her. I have had to re-teach the token system and the pec cards to her. She has had more melt-downs this week than she has had in a long time. Yesterday was a better day and I was starting to think that perhaps she was improving but now I realize that she was brewing another seizure. Poor Sienna... the seizures today were not long at all. In fact, they were short and fast. The bad thing is that she had multiple seizures and now that they are finished the walls around her seem to be really high, really strong, and hard to break down. I can't get through to her this evening. She is afraid of something and I can't find out what it is. I know, she hasn't recovered from her seizures and it is normal to have a feeling of fear after a seizure. The one thing that is bothering me more tonight is the fact that Sienna is flapping her hands again. A sure sign that we have regressed once again into that brick-walled place. I talked to the doctor and he is sure she will get back to where she was, but he also thinks it is going to take a very long time. How frustrating for all of us. I have pulled out a few of my autism books in search of stories about children who have autism and seizures. (no, not all children with autism have seizures) and didn't come up with a lot of information. Please, if you have any experience with a child who has BOTH seizures and autism.. please raise your hand and share your advice. I need ideas of how to regain what the seizures have taken from Sienna. Basically, a years worth of autism therapy and understanding. Thank you in advance.

Thank Goodness for Fridays!

It's Friday, my favourite day of the week. I love everything about Fridays because in the evening after all of my daycare children have gone home I can have a nice long bath and put my jammies on and just hang out with my wonderful family. Sometimes we will play games or watch a movie. It's a great way to end the week in my opinion.
My children are all having quiet time, along with my daycare child who is here today as well. Quiet time is more for me than them because I need a minute to just sit down and put my feet up. (even if it's only for 20 minutes) That 20 minutes gives me a little time to just sit and think. I know, we think all day long, but I want to think about stuff other than what colour paint we have run out of, when I can get to the pharmacy to pick up meds, or other similar boring thinking material.
During this beautiful Friday afternoon I find myself thinking about my sister in Toronto. I spent some time with her recently and we had such a wonderful time at the Toronto Zoo. She is such a dear friend and sister to me and I miss her. We are about a 3 hour drive away and I wish we could see each other more often. Now, this sister of mine isn't actually a birth sister. She is a chosen sister. She was, in fact, my babysitter when I was a child. She has known me almost all of my life. I never had a birth sister and had always wanted one. Instead I got stuck with a smelly brother who was never very nice to me. So, as life moved along I reconnected with my dear babysitter and we became so close that we consider ourselves sisters now. It is such a gift to have such a wonderful sister. I don't care if she isn't a birth sister, it's even better to be a chosen sister in my opinion.
On Monday June 29th I will be thinking about my sister's mother who passed away just a year ago. This woman was such a wonderful lady. I remember as a child how she would greet me at the door of her house with such a smile. She always seemed happy to see me and that was wonderful. Sometimes she'd make a cup of tea and I'd sit in her little kitchen and eat a cookie while my mother chatted with her. This woman was such a dear lady. She took pride in her beautiful gardens and seemed to love talking about "old times". I remember her fondly, and I miss her. My dear sister will be in my thoughts on Monday as well. Again, I feel so far away from her.

Happy Weekend friends,
Love Samantha

First Capital of Canada Celebration

On June 15, 1841, Kingston was named the first capital of Canada. Today we attended the June 15th celebrations to celebrate Kingston's unique role in history as the 'First Capital' of United Canada. Today was filled with 1841-era activities, horse-drawn hay rides, music, aboriginal dancing, and much more. I went downtown with 6 children in tow. My five and one of my daycare children. The weather was perfect and the tour of downtown Kingston by horse and buggy was beautiful. I learned a lot. I didn't get pictures of the horse and buggy because I was holding my 3 year old daycare child as well as Sienna and trying to stay on the bale of hay and hold Raina's shirt so she wouldn't slip off. LOL I had a wonderful time and would like to share the pictures from today.

Awesome iPod Touch applications for children

I am really loving my iPod touch. The applications you can get are amazing! I use mine every time we go to a doctor's appointment. I only let Sienna use it at appointments so that she will look forward to waiting, something that is very hard for young children to do. She looks forward to playing on "Mommy's iPod" and sometimes as we are getting ready to leave for an appointment she will ask if the iPod is ready to go. She loves to watch Elmo, one of the t.v shows i converted to put on the iPod. recently she has taken to the applications. There are some really neat ones. Here are some of our favourites...

• Wheels on the Bus ($.99) is an electronic pop-up book, where users drive the action by touching, swiping and tapping their way through the familiar preschool song. Ages 2-5.

• iWriteWords ($.99) turns the letters of the alphabet into dot-to-dot puzzles. Ages 4-5. A more limited lite version is free.

• Scribble ($.99), turns the screen into a tiny easel. You can also import pictures from your photo library to put a mustache on Grandma. A quick shake erases the photos. Ages 3-up.

• Scoops ($.99) lets you tilt your screen left or right to sort falling scoops of ice cream. You can make patterns with same-colored scoops, while dodging the veggies. Ages 3-up.

ISteam ($.99) lets children uncover hidden photos, by rubbing their finger on a steamy mirror.

Koi Pond ($.99) turns your screen into a beautiful fish pond, where each touch creates ripples and scares away fish (shaking your iPhone adds fish food to the water).

If we have a really long wait Sienna sometimes enjoys looking at our family photo album that I imported onto my iPod. Not only does it encourage her to speak and use her words it also keeps her in tune with family and friends that we don't often see. We recently visited my sister in Toronto and for a week before I used my iPod to show Sienna pictures of her so that she wouldn't be afraid and it worked SO well. I love my iPod and how it helps me help Sienna. All parents of children who have autism NEED an iPod touch. It just helps in so many way!

Much love to all of you,
Samantha

Autism and differences

I took the kids to the park today and met another mom with a child who is effected by autism. I could see the "autism" plain as day by the child's behaviours. This little sweetie had no fear of anything. He would run up to strangers and hug them, run off whenever he felt like it. This little guy was very busy, very curious, very cute, and very different than Sienna.

I talked to the mom for a long time and I found out that this little guy was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism just like Sienna. So, here we have 2 beautiful children with the same diagnosis but very different behaviours. As for Sienna, she is afraid of people. Just terrified. She clings to me and cries if somebody just looks at her. She flaps her hands and screams if she gets over stimulated and she gets over stimulated a lot. The differences between Sienna and this sweet little boy were like night and day. Now, Sienna has bolted on me a few times and that happens when she is so terrified that she just can't cope. She doesn't run to somebody else, she runs as far away from the people as she can.

The other difference I saw was that the little boy seemed so much happier than my daughter. I don't really know why. It was obvious that Sienna's anxieties were higher at that time, but all children with autism have anxieties. For us, it's like Sienna is a ticking time-bomb. We are all afraid to "set her off" into a tantrum and often try to avoid what sets her off. For example, she hates it if somebody touches her stuffed bear. She loves "Nana" so much, but the anxiety and worry she gets around this bear makes it very hard for her to cope. So, in this case we taught Sienna that Nana must stay home when we are going to the park. Today the anxiety was around her wagon. She did not want anyone to touch her beloved wagon. It just scared her so much to see somebody touch it. I wish I could figure out what it is that she is afraid of. Does she think they will take the wagon away? Does she think the wagon will break? What goes on in this little girl's mind? Gosh, I really wish I knew. If I knew perhaps I'd be able to help her deal with her anxieties better.

So, the boy at the park and Sienna were very different. I am aware of the fact that autism is a spectrum disorder and that no two children are alike. They were so different but I could still see a child with the same diagnosis as mine. I just can't figure out what makes me see the disorder in two very different children. Autism is SO confusing. I'd love to hear you theories!

A Product Worth Mentioning

Sometimes, as a homeschool teacher, I come across a wonderful resource that needs to be shared with all of the other homeschool families out there. Today I would like to introduce you to The Old School House's "Schoolhouse Planner". This year I am so excited becuase the planner is bigger than ever, easier than ever and is jammed pack full of great organizational planner pages.
I have used this planner for 2 years in a row and the 2009 Schoolhouse Planner will be my third year of using this. For each of my children I write IEP's (Individual Education Plans) This wonderful planner helps me keep track of what they are doing, how they are doing and even allows me to keep track of things around the house. Check it out! (no, I don't get anything for referring you.. I just want to share this gem of a resource.