WithLove

Medication that works Brownies! A great job

"How can I be lost If I've got nowhere to go? Searched the seas of gold How come it's got so cold? How can I be lost In remembrance I relive How can I blame you When it's me I can't forgive? These days drift on inside a fog It's thick and suffocating This seeking life outside its hell Inside intoxicating He's run aground Like his life Water's much too shallow Slipping fast Down with the ship Fading in the shadows now A castaway They've All gone Away" - 2 parts from Metallica's The Unforgiven III

Dream Within a Dream has long been on of my favorites by Edgar Allen Poe. Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, Thus much let me avow -- You are not wrong, who deem That my days have been a dream; Yet if hope has flown away In a night, or in a day, In a vision, or in none, Is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream. I stand amid the roar Of a surf-tormented shore, And I hold within my hand Grains of the golden sand -- How few! yet how they creep Through my fingers to the deep, While I weep -- while I weep! O God! can I not grasp Them with a tighter clasp? O God! can I not save One from the pitiless wave? Is all that we see or seem But a dream within a dream?

My momma Christmas music This year is almost over

Sometimes you just need to vent, right? What's annoying me today: patients that call in and tell me they came in the other day for an exam. And then don't say anything - like they literally tell me that and then go silent. So I'm like "... Okay, what can I do for you?"

Yes, she presses the same buttons for her dad every time.

That's so great, Vic! Moments like that just want to make you grab your son and hug him forever, don't they? When C calls for his daughter every evening, she presses the buttons on her mom's phone. She has a certain sequence for mom and dad each. It's cute

No, I didn't know about this movie, but I will definitely look for it. Do you know if it's on Netflix?

Temple Grandin has this amazing ability of being able to design, in her head, the perfect layout of almost any structure - from farms to animal pens to agricultural layouts.

Silverbirch - this is what the weighted vest looks like: link removed It's pretty cool. The therapist described it to me as this: when someone with autism is overstimulated, it's like all the nerves in their body are scattered in all directions - think of it like all the nerves in your body as pieces of paper that just get thrown up in the air and scatter everywhere. The vest helps pull them back in and concentrate at the core. It did seem to help her a lot when she wore it. She was calmer, more focused on the activities the therapist was doing with her. She didn't freak out or anything when it was put on her, either.

For my birthday last year, I asked for Temple Grandin's The Autisitc Brain: Thinking accross the Spectrum. It particularly interests me because she also had language difficulties at a young age; she described it as not being able to hear distinguish between consonants. It's very frustrating because we know she is a smart kid; she just doesn't really talk. She is getting better - she can now properly pronounce "hi" and "bye", and occasionally we hear "daddy". But for the most part, when she vocalizes, we're sure we are hearing her just garble some sounds that sound like words. I've never seen the doctor's reports or anything in regards to where on the spectrum she is. Both of her parents go to those - I don't mind because that's how it should be. But my man isn't so well at relaying the info back to me, so I've kind of been in the dark as far as professional lingo goes. She goes to behavioral therapy and speech therapy twice a week; the behavioral therapy has done wonders for her. We went from a kid that never made eye contact and never even seemed aware that anyone was there, to a 5 year old that responds to her name, looks directly at you when you're speaking to her, and loves playing with other kids. In the beginning, they even suggested that she was deaf; that's how disconnected she was from the world around her. She's made such progress on that front - but she still doesn't talk. What makes things even more difficult is that my man and her mother are not on good terms. Her mother has her full time due to C's work schedule, and she's the type of woman that holds their child against him at whatever cost, as long as she benefits. Like, therapy will give them exercises to do with the child at their respective homes, and the mother will purposely not do them, just to make C angry, or get back at him for whatever reason. It's so incredibly astonishing to me that she is like this. C and I are moving in with each other (for the 2nd time) and I'm hoping he will make the decision to fight for custody. It's a touchy subject, because I know he wants to fight for her because it's the right thing to do - but maybe not because it's necessarily what he wants. (He has never admitted this to me, but I know it to be true.) He's such a great father; she blossoms so much under his care. It's so frustrating to me to see parents at odds over each other and the child suffers because of it. I wish there was more I could do, but it's not my battle to fight. I just have to accept whatever he decides.

C's daughter is 5. She was diagnosed with autism about 2 years ago. She doesn't really speak, she flaps her arms, but other than that she's quite "ordinary". It's difficult to say if she's high-functioning at such a young age, but I believe she is. She certainly isn't challenged. She speaks a few words. She knows Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and can sing it in tune, except she doesn't say the words; they are just garbled sounds. She is in therapy and has learned some Signing; she knows how to ask for a snack, thank you, please, and a few others through Signing. We were taught by her therapist that when she has meltdowns, that yes, you can leave her alone, but also you can pull her close for a hug; the pressure around her torso calms her down. They put a weighted vest on her to simulate this and she responds surprisingly well to it. Fewer tantrums, more listening, more eye contact. She is 100% better with eye contact now. If you looked at her as a child, you'd never know she was autistic. Only when you notice her quirks do you realize it.

Hi Victoria, I've been wanting to speak to you about your son's Autism for awhile now, but didn't know this thread existed. I'm leaving work very shortly, but wanted to jot this down to go back to later. I'm dating a guy that has a daughter with Autism. She's 5. Would love to bounce some ideas and experiences off of you. I'll post more a bit later.