http://parentingautism.today.com My life as a single mom to an exuberant child with autism. Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:13:03 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en B's school district had a snow day yesterday.  Actually, living in Texas, that is a misnomer.  It was more of a sleet/freezing rain day.  We aren't fortunate enough to get snow here--you know, the white stuff that can be fun to play in and makes the world look pretty.  Nope.  ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/29/snow-day/ Sleep. It is one of those things moms tend to covet, especially when their children are very young. I remember when B was an infant, people always asked, "How does he sleep? Is he a good sleeper?" and things like that. Every mom gets those questions ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/22/to-sleep-perchance-to-dream/ I wrote about B's internal calendar working on its own schedule and mentioned that he is still watching Rudolph on DVD daily last week.  Tonight that became a bit of a problem.  Rudolph is teaching him bad, bad things! One of the characters in the story is an elf that ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/21/rudolphs-bad-influence/ This weekend B is with his father, so I am childless and carefree!  Being a single mom, I absolutely cherish the downtime I get when my son is visiting his dad.  I love that he gets to bond with his father and that I get a little respite from the ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/16/child-free-weekend/ American Idol is one of B's favorite shows.  He doesn't actually sit and watch the show, but he will ask to watch it every day (thank goodness for Tivo--I always have an episode or two saved in case of emergency).  I am fairly certain his love of American Idol came ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/14/american-idol/ I interviewed a new day care today.  This place advertises as care specific for children on the autism spectrum.  I visited and brought B with me.  He immediately jumped into the sensory room, taking advantage of the trampoline.  I visited with the director and went over all the quirks and ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/13/good-news/ Today my SIL picked up B from school and brought him to my school.  I had a staff meeting I could not miss so she pitched in and helped out.  I still haven't heard back from the district on the bus issue, but tomorrow we have an appointment at an ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/12/oops/ Some individuals with autism have an aversion to being touched. Others, like B, crave touch. They seek it out at every possible moment, and try to occupy the same physical space as another person. B doesn't care if he knows someone or not. He will attempt to talk ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/11/personal-space/ Most individuals with autism are not particularly fond of change.  My son definitely falls into that category.  He likes to wear the same clothes, eat the same foods, go to the same places, watch the same DVDs,  and follow the same schedule.  He enjoys predictability to an intense degree. Many individuals ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/10/sometimes-change-is-a-good-thing/ I've decided to take a break from writing about day care to share a funny quirk of parenting B that used to frustrate me, and now just amuses me. B does not have near enough lead time for Christmas.  He needs a lot longer than a month to get excited about ... http://parentingautism.today.com/2009/01/09/merrychristmas/