Camp Bridge - Taking Autism To Camp

Summer can be crazy for kids with Autism, heck it is crazy for all kids. School's out, Schedules get thrown to the wind. Here on the Jersey Shore it is hot as heck and we are infiltrated by people vacationing and partying. Our gorgeous beaches become a place to only attend on weekdays and offpeak hours to avoid crowds. Traffic outright stinks. My son is lucky to attend an excellent Extended School Year program that runs for 6 weeks through the school district. But, this still leaves several weeks wide open for chaos to set in. Finding appropriate activities to fill these crazy days can be tough. Last year I searched around to find a summer camp in the vicinity for children with Autism. I found one camp that cost $4,000 for a 6 week program with no options for fewer weeks, and another camp that I could send my son to with hiring a full time 1to1 aide for him - so I would have to pay camp and pay the aide. Funding options were limited.


Then a friend steered me to Camp Bridge. We signed him up right away and had him assessed to participate. Camp Bridge is a social skills camp for children with Autism, ADHD, PDD, Aspergers. The camp is in Brick, NJ and uses the facilities of a local YMCA Camp Zehnder. The camp costs around $400 a week and DDD funding is available for those eligible. It runs from 8:30-3pm and you provide your own lunch and snacks.

This was Alex's second summer at Camp Bridge. He attended the week between school letting out and ESY starting up as well as the last week in August, after ESY was finished. During his time there he swam in the Camp pool almost daily, took field trips to places like Jenkinson's Aquarium and the Popcorn Park Zoo and a weekly trip to the Beach. The camp has an excellent ratio of staff to kids as well as some young men and ladies (college age) to help keep things afloat. My son looked forward to attending Camp Bridge every day and loved the Camp directors, the 'big kids', and the other campers. The camp provided an excellent balance between academics, therapies, and recreation as well as building up social skills. Alex loves Camp Bridge and I love it too!

Belated GF/CF Friday - Glutino Raisin Bread

Ok. So in cahoots with my friend Elizabeth over at Three Channels we are reviewing GF/CF Foods every Friday. Since my brand new laptop shit the bed yesterday, I wasn't able to post mine. My computer geek (meant most affectionately) came to the rescue and was able to get it up and running (flying) by removing Vista and putting on XP-Pro. Stupid Vista.. is all I have to say.

So, better late than never... I'm posting my GF/CF Friday review. Yes, it is Saturday.. I'm sure someplace in the world it is Friday.

Today's entry is on Glutino Cinnamon Raisin Bread.



Embarking on the Gluten & Casein Free diet, one of the trickiest things to find a suitable (and Edible) substitute for is bread. To put it nicely most of the pre-made Gluten Free bread is dreadful. You may as well put your sandwich on a piece of styrofoam - it might even taste better. We make my son's sandwiches on the uber thin rice cakes instead and he is happy with that.



I try to include my son in our grocery shopping trips as much as possible and point out different gf/cf items he might be interested in trying out. One trip many moons ago he found this Glutino Cinnamon Raisin Bread and I figured we could try it. I'm always looking for quick breakfast or snack options that are healthy and raisin bread fits the bill. A single loaf of this bread costs $5 - which is typical.. gf/cf foods cost a mint. Unlike 'normal' loafs of bread, you'll find the gf/cf breads are Frozen -they are only shelf stable for 7 days unless you keep them in your freezer.

To 'enjoy' it... just toast it up and serve.

It is a nuisance to try to get the pieces apart from the frozen loaf even though they are pre-sliced. I use a butter knife routine that I don't suggest you try unless you have protective eyewear and no kids are watching. Out of the toaster simply spread on your favorite gf/cf margarine or butter subtitute, fresh fruit preserves, or even syrup. I've used these in place of waffles and also for my gf/cf french toast. My son loved raisin bread prior to going on the diet and is still able to enjoy it now (even if it costs a lot more, and we don't buy it as often). The consistency is almost right, if maybe a bit on the crunchy side for raisin bread. The taste - sweet and cinnamonny (is that a word?)



I normally post a pic of my son eating the food with a thumbs up or down but this morning he screamed at me that he didn't want his picture taken and ran away with his piece of toast. Take my word for it..



Thumbs Up!

A bunch of you will probably be wondering 'how do I make gf/cf French toast. I started doing this after my son consumed a whole $8 box of the Gluten/Wheat Free Ian's French Toast Sticks

in a single sitting. I noted that on the Ian's box it says that they start with Glutino bread! I've found that gluten free bread doesn't have the best texture served cold or toasted.. but it is amazing at soaking in flavors for French Toast - like a sponge. I make gf/cf french toast just as I normally would make wheat and dairy offending french toast, except I start with this Glutino Raisin bread and I use all the appropriate subsitutions to make it gluten & casein free - so namely substituing the butter, milk, and flour. You can also easily adapt this to be egg free as well. A tip - definitly add in a teaspoon of gf vanilla extract and I like to use vanilla rice milk as well. I recently use a chocolate chai rice milk and that came out fabuloso as well. Have fun experimenting to see what works best. Instead of egg or an egg replacer try a couple scoops of applesauce.

For ideas on gf/cf ingredient substitutions check here: http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/recipes/substitutions-gfcf-recipes.htm

Portions of the gf/cf review posted at Epinions.com

spinning in circles

Spinning in Circles.

I'm not referring to Alex and his autism, he's never been a 'spinner' though he is all about repetition and goes around and around and around some more...

I'm not referring to little miss Belle and how much she loves to Dance, though today was her last day of dance class for the summer before she switches to a new school.

I'm referring to me, spinning in circles and barely coming up for air these past few days - the last few days of summer. Next week this time both of my kids will be in school and maybe - just maybe- things might slow down a bit. Maybe.

These past few days have been hectic to say the least.

Alex has been going to summer camp, which he is enjoying and Belle and I have been scurrying around town running errands, conducting research on a new dance school, picking up last minute back-to-school necessities, and then some. But hey, by some miracle of miracles I have somehow managed to go out 2 nights in a row with friends and without kids - and I've needed that... even if one night was going to see the most silly and ridiculous movie made ever - that would be Mamma Mia. The subject of which could be an entire blog in itself.. instead I will just make one comment. Pierce Brosnan really should have gotten some body waxing done beforehand.

Today was all around pretty good for me the kids. Pretty darn good, I'd day.

Me, because as I mentioned - I got to step out for a few hours with friends. Yay to that!

Alex... because they spent the day at the beach with camp and he's so free and happy playing in the sandbar and splashing in the waves. After camp we came home for a quick bathroom break (he detests public bathrooms - can't blame him) and then headed out to music therapy. Again, he wasn't real thrilled with the singing but he did enjoy a song and game that they did that involved tossing balls around to the music. The music teacher did a lot of silly dancing around this time - which again wasn't his thing, but what he did love was playing on the keyboard to accompany them.

Belle - because while it was a little sad as today was her last day at her dance class before we switch schools (because of distance and her preschool schedule) was such a good girl today. In prep for going to school she went and got a haircut. Actually only her second haircut she has ever had (not counting the time when my Mother in Law snipped her curls in the back to try to make them even). Our trek into dairy-free for Belle has been difficult at best though we are getting somewhere. Tonight she asked me for "milk that doesn't make my tummy hurt", and happily drank down her DariFree Chocolate. So, it costs a fortune but she'll drink it and so it's all good and dare I say it.. ..on the up and up (I sure hope..). DariFree - you make my babygirl happy now.. if you haven't tried it.. you MUST.

Vance's - Dari-Free Chocolate Milk Powder
From: glutenfree.com

And, I'll leave this on quite possibly the most circular part of my day.

Do you think this person likes golf much?

My kids called it an 'igloo' mailbox!

Dairy Free Diva - Night #1

I can't say I wasn't expecting this. The doctor agrees with me that the most likely culprit of Belle's (I'll spare you the gross details) bowel issues lately is a milk sensitivity or allergy. Considering both her father and grandfather are lactose intolerant and her brother can't tolerate anything with milk protein (casein) in it (as well as a host of other things... the devil's grain - gluten, tree nuts, red dye) I wasn't surprised she has some issues.

So, today since Alex was off at camp we ran our errands as usual and stopped to get a slice of pizza. This very well could have been her last slice of pizza, I'm glad she ate the whole thing. Since Alex can't have pizza (aside from special pizza that I make him) we don't ever order it and the only time she ever gets it is birthday parties or if we are out just the 2 of us. Cross that little special outing off the list from now on. Boo Hoo. Pout.

After consulting with the pedi this afternoon we have decided to trial no milk for her and she'll go for testing. Great timing what with preschool starting next week.... I guess since I'm already in the habit of more severe restrictions for Alex it should be no biggie to just add her to the list. I'm trying to stay positive but I'm not forseeing puffy hearts and rainbow clouds this time around.

She is not handling it well. Scratch that - she is not handling it PERIOD. She wants her milk and NOW. Soy is no-go too since 1 in 3 with milk issues also have soy issues. She asked for her milk and I gave her rice milk - she threw the cup at me in true full-on 3 year old tantrum mode. I know she will drink the uber pricey Vance's Dari-Free of which I have none in my pantry and the health food store is closed. Guess where I am going first thing in the morning? I can't believe this but it was easier to transition a 6 year old boy with autism off of pretty much everything but cardboard than a single elimination of milk (and milk products). So she is screaming right now and won't go to bed because she hasn't had any milk. Alex hates her crying and has told her to go take a Time-Out. She responded to the Time-Out order by declaring she was going to feed him to the wolves. Soon, hopefully soon - she'll collapse from exhaustion.

I feel so sad for her and wish I could just hug it and make it all right. Unfortunately it is just not that easy.

To the person who stole the autism ribbon magnet off my car

I'm mad at you.

You can get your own on eBay for just a few dollars.

Labels, Labels, Labels

So.. if you think this is going to be a rant about slapping labels on kids ...no dice. My seven year old son (pdd-nos/hyperlexia, spd) in other words Autism - continues to put a smile on my face - even while I'm screaming.

Yeah, he did something 'funny' again. I just can't stay mad at him.

It started out not so funny as we were totally running late to the last day of Challenger bowling. Baby Sister was on the potty up until the last minute and then insisted on changing her outfit no less than 5 times before settling on a fashion-forward dress and legging set. As we are heading for the door we went on a shoe locating mission - she owns oh.. maybe 50 pair, but had to have her purple crocs - not the pink disney ones, not the baby pink maryjane ones.. had to be the purple ones.

I found them and shrieked as written across the toe of both of them was the word "CROS" (surprisingly misspelled) . I grab a baby wipe and we head out the door with 10 minutes to bowling. As I am scrubbing her crocs off.. cursing under my breath... because it is written in pen - not marker and for a minute didn't seem like it would come off. I hear a little voice from the back "Alex wrote crocs on his crocs too". Which crocs (he has 3 pair also) - his blue ones and his green ones. Sure enough, when we got to the bowling alley I found that he had written it on his as well and was able to baby wipe it off while he wore the dorky bowling shoes.


But hey - bowling went out on a high note because he won for our lane with a whopping score of.... 69 (yes, I laughed too).

So.. with the success of bowling under our belt we came home for a lazy Saturday. I was on my way outside to step outside and see this as I'm going down the stairs.

.....And I see this.....

I reach the bottom of the steps and find...

All I can say is Thank God for Washable Markers!

And a little part of me is thinking that this is just the tip of the iceberg and I wonder what's next... should I hide all writing instruments?? ... Nah!!!!

Gives new meaning to Born on a Blue Day

I'm not sure what inspired this, certainly not the book of the same title as this blog post (which I recently read).

I believe this was the culprit....

GF/CF Friday - Cuz Kids Love Chicken Nuggets

Time for GF/CF Friday partnering with Three Channels blog.

This week, the all-time favorite kid cuisine Chicken Nuggets.

...Now, if you have all the time in the world (who does?) you can certainly bread your own chicken nuggets with gluten free flours. I can say that I've done this and my son refers to the result as "dirty chicken" and demands that I serve him "new chicken". He even did this when his grandmother made him nuggets from scratch (that were awesome, I might add).. and I was mortified.

"New chicken" of course refers to chicken out of the frozen bag or nuggets like you might get in a Kids Meal (gone are those days). Here's our adventure with Gluten Free/Casein Free nuggets...

One of the first ones we tried was from Ian's Natural Foods - from their wheat free/gluten free line. A small box of these, which my son can eat in a single sitting costs $6.99. My son will eat the Ian's Nuggets when I buy them, but they aren't our favorite. First of all, they aren't 'nuggets' - they are more like chicken balls and they are mostly breading (corn) - the chicken consistency inside doesn't seem like chicken at all. My husband and I both tasted these and concluded that they are dreadful. My 3 year old daughter concurs because she won't even touch Ian's nuggets - let alone put one in her mouth and actually chew and swallow. I'm actually surprised my son will eat them -he does seem to like them. I knew there had to be better.

Then, I found Chicken Bites from Wellshire Kids. These have the bonus in that they are shaped like dinosaurs much like the big bagged chicken he was used to (from Tyson or Perdue). Chicken Bites are extremely flavorful and they look right - this makes a huge difference. Both of my children love them. Once again.. a small bag of these (just like 2 servings, maybe 3) costs $7 at my local health food store. I previously used to be able to find these at Wegman's for a bit less but they seem to have stopped carrying them... WAaaah!!! So, I went online and found that I can order these online for a way better price straight from Wellshire Farms. When you buy a case of 20 - it breaks down to just over $3 a bag. If you buy a case of 10, it is still under $5 a bag - a significant savings from the health food stores. The problem is shipping which adds up and since this is a perishable you need quick shipping. I haven't felt good about ordering these online over the summer even though we are in the zone for next day shipment so until the temperature drops there's no dinos to be found in my freezer.

Update: In November 2008 these nuggets and a few other Wellshire Kids products were "exposed" as containing gluten. We no longer buy these favored chicken bites, tasty as they were - the hidden gluten and questionable labeling has crossed them off of our list.

Which brings me to our chicken nugget of choice and the subject of this GF/CF Friday Review... Allergy Free Foods brand Chicken Breast Nuggets. I found these by accident one day at my local Stop & Shop (or as we affectionately call it.. Stop & Rob). Well, there they were right in the frozen freezer section next to meatballs. Great Big Bags that say in green lettering across the top "Allergy Free Foods"

Gluten Free (wheat, oats, rye, malt & barley)

Soy Free

Peanut Free

Tree nut Free (walnut, cashew, almond, etc..)

Egg Free

Milk Free (casein, etc)

The best part.... $4.99! For a great big bag of frozen chicken.. why that is even cheaper than the 'regular' tainted kind. Yipee!!!! A bit of a bummer... the great big resealable white bag is decieving - it is only 1.5 pounds worth and has a smaller bag inside of it that actually has the chicken in it. Still - its more product than other brands and at the best price. Even better for me is that it is right in my local grocer and I don't have to drive a gazillion miles!

The directions state that the recommended cooking method for these is to fry them in Canola oil, or you can cook them in the oven. We usually do the oven route since I'm not a fan of frying things. I usually cook them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees on my medium bar pan - they come out perfect. For comparison - here are these allergy free nuggets cooked side by side with Tyson nuggets. You can see that they obviously have much less breading and are paler in color. If you fry them, they do take on more of the golden color you'd expect but my kids don't like "dirty" chicken, hence the oven cook.

The verdict:

These are absolutely my son's favorite Chicken Nugget that is gf/cf - as well as everything else-f (soy, nut, dairy, egg). Lunch, Dinner, Afternoon snack? All of the above... You can always find a bag of these in my freezer!

Lusting for Zizzle Zoundz

Alex loves music - on his own terms. At home and in the car you can often find him singing (loudly) and dancing around. He's kind of like when you get a song stuck in your head and you need to sing it 500 times to get it out. Well, he'll sing or play the same music/video clip over and over again til I want to climb onto my roof and jump. But, he's singing and he's happy, and I deal with it. So, this kid who loves music and is a recovered Wiggles junkie... he doesn't do so well in groups with singing or clapping - unless you want a meltdown. He's gotten significantly better about the clapping and singing lately and I've come to realize that much of his meltdown is a habit and kinda fake. He recovers far too quickly for it to be anything signficant and I know that he can break this and get past it.

A few weeks ago I learned of an opportunity for him to attend music therapy sessions for children with Autism that are being offered in my area - ironically all of about 1 mile away from my house. The classes are short, just 30 minutes long and being led by a Music teacher who is pretty darn amazing. My fav autism organization POAC is sponsoring the sessions and they are free to children on the spectrum - siblings welcome and parents encouraged to attend. Last week we got to go and try it out and Alex had a lot of fun. They didn't do very much singing and instead focused on instruments - right up his alley. Alex has always played our piano and never been a pounder - he'll actually play up and down the keys in a scale and try to play songs. Go Alex! So, today marked session #2 for Alex and off we went hoping for the best. We did bring his ear muffs (shooting range ear protection) with us to help him out if it got to be too much. Good thing we did since today they sang.. and sang... and clapped.. and he really wasn't going for it. He wasn't melting down but rather excused himself into the neighboring room to get the heck away. Until... the teacher started playing a really melodical song on the flute. Once the flute started he slowly but surely made his way into the room and back up towards the circle... Alas, 30 minutes goes by quickly because the session was almost completely over at this point.

The class ended by the teacher bringing out a really cool electronic gadget called Zizzle Zoundz for the kids to play with. Zizzle Zoundz has a base unit and different shapes that make music and light up when placed onto the base. The kids all took turns placing the shapes onto the platform and cheering for each other. Alex was all about this and loved the Zoundz. The kid who hates clapping was clapping away and having no issue during the applause. The Zizzle Zoundz were quite rewarding - (and trippy) for the kids to play with. Yeah, I can totally get that children with Autism (as well as typical kids and their parents....) could really get into this toy. I have a feeling we'll be adding some Zizzle Zoundz into our toy/therapy armory here some time soon.




Must have Zizzle Zoundz.

POAC Autism Surf Outreach in Seaside Park, NJ

Alex is making the Autism Surfing circuit, today marked surfing #5 for him on the Jersey Shore. Today's Surf Camp was sponsored by POAC along with Sea of Change, No Flat Earth with volunteers from Christian Surfing. Over 100 kids surfed in just 3 hours - the kids got goodie bags with caps and other goodies and the autistic children all went home with a really cool T-shirt.

Today's surf started out a bit rocky for us, but ended on a high note. When we got to the beach Alex got a bit nervous and took a bit of coaxing into the ocean. This is surprising because normally when we get anywhere near the ocean he is practically stripping and running into the water to feel the waves. He started out with quick lesson in the sand from our surfer's Jenna and Andrew. And what a great team they were - just perfect for our Alex.

Alex headed to the water with opposition.... today he was in a "No Mode" as he often is. With Alex, a lot of the time No means Yes. So, I pushed him - I knew he could do it and he wanted to. Today was my lucky day... he insisted on me going in with him, which I wasn't totally prepared for. Daddy was wearing the bathing suit, I just had on bathing suit shorts and a tank top - so much for that. At least it was a dark color since I got totally soaked in the waves and was in up to my neck. Now that is love.. Alex. I don't go into the ocean (with jellyfish) for just anyone, kiddo.

Once he got in deep enough that the waves were taking him for a ride whether he liked it or not (he loved it), he decided to give the surfboard a try.

When Alex has surfed with Surfer's Healing the past 3 years - the pro surfer actually takes the child out on the board and rides the wave in - tandem style. Each year we've gone the camp has gotten more and more crowded and the experience has gotten shorter and shorter - still awesome and something we look forward to attending next month when they come to Belmar, NJ. POAC surfing is similar to Surfer's Healing in that autistic children get to take to the waves - but the flavor is different. The events are smaller, more low key, less crowded, and the entire family is included. Their surf days actually remind me a lot of our first Surfer's experience in 2005 which was their first time in NJ - since then the event has gotten enormous in NJ - not surprising since the Autism rate in NJ is highest at 1 in 94 vs the national 1 in 150.

At last month's POAC Brick Beach surf, Alex got to try standing on the board all by himself (well the board was surrounded by no less than 4 surfers/hunky lifeguards) making sure he was safe. Today - he got to try surfing on the board all by himself (with help), his 2 surfers Jenna & Andrew played 'monkey in the middle' tag-team with him. Alex sat on the board facing the beach so that the waves in his face were minimized with Andrew at one end of the board and Jenna at the other. They would take him out into the ocean - it wasn't real deep (maybe waist/chest high) and then when the wave came in they'd let him ride the board in "like a pony" until he fell off or made it all the way in. Some kids stood up, other's belly surfed, some sat - it was all good. Here's how Alex did it best - Alex loved it and it was hard to believe this was the same kid who was fighting us about getting wet for what seemed to be an eternity (was probably more like 15 very long minutes). Even falling off, getting drenched, going under, salt water in the eyes and mouth.. he tried it again...

.... and again.

He Smiled.

He Laughed.

It was Magical.

....Oh, so those Jellyfish that I mention which is the reason why I stay out of the ocean normally - they got him. So, then he was done.

Alex was a bit upset about the jellyfish and wanted a band-aid. I didn't have one but since they were passing out potato chips and Lay's Chips are "safe" (gfcf) all things were righted.

After warming up and some juice and snacks he headed back out into the water to play, and splash, and smile. Even baby sister Belle who is usually extremely fearful and afraid to go into the waves enjoyed the sand bar and rocked the waves in her cute little pink polka dot bikini.

When we got home she told us that when she gets bigger she is going to be a good surfer "just like Alex".

Alex is her hero, and he's mine too.

Thanks POAC and our surfers Andrew and Jenna... from Alex and from all of us. What a memory you've made. You really are "Making a Difference Today".

More articles about Alex's Autism Surfing Adventures:
Autism Surfing Blog Entry - Surfer's Healing
Autism Surfing Blog Entry - POAC Surf Camp at Brick Beach
Surfer's Healing Autistic Children & Their Families
Surfer's Healing Surf Camp Review
Surfer's Healing Surf Camp Review - A Dad's Perspective

Please.. I beg you... make an eyeglasses locator!

So.. not too long ago, my autistic son started wearing glasses. Doesn't he look so adorable? Well in the almost 4 months he has had them, I think he has lost them now more than 100 times. I've blogged about them being lost here and recovered here. Thanks to inexpensive online glasses e-tailors like Zenni and Goggles4u we have procured several sets of spare eyeglasses and prescription sunglasses without having to take out a house loan. But still, he loses them. He takes them off and just leaves them places. We use a 'sports-straps' and lanyards to keep them on but still.. we lose them. Our house isn't even all that big and still they get lost. I find them under the desk, in the bathroom, in his loft bed, and even in his sister's pink kitchen sink. Every day we go through a drill as we are about to leave. Where are Alex's glasses? Are they upstairs? No. Are they downstairs? No. Where are they today? Oh, they are in the case where they actually belong. Imagine that? Now, we are working on the skill that when they come off they need to go in the case, but this is a 7 year old we are talking about. And, a 7 year old with Autism to boot. I am getting more and more grey hairs over these darn glasses.

So I got to thinking, I would love to have a 'glasses-tracker'. Some kind of gadget that would clip onto the temple arm that could send out a signal to a remote clicker. Kind of like pushing the 'page' button to find your missing cordless phone. I use that page button, almost every day.. mind you. Or like when you can't find your car in a crowded Costco parking lot and press your alarm to make it beep - been there and done that.. thanks to a serious lack of handicapped parking causing me to park far away out of desperation.

I thought.. surely - someone must have made my dream-gadget because I NEED this. No such luck so far in finding anything, but I did find a few patents pending.

Eyeglass locator system
Apparatus for locating a pair of eyeglasses
Eyeglass Locator System
Eyeglass Locator

Please.. I beg you..Hurry up! We need this before I go totally gray!

I get by with a little help from my friends

A thought about friends.



I never really thought about this much before my kids came along. I've always been a person who has lots of friends but just a few very close friends. Still, making friends comes easy for me since I'm a fairly outgoing person. I like to think that I am 'mostly' likable, wacky but likable. I don't like doing things alone and being by myself, I love being surrounded by friends. Now, my husband is more introverted and never had lots of friends - just a few - and I've come to accept that this is OK too. It works for him. I need to do the same when it comes to my kids, yet it kills me to see the differences in the 'friends' department between my daughter (NT) and my son (ASD).

Belle makes friends wherever she goes. She can be a little bit shy in unfamiliar situations but she enjoys being around other children - boys, girls, whatever ages. She has several 'best friends' and loves them all. Her best little girlfriend is Gia, who is younger than her - though you would never know it. The two of them are peas in a pod and play together exceptionally well and without much argument - surprising given they both have the 'drama queen' act down pat.

Friends share a drink...

Friends give great hugs

With Alex, friendship just doesn't come as easy but when it does come - its magic.

Friends enjoy a day at the beach and love me - Autism and all.

This is Alex's friend who lives down the street. He doesn't have Autism and he loves to be with Alex - he even stands up for him when others have shunned or hurt his feelings. He is proof that good kids exist. Note - Alex isn't a shrimp - his friend is 2 years older than he is!

Friends can just be friends, and that is what is most important :)

Alex and his buddy Logan at Challenger bowling together. Logan won!

"My wish upon this shooting star is that your heart be happy." -Gilbert

Asleep at the Wheel

A couple weekends ago we went to a local festival with friends. Guess who fell asleep?

This picture has got to be THE proof - she can sleep anywhere.

A Boy and His Bird, part deux

Ah... Friday. Instead of our regularly scheduled GF/CF friday.. the BBG has gone to the birds....

First, I'm more than happy to report that I survived a week of both kids home and no summer school or camp - where's my medal? The week ended on a high and happy note for both kids - but especially for Alex. Today we got to pay a visit to his special 'bird friends' and of course their owner too. This isn't the first time I've blogged about his bird-friends, and hopefully won't be the last. Alex met Scarlett last July at a beach picnic.

I've always been a bit afraid of birds, especially large birds. I get nervous and just know that they are either going to poop on me or peck me in the face. However, given the magic between Alex and the birds - I'm willing to face my fear head on. He comes alive when he is around them and clearly enjoys their company.

First, we have Scarlett - with two "Ts". Scarlett is the prettiest bird ever with vibrant red and purple feathers. Bogart is a great big Macaw who is really noisy - even my NT daughter was covering her ears because he's that loud. Alex - who is sound sensitive... conveniently finds that Bogarts outbursts are hilarious. He'll cover his ears but laugh hysterically at the same time - obviously not too bothered by the loud noise. He also insists that his name is Gobart and not Bogart - I'm not one to argue with him about it. Scarlett and Gobart now have another friend, Timmy - a smaller grey parrot that is actually a girl. Surprisingly both kids gave Bogart pets and then Alex climbed into Jill's lap and got very cozy. This is a big deal for Alex, he doesn't do that unless he feels 'safe' and likes you... Check him out.. happy happy happy.. right down to him holding his mouth into a smile like he often does.

And on a cute, techy/geeky note... Alex has developed a friendship with the birds and one of his favorite things to do is write them letters. He does this really cool thing in Word when he writes to them and changes the color of the text to match whatever bird he is describing. While we were there I had him compose one 'on the spot'.

What a great treat for all of us, but mostly for Alex to get to spend a few hours with the birds. Who needs therapy? Get a parrot. I'm almost tempted - yes, I'm nuts.

Six Unspectacular Quirks

So... a partner in crime bloggin mama, Elizabeth over at Three Channels tagged me for this meme and I panicked. What the heck am I going to share that isn't so ridiculously boring and lame?

Anyways, humor me - I'll play along. Call me a joiner.

Thems's the rules..
1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks you possess.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

So here goes... in no real particular order

1) I don't like to take showers. Now, don't take that as I don't shower. I shower. I am a bath person. I grew up in a house that didn't have a shower - it was an old giant updated farm house and the bathroom had a ginormic claw-foot tub. We took baths. As a teen I moved into a new house and that had bathrooms with showers. Again, it had a giant whirlpool bath with a handheld shower in addition to a shower stall but the bath was the best. I actually prefer to shower quickly to get clean and then draw a long bath and soak. When I spent time in Japan during both high school and college I LOVED this about the Japanese culture. I like my baths HOT - like get out of the water and you are pink.. hot

2) I have some made up words that I use on a regular basis.. my daughter now uses those words, so maybe I should be concerned.. but I'm not. I call hair elastics/rubberbands - "bing-bings". My daughter loves her some bing-bings too. LOL.

3) I like to take pictures of my kids in front of funny signs. Case in point:

Beware of killer jellyfish @ the Jersey Shore:


Or this one: Important Advice - there is indeed a body of water in the back.. with Killer Jellyfish.


And my latest ... which I don't even think needs captioning!

4) I play piano. Very well, I took lessons from the time that I was 5 til I graduated high school. My parents have "MY" piano at their house and I have the piano that belonged to my grandmother in my home. When she passed away it went to another relative and I was so upset that I fought and finally got it back for myself. Thing is that, I don't let anyone hear me play it. My kids play it all the time though. And, if someone asks me to play piano for them I won't. I only play by myself - and since I'm never really by myself, I rarely play. I should get over that.

5) I love to eat macaroni noodles with a little bit of butter and some ketchup on it. Its my comfort food and a 'dish' that I have enjoyed since I was a child. I'm sure that it started because we didn't have sauce and my mother improvised once - it stuck.

6) I only wear one earring - its actually a Tragus piercing and not a lobe piercing. Now, my ears are pierced and pierced and pierced... In college I used to pierce my ears and other people's ears when I was stressed. I have no less than 6 holes in each ear but I only wear the tragus ring all the time. Occasionally I'll put some earrings in the bottom 2 sets of holes but that's it. My 3 year old daughter seems distressed that I only wear one earring and she has 2. She tells me to go put the other one in - I only have one tragus pierced, not 2. The other day she asked me if she could wear one earring when she got older too. Then she put her clip-on dressup earrings on her nose. I'm not concerned, I had worse.

So now.. tag you are it to the following bloggers: Wendy, AndreAnna, Frogs' Mom, Mama Mara, Bonnie ok - I think that is actually only 5. I'm a rulebreaker sometimes.

A Boy and his Red Hat

Last month, my son went surfing with POAC. POAC is an amazing local organization which stands for Parents of Autistic Children. Throughout the year they host all sorts of family events as well as training - major thumbs up. We go to as many of their events as we can get to and consider ourselves so fortunate to have this group literally in our backyard. At the July surfing event all of the lifeguards and volunteers were wearing bright red POAC baseball caps and my son had his eye on one. It didn't surprise me when he went right up to one of the hunky lifeguards and told him "Alex wants your red ball cap". He often refers to himself by name instead of using using the proper pronoun. Of course the kind (and amazingly good-looking) young man took the hat right off of his head and gave it to my son. It made his day and the hat barely left his head ever since. Alex was like a little walking advertisement for POAC, and the hat being so bright also made him stick out in a crowd - a bonus when you have a 'runner' on your hands - easy to spot.

And then the hat got lost during the last week of Extended School Year. The past week was a bit stressful because whenever we'd leave the house he would ask for his red hat and then tell me sadly that his red hat was gone.

Alex was sad.

I sent a desperate email to the prez of POAC who I consider a friend and told him I needed to buy a new hat, or 2 or 3 - quickly. They are just $10 a piece, well worth it. I procured a replacement (and extras) last evening. Today we went to the zoo with friends, hat on head. All was well again Alex's world.

To think that something so simple as a red baseball cap can bring him so much happiness makes me smile.

The ultimate punishment - Banished to the Mii Parade

Alex loves our wii, and continues to do pretty well with it. When I bought it, a friend told me "oh, I don't think that's a good idea". They were expressing what I did have a bit of fear about - that he'd become addicted and want to play it all the time. So far, he's proved them wrong and is being reasonable with it. Well, reasonable with it with all things except for one. "Mii-Making". We have some serious mii-making issues over here to the point where I wish there was a way that I could shut off Mii-Channel access.

It started out quite innocently - we made Miis for our immediate "King's Choice" family and then extended family and friends. Alex watched as his father made them and took it all in. Over the next few days he began to explore the art of mii creation and make some Miis of his own. He decided that we needed a few new versions of ones we had already made. Where we had Alex, he made Alexander. Where we had Dad, he made Daddy, Mom - Mommy, and so forth. We had a Belle so he made Isabelle and also 'baby' which is what he calls her. One thing is for certain - he is brutally honest. He gave Daddy a receding hairline and made a close friend who is pregnant chubby (he's since gone in and made her even bigger since he saw her again and she is expanding). Once family, friends and neighbors were made - he started in on school. He made all his teachers and friends, he even made his Police Officer who comes here once a month for project lifesaver. After he ran out of real people he started in on 'fake' people and characters. He made Dora and Mami & Papi, he made Bob the builder & Wendy, he made the Man with the Yellow Hat, Steve & Joe from Blues Clues, Wiggles miis and even Lewis from Meet the Robinsons. Then he started in on what look to be "aliens" - bald headed all of them... Boots from Dora, Tad from Leap Frog and something called Moose (I think it is from Nick). Oh, and he even made Bush - yes, George Bush. Each time we'd turn on the wii, we'd find more Miis.

Daddy made a rule that miis had to be 'real' people and only people we liked and sent all the "media" miis off to the mii parade. Given the opportunity - he'll reclaim them all and bring them back to mii plaza from the parade and will re-make any of them that we delete. Earlier today we had an argument because Bush was banished to the mii parade. Is my 7 year old autistic son making a political statement with miis?

So, I was poking around online and found this really fun website & this one too they give directions step by step on how to make 'famous' miis. If you want to waste some time, it is fun though I happen to believe my 7 year olds are almost just as good.... no, they are better.

Tuesday Toot - Managed to not kill our kindergarten fish today

Here I am, happy as can be. Made up a deep dish of eggplant parm and had that baking in the oven. My daughter was busy having corn tortilla chips and carrots with "dip" (chicken salad) and my son was happily munching away on his rice cake PBJ sandwich.

I decided I'd go ahead and change out the Young's water. Young is Alex's red Betta fish that he got when he graduated from Kindergarten. We are now going into 2nd grade, so Young has done pretty well. He lives in a little 1.5 gallon tank on my kitchen counter and for all intents and purposes he is my fish. I change out his water, I feed him -99.99% of the time. Alex does enjoy him and occasionally one of the kids will ask to feed him. So I transfer Young into the little round fish bowl so I can empty out his water in his tank and clean out the plant and stuff. There's no filter so it gets a little filmy especially during the summer. Everything is all set and I go to transfer Young back into his tank. I reach into the bowl with the small fish-net and doncha know.. Young takes a giant jump out of the net and lands on my stovetop. First, it was hard to see him because the stove is black and he is dark red. I had the biggest panic as I had no idea where the fish jumped out to and if he would have survived. Then, I spotted him laying there on the stove. Mind you, I have eggplant parm in the oven - my stovetop is hot. My heart stopped beating for a moment as I thought that Young was not with us any longer. I picked him up in a flash and put him back into his tank. He immediately swam away 'good as new'. I keep checking Young all day but he seems to be just fine - eating, swimming around. I just did not expect him to take a suicidal leap out of the fish net like that.

So, my accomplishment for the day - no, its not the most amazing eggplant parm.. it is that I didn't kill Young.

...because sometimes a girl's gotta rant

.. and so I did.

Over at this blog which is place to talk about how much Autism Sucks (rocks).

I think I should go buy myself a designer doormat.

What should it say?

No "When Possible Make a Legal U-Turn"

My son is obsessed with my GPS. He insists on us entering the route, even if we are going 500 feet to our neighbors house around the corner. It can be maddening, at times. But, on the upside it has taught him addresses and the difference between right and left.

Here in NJ we have jughandles.. you know, you turn right to go left. The GPS doesn't always get it right and it tells you make a left turn where you can't. He get's mad. He screams. He cries. Yet, if you turn off the GPS he gets even madder. We've worked on it and now when it tells us "wrong directions", we tell it "No, GPS - we won't make a left, we'll make a right". It works about 75% of the time, we get through it.

And then there are U-turns. U-turns flip the meltdown switch in my son's 7 year old autistic world to full-on. U-turns are the ultimate evil. We do not like U-turns. If I happen to miss a turn (which happens a lot with me, I'm not agreesive enough to qualify myself as a Jersey driver - I'm originally from upstate NY after all) and the GPS tells me to "when possible make a legal U-turn" my son loses it.

Today, the first day of summer break for us we of course had no milk. Baby sister was melting down because she wanted "something else to drink" - juice or some of her brother's Darifree wasn't cutting it. So, I loaded both kids into my mommymobile and headed out to the Welsh Farms Drive-thru. I do believe the Drive-Thru was created just for me - it saves me from attempting to take both kids in full-on meltdown mode safely in and out of the grocery store without one of them getting killed in the parking lot or peeing in a shopping cart. The drive-thru is a little slice of heaven that makes getting incidentals like a gallon of milk just oh so much easier. Except, today there was a car (with florida plates) taking FOREVER in the regular drive-thru lane that i use. I wasn't thinking and drove to the lane on the other side of the building - milk obtained but then we had to deal with a U-turn meltdown.

Bad Bad Bad.

Summer Scripted.

My son attended Extended School Year for most of the summer - it started after July 4th and then his last day was Friday. He had 2 weeks in between school and ESY and one of these weeks was filled with him attending camp. The other week was a "short" week because of the 4th holiday so it was like one big weekend. Friday marked his last day of extended school year and he is "off" until school starts back up again in September. Gone are the days of strict routine of getting up and going on the bus at 7:15 and coming home at 1:45. School is over.

So, the next 3 weeks life will be 'interesting'. For the most part the kids do get along and love each other. They actually do play together and enjoy each others company - when they aren't killing each other. We have another week of summer camp the last week of August and then after that - both of my children will be going to school.

Brilliante Weblog Award - Seven to See

Wow, I was really caught off guard when Frogs' Mom tagged me in her blog at 4 green & Speckled Frogs with the Brilliante Weblog Recognition. I've had this blog for a while but only recently started "back" up again here at the BonBonGazette. Part of receiving this bit of bloggy bling means that I get to share the love by nominating 7 more brilliant blogs.

So, here are my Seven to See

1) Three Channels - I found this blog one day while I was surfing around and it was one of the first times I randomly commented on a complete strangers blog. I read a post written about her kids and thought my gosh - if I had one more child this would be me. Then I read another entry reviewing a dreadful gluten free bread and had another deja-vu moment. I felt an instant connection with Elizabeth!! Plus, she has an amazing writing style and I find her blog so refreshing to read :)

2) Autism Family Adventures - I met bonnie now 7 years ago writing at Epinions.com. Bonnie was a wealth of information and support for me through my son's diagnosis. She helped me when he couldn't speak and we started using PECS and other visual aids with him. She sent me books, she listened to me when I had 'crazy questions' and most of all, she made me feel so not alone through it all. After you stop by her blog you MUST run, don't walk.. over to her Autism site on Bella - AutismSpectrumDisorders

3) Wendy at "There's No Peace" - Wendy was my first "friend" when I moved from NY to NJ and she has 4 boys. God bless her!

4) Genevieve Hinson at MotherofConfusion - she also runs the BlognetNews -Autism site which if you "blog autism" you gotta get in on!

5) TLC at Send Chocolate - the name says it all.. and she also started up the autismsucksrocks blog.

6) Kimmber's Controlled Chaos - ok, she is away on a well deserved vacation right now. I appreciate her honest writing style. Also knowing her in person I respect how she is able to find balance between work and family.

7)Flamenco Mom at GFCF Mama - a great blog about her family life, gluten free, recipes and more. She also writes at 5 minutes for Special Needs

Bling out!

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2. Link to the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you’ve nominated.