Today is the last day to vote on the Pepsi Refresh Project. My votes have gone to The Tommy Foundation and their proposed film, United States of Autism. I encourage all of you to do the same and to be a part of helping to educate millions on how autism affects not just the afflicted individuals, but so many of those around them as well.
On behalf of many other parents of children with autism, thank you in advance!!!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Speedo
Not that kind of speedo...
One thing I've been really wanting to do is clean up my handlebars. I've seen a few bikes with a bunch of different ways of doing this. There's all sorts of brackets and plates that you can find all over the internet. I found one that relocates the speedo down to the left side of the bike but keeps all the readouts on the bars.
I just received my new handlebar bracket yesterday, so I put it on asap. I'm still waiting on my side mount speedo plate, so for now my speedo is on the shelf. This turned out to be a very easy job, just a little time consuming as I didn't have the right tool to disassemble the speedo. After a quick trip to home hardware at 8:30, I got it all done.
I'm still waiting on a new white biltwell seat and a throttle sleeve to finish off my bike. I have some white grips that are just dying to get put on. Hopefully everything gets in this week and I can finish it off.
Heres some pis of how clean the handlebars look now with the new bracket:
One thing I've been really wanting to do is clean up my handlebars. I've seen a few bikes with a bunch of different ways of doing this. There's all sorts of brackets and plates that you can find all over the internet. I found one that relocates the speedo down to the left side of the bike but keeps all the readouts on the bars.
I just received my new handlebar bracket yesterday, so I put it on asap. I'm still waiting on my side mount speedo plate, so for now my speedo is on the shelf. This turned out to be a very easy job, just a little time consuming as I didn't have the right tool to disassemble the speedo. After a quick trip to home hardware at 8:30, I got it all done.
I'm still waiting on a new white biltwell seat and a throttle sleeve to finish off my bike. I have some white grips that are just dying to get put on. Hopefully everything gets in this week and I can finish it off.
Heres some pis of how clean the handlebars look now with the new bracket:
Monday, March 29, 2010
She Always Says Exactly What I'm Thinking...
And I like how she comes right out and says she is not telling people what to do with their own children and vaccines because that is the same thing I tell others.
Vaccinate or don't vaccinate - it is each parent's choice. All I ask is that people do not make the same mistake I did and blindly trust their pediatricians. Educate yourselves, people!
Do not count on your doctor being informed about vaccines. Ask your doctor how much time was spent in medical school learning about vaccines. You will be surprised. My child's doctor actually told me vaccines do not contain any of the toxins that I now know very well are contained in them.
Just last week, I informed the wife of a pharmaceutical company employee about toxins in vaccines that she said she was told were not in them. If a doctor and a pharmaceutical employee - one who works for a company that does manufacture vaccines - don't even know aluminum, thimerosal, and formaldehyde are in vaccines, then I suspect the average person doesn't know it either or simply chooses not to believe it. And in that case, I invite you to visit the CDC's website and see for yourself what kinds of ingredients are indeed in vaccines.
Part 1.....
Part 2.....
Vaccinate or don't vaccinate - it is each parent's choice. All I ask is that people do not make the same mistake I did and blindly trust their pediatricians. Educate yourselves, people!
Do not count on your doctor being informed about vaccines. Ask your doctor how much time was spent in medical school learning about vaccines. You will be surprised. My child's doctor actually told me vaccines do not contain any of the toxins that I now know very well are contained in them.
Just last week, I informed the wife of a pharmaceutical company employee about toxins in vaccines that she said she was told were not in them. If a doctor and a pharmaceutical employee - one who works for a company that does manufacture vaccines - don't even know aluminum, thimerosal, and formaldehyde are in vaccines, then I suspect the average person doesn't know it either or simply chooses not to believe it. And in that case, I invite you to visit the CDC's website and see for yourself what kinds of ingredients are indeed in vaccines.
Part 1.....
Part 2.....
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Merck, Re: Gardasil - "Safer Than Most Vaccines"
Really?????
If you watch the entire clip above, you will see where Merck (manufacturer of the Gardasil vaccine) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) are quoted as stating Gardasil "appears safer than most vaccines."
Really? Seriously?
I wonder if these idiots understand how much more they are implicating themselves simply by attempting to defend their position and their (Merck's) product. Because here's what I'm thinking....
Besides Gardasil, Merck also manufactures several other vaccines, including a few different vaccines for Hepatitis A and B and their MMR vaccines, which are some of the world's most widely distributed vaccines. So when Merck states their Gardasil vaccine is "safer than most vaccines" are they also stating that the Gardasil vax is safer than their own vaccines meant to prevent diseases other than HPV?
And who wants a vaccine that is "safer than most vaccines?" I want vaccines that are safe. Period. However, since such a thing does not exist that is safe for everyone, quit trying to defend yourself, Merck. Admit that you could possibly be at fault in vaccine injuries.
Oh wait, you already admitted it. You did it when you said your Gardasil vaccine is "safer than most vaccines."
(Thank you, You-know-who, for posting this to your facebook page!)
If you watch the entire clip above, you will see where Merck (manufacturer of the Gardasil vaccine) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) are quoted as stating Gardasil "appears safer than most vaccines."
Really? Seriously?
I wonder if these idiots understand how much more they are implicating themselves simply by attempting to defend their position and their (Merck's) product. Because here's what I'm thinking....
Besides Gardasil, Merck also manufactures several other vaccines, including a few different vaccines for Hepatitis A and B and their MMR vaccines, which are some of the world's most widely distributed vaccines. So when Merck states their Gardasil vaccine is "safer than most vaccines" are they also stating that the Gardasil vax is safer than their own vaccines meant to prevent diseases other than HPV?
And who wants a vaccine that is "safer than most vaccines?" I want vaccines that are safe. Period. However, since such a thing does not exist that is safe for everyone, quit trying to defend yourself, Merck. Admit that you could possibly be at fault in vaccine injuries.
Oh wait, you already admitted it. You did it when you said your Gardasil vaccine is "safer than most vaccines."
(Thank you, You-know-who, for posting this to your facebook page!)
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Josh Kurpius Photography
I like taking pictures, pictures of anything. I take pics when I go skiing, when I'm at a pub with friends and family and I even take pics of our chiuahua. Recently my photographs have been aimed more towards my bike and anything having to do with my bike. I've taken pics of my helmets and of my exhaust. Most people don't really care for pics of my bike, but I like them.
For my 31st birthday my girlfriend Kristin bought me a month and a half's time at a photography course. Im absolutely pumped. Pretty gay to be pumped about about a photo class eh? What excites me the most is that I'll get to learn more about my camera. Most times while I'm shooting pics it's done so in the 'auto' mode. I'd like to say goodbye to auto mode sooner rather then later. I have a Nikon D60. Its a beginners camera, but I'm hoping that once I get through this course and learn more about my camera that I can upgrade to better Nikon. Most Nikons have the same features so it wont be a huge jump for me to upgrade. The only thing stopping me from buying the best Nikon camera is....price. They can get very expensive. Along with the body of the camera is the various lenses that can also get expensive. Currently the Nikon D60 10MP DSLR that I have comes with a 18-55mm VR lens. I also have a sigma 300mm standard zooms lens as well. Everything I have does an awesome job for what I need it for. I've also upgraded my photo editing equipment. I bought a Mac 6 months ago and have gone from Iphoto to the new aperature photo editing program. Aperature is also a Mac program but it is a bit advanced, so Im hoping that the photo course will get me more introduced to this as well.
I can say with confidence that I've taken some good photographs in my life. Not all of them are good but I seem to be getting more picky before snapping pics off like I did a few years ago. At the same time the more pics you take the more of a chance you have to find that perfect picture. Editing helps alot, and you can also delete pics you dont want.
Over the past few months I've been taking lots of pics of my bike and anything and everything around it. Shit, I had a photo shoot with a few of my helmets recently. One guy who has inspired me for all these bike photos is Josh Kurpius. He takes amazing pics. He takes pics of bikes, girls on bikes, guys beside their bikes, he takes pics while he's on his bike. I've added a few pics of his work.
Check him out at http://kemosabeandthelodge.blogspot.com/ or on his website at http://joshkurpius.com/home.html
For my 31st birthday my girlfriend Kristin bought me a month and a half's time at a photography course. Im absolutely pumped. Pretty gay to be pumped about about a photo class eh? What excites me the most is that I'll get to learn more about my camera. Most times while I'm shooting pics it's done so in the 'auto' mode. I'd like to say goodbye to auto mode sooner rather then later. I have a Nikon D60. Its a beginners camera, but I'm hoping that once I get through this course and learn more about my camera that I can upgrade to better Nikon. Most Nikons have the same features so it wont be a huge jump for me to upgrade. The only thing stopping me from buying the best Nikon camera is....price. They can get very expensive. Along with the body of the camera is the various lenses that can also get expensive. Currently the Nikon D60 10MP DSLR that I have comes with a 18-55mm VR lens. I also have a sigma 300mm standard zooms lens as well. Everything I have does an awesome job for what I need it for. I've also upgraded my photo editing equipment. I bought a Mac 6 months ago and have gone from Iphoto to the new aperature photo editing program. Aperature is also a Mac program but it is a bit advanced, so Im hoping that the photo course will get me more introduced to this as well.
I can say with confidence that I've taken some good photographs in my life. Not all of them are good but I seem to be getting more picky before snapping pics off like I did a few years ago. At the same time the more pics you take the more of a chance you have to find that perfect picture. Editing helps alot, and you can also delete pics you dont want.
Over the past few months I've been taking lots of pics of my bike and anything and everything around it. Shit, I had a photo shoot with a few of my helmets recently. One guy who has inspired me for all these bike photos is Josh Kurpius. He takes amazing pics. He takes pics of bikes, girls on bikes, guys beside their bikes, he takes pics while he's on his bike. I've added a few pics of his work.
Check him out at http://kemosabeandthelodge.blogspot.com/ or on his website at http://joshkurpius.com/home.html
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Smoke Show
I fired up the bike for the first time over the weekend since the exhaust was wrapped.
Here's what happens...
Smoke Show.
Here's what happens...
Smoke Show.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Greenster
It's been over a week since my last post, I haven't had anything interesting or significant occur with my bike until yesterday. I sent it away last week for paint to Jeff and Kevin Fujita at Kustom Auto Body in Coaldale, AB. As I was out driving around yesterday morning I thought I would call them and check how things were coming. To my surprise they were finished already. I didn't expect them to be finished so quickly. When I arrived at their shop I was nervous to see how the paint turned out, my nerves were smashed when I saw this paint job. It was amazing. And to think that I was going to paint my bike gloss black. The green paint popped and the metalflake was glittering like an old bowling ball. The white decals also created a nice contrast with the green and they go along good with the other white hightlights on my bike such as my exhaust and the whitewalls. I put the tins back on my bike asap and I had to do some last minute grinding to get my strut covers back on my bike as well.
My bike finally seems to be seeing the light. I woke up to some snow on the ground today but the forecast for Saturday looks good. I know it's only March but I really wanna get out and ride this thing now. I still have a few things to do before this bike is fully operational. I left my fender down at Lethbridge HD and Im hoping I can get my bike down there on Saturday to get all wired up. I have no rear signal lights and no brake lights. Once the rear end is all wired then I can put my new fender on and get it out on the street. I just ordered a new white biltwell diamond spring seat as well. The seat won't be in for a few weeks but once it's on that should be the final touch that I need to set the bike off.
My bike finally seems to be seeing the light. I woke up to some snow on the ground today but the forecast for Saturday looks good. I know it's only March but I really wanna get out and ride this thing now. I still have a few things to do before this bike is fully operational. I left my fender down at Lethbridge HD and Im hoping I can get my bike down there on Saturday to get all wired up. I have no rear signal lights and no brake lights. Once the rear end is all wired then I can put my new fender on and get it out on the street. I just ordered a new white biltwell diamond spring seat as well. The seat won't be in for a few weeks but once it's on that should be the final touch that I need to set the bike off.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
No, I Have Not Gone Missing In Action
But one might thing so considering this is the longest stint I've gone without posting something since I began blogging last year.
Wherever shall I begin? So much has gone on in the last few weeks that I barely remember a lot of it. I suppose I will just begin with the most exciting parts.
Yesterday we started ABA with Reiss!!!!! Yes, this is very exciting news and hence, the exclamation points. It is not only exciting because of the spectacular results we have seen in only two days of therapy, but also because we have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for the therapy itself to begin. Long story short, we went with a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) who used to work in an ABA center and then left the center to go out on her own and create in-home ABA therapy programs for children. Because she is relatively new to being out on her own, she is still building up her group of therapists she employs to go out and do the actual therapies.
Today was Day 2 and already I feel like I have learned so much simply by giving all control to the therapists and watching how they handle particular situations. Last night was probably the most "normal" evening we have had since Reiss was born. We sat. We ate dinner. Everyone was calm. I actually feel like it may be the first time I was able to relax in close to five years. And breathe.......I got to breathe without feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders from caring for a child who can go from zero to all-out ear-piercing repetitive screaming in 4 milliseconds.
For the first time ever, Reiss is saying "I'm sorry" when he does something wrong, like screaming at someone for no reason. Granted, he does have to be prompted to say it and he does hesitate but he's doing it! And without having to be carried kicking, hitting, screaming, and biting on the way to the timeout chair to sit for a spell for not doing as he is told.
All of it is just totally amazing! It's like a friend of mine says, "I don't know what they're doing but it WORKS!" Actually, I do understand what they are doing and much of it seems so simple, it is like we have been doing much of it all along - now it's simply in a more organized and purposeful way. Needless to say, I think this is going to be a very good thing for Reiss and our entire family.
So much more has happened around here but I really must figure out what to have for dinner besides roast. Until next time.....
Wherever shall I begin? So much has gone on in the last few weeks that I barely remember a lot of it. I suppose I will just begin with the most exciting parts.
Yesterday we started ABA with Reiss!!!!! Yes, this is very exciting news and hence, the exclamation points. It is not only exciting because of the spectacular results we have seen in only two days of therapy, but also because we have been waiting for what seems like an eternity for the therapy itself to begin. Long story short, we went with a BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) who used to work in an ABA center and then left the center to go out on her own and create in-home ABA therapy programs for children. Because she is relatively new to being out on her own, she is still building up her group of therapists she employs to go out and do the actual therapies.
Today was Day 2 and already I feel like I have learned so much simply by giving all control to the therapists and watching how they handle particular situations. Last night was probably the most "normal" evening we have had since Reiss was born. We sat. We ate dinner. Everyone was calm. I actually feel like it may be the first time I was able to relax in close to five years. And breathe.......I got to breathe without feeling like the weight of the world was on my shoulders from caring for a child who can go from zero to all-out ear-piercing repetitive screaming in 4 milliseconds.
For the first time ever, Reiss is saying "I'm sorry" when he does something wrong, like screaming at someone for no reason. Granted, he does have to be prompted to say it and he does hesitate but he's doing it! And without having to be carried kicking, hitting, screaming, and biting on the way to the timeout chair to sit for a spell for not doing as he is told.
All of it is just totally amazing! It's like a friend of mine says, "I don't know what they're doing but it WORKS!" Actually, I do understand what they are doing and much of it seems so simple, it is like we have been doing much of it all along - now it's simply in a more organized and purposeful way. Needless to say, I think this is going to be a very good thing for Reiss and our entire family.
So much more has happened around here but I really must figure out what to have for dinner besides roast. Until next time.....
Monday, March 8, 2010
Progress...sort of.
It's been a while since I've blogged. I just haven't been in the mood. I put in a solid 2 weeks of TV when the Olympics was on. Proud to be Canadian while I watched us haul in all those golds. After being an armchair athlete for those 2 weeks I wanted to try and get some more things done to my bike. The weather turned warm and I headed out for a few days of riding. Although my bike was technically not legal to ride on the streets - I did so anyways. Rather then working on getting it ready for spring - I just rode it. No tail lights, brake lights, turn signals or license plate lights. I used hand signals. All I know are right turn and left turn. That was fun. Seriously, who uses hand signals?
As of today my bike is a complete mess. Here are a few pics of a few things I've done. I have alot to do to have it ready for spring. Paint being the main priority. Until then I'll continue to chip away at it and hopefully once the paint is done I can slap the tins on, fuel up and head out.
Freshly cut struts.
Right side rear view - new struts
Still lots to do...If it snows again I won't fell as bad...
So once I got a few rides out of my system I figured I should get some stuff done. I've been waiting all winter for some nice weather, of course that helps get me out on my bike, but it's also nice to get out in the garage. I dont have a heated garage so the current 'heat streak' we're having has motivated me to get my bike ready for riding season. It's nice to pop open the garage door and have people starte at me wondering what the hell I'm doing. I feel the same way. What am I doing to my bike right now? I have no idea. I've cut, chopped, grinded, drilled, sanded, swore, chiseled, cut some more, swore and called it a day. I've injured myself and others all while doing so. But I've got lots done the past few weeks. I've had a bit of help from my buddy DJ and my girlfriend Kristin as well. Although I went into my garage with no direction of any kind, no education and not a clue about motorcycles - I have learned alot. You learn alot by just going out and doing it. I have a ways to go in ever saying that I know what I'm doing, but I feel more comfortable everyday. Although I did pee my pants a little when I cut my first strut off.
Currently my tank, rear fender and battery and oil cover are in for paint at Kustom Auto Body in Coaldale, AB. The guys there are real good at what they do and they don't saw your arms and legs off either...I was going to paint it gloss black with some decals but I've decided to go out on a limb and paint my bike bright green metallic. I've also gone to auto appearance in Lethbridge, AB and I've designed some black and white decals to be clearcoated with the paint. Im pumped to see how it all turns out. The paint should all be done by next week.
I still have a few things left to do with the bike until it's ready for spring. I've chopped and shaped my new rear fender. I installed my new hardtail biltwell struts, my tank lift went on very easy. Over the weekend my buddy DJ and I wrapped my pipes as well. It took us a few hours but it was well worth it. Note: we didn't wear any gloves, eye protection or sleeves either. I've been itching and coughing for 2 days now. Fack.
Hear are some pics of my bike in progress and some of the changes and mods I've done. I've thrown a few in of what it looked like right out of the box back in July of 2008 when I got it. It's come a long ways since then.
Summer 2008
Winter 2008
Spring 2009
Summer 2009
Fall 2009
As of today my bike is a complete mess. Here are a few pics of a few things I've done. I have alot to do to have it ready for spring. Paint being the main priority. Until then I'll continue to chip away at it and hopefully once the paint is done I can slap the tins on, fuel up and head out.
Freshly cut struts.
Left side fender and new mini led lights
Right side rear view - new struts
New fender - nice and low
New plate bracket and stop light
Rear fender - a little rough but not to bad for a rookie
Tank and fender - before paint...
Battery and oil cover - before paint...
White exhaust wrap, soaking for pipe prep
RSD Exhaust with chrome heat shields
RSD Exhaust black
RSD Exhaust with wrap - Lots of work...
RSD wrapped exhaust on the bike
Bike as it sits now - waiting for tank and fenders from paint
Still lots to do...If it snows again I won't fell as bad...
Friday, March 5, 2010
Where ARE You, Supernanny???
Today has been one of those days where the suggestion of having a lock on the outside of my son's door no longer seems like a joke amongst a group of moms discussing their children but like a really great idea.
Not so long ago, Reiss and Milla and I used to go to a group gathering on Friday mornings at a local church. All the mothers would share some fellowship while our children played in an adjoining room. Quite often the conversation would turn to discussing our children and the funny things they had done recently and sometimes the not-so-funny problems of disciplining children. A few of these moms told me, in all seriousness, that they had switched the door handles on their child's room to make it so the lock was on the outside of the door. I used to laugh at such a notion....
No more.
ABA therapy cannot begin soon enough for us. I was hoping it would have already begun but unfortunately, we do not have enough therapists lined up yet. Actually, there's a little more to it than that but that's the long and short of it. We should be up and running within the next two weeks. If not, my sanity may not last.
Some days we have these really great days and then other days are just maddening beyond belief. We have already started going to a social skills group associated with the ABA group we are using and Reiss does really awesome there and pays attention fairly well to the other kids' therapists who take charge of the group. Once we are up and running with our own in-home ABA program, our therapist will go with us to the group as well. Until then, I take Reiss and Milla and he has to do what the other therapists tell him to do.
Yesterday was quite interesting. We went to the social skills group. Reiss behaved pretty well but did have his moments of non-compliance. When he gets a timeout with the ABA therapists, he is generally very compliant and does his "time for the crime." Overall, yesterday was no different, with the exception of one instance where Reiss put up a bit of a fuss before his timeout. The therapist wasn't having it and seconds later, Reiss was sitting quietly in a timeout.
Fast forward to about an hour later when we got home and he did something to get a timeout here and being the observer I've learned very quickly to be, I did everything exactly as the ABA therapists, only to be met with a four-year-old putting up a fight equivocal to that of maybe someone three times his size just getting him over to the designated timeout area.
Seriously, I don't understand what I am doing wrong. I can do everything exactly the same (or, at least, I'm pretty certain it's exactly the same) as the ABA therapists, even down to the detail of showing no emotion. However, what works like magic for them most often results in kicking, screaming, pinching, hitting, and total lack of cooperation to sit in the timeout area. Reiss will sit quietly in a timeout for therapists and for his teacher at school a lot of times, yet I can't even get him to stay in the same place in a timeout when restrained in a booster seat. The only way to keep him in one place for a timeout at home is to put him in a booster seat that has buckles on it and also to restrain the booster seat to something else so that it cannot move. We have, well had - we need to refasten the straps - our booster seat sitting on the floor for safety and strapped to the posts that make up the railing around our stairs leading to the basement.
If it doesn't sound safe, I can assure you it is safe. There is no way Reiss can fall over, strangle himself, fall down the stairs, or whatever else anyone may be thinking. And just a note for anyone who may be thinking of calling Child Protective Services on me, I've checked, this is not only safe but actually what is recommended for keeping a child safe during a period of timeout.
I just keep thinking if my sanity can last until the ABA begins, we will all be fine. Reiss took non-compliance to a new level today. He peed in his pants twice. He pooped in his pants three times. He went through several pairs of pants and then fussed and complained and harassed me endlessly for two hours about how he has no pants that fit him. His ideal pants are Goodwill purhased, been through who knows how many children, faded beyond belief jeans....or home pants, as he calls them.
Now, I have nothing against secondhand clothes - they are practically all I grew up with and I still continue to buy from Goodwill occasionally when I can find something I like. However, for Reiss to say that he has no pants that fit him is simply ludicrous considering the fact that his size 4 and size 5 wardrobe has been complete since before he was even three years old, due to the fact that I exclusively buy him Gymboree clothing when it is out of season and on clearance and during Gymbucks earning and redemption periods and with coupons and using my Gymboree Visa and Gymboree Rewards program and on and on and on.....my method for getting Gymboree clothes for next to no money out of pocket is a whole 'nother post all its own and I won't bore anyone with that sort of thing today.
Needless to say, it breaks my heart when I see several pairs of excellent quality size 4 Gymboree jeans with those little marked down pricetags still hanging from them getting pushed to the far reaches of Reiss's closet all while he complains about having no home pants clean because all his crappy Goodwill jeans that cost more than the Gymboree jeans are dirty because he either pooped or peed in them.
And all this going on while Milla is trying to take a nap and keeping him at a low roar is like getting an elephant to tread lightly on a glass roof....
So going back to my original question....
Where ARE you, Supernanny???
Of all the lucrative ideas people have come up with to swindle parents of children with autism out of their dwindling financial resources, why hasn't someone come up with the idea of being a Supernanny-type professional exclusively for children with autism? Now that would be someone I would hire...
Not so long ago, Reiss and Milla and I used to go to a group gathering on Friday mornings at a local church. All the mothers would share some fellowship while our children played in an adjoining room. Quite often the conversation would turn to discussing our children and the funny things they had done recently and sometimes the not-so-funny problems of disciplining children. A few of these moms told me, in all seriousness, that they had switched the door handles on their child's room to make it so the lock was on the outside of the door. I used to laugh at such a notion....
No more.
ABA therapy cannot begin soon enough for us. I was hoping it would have already begun but unfortunately, we do not have enough therapists lined up yet. Actually, there's a little more to it than that but that's the long and short of it. We should be up and running within the next two weeks. If not, my sanity may not last.
Some days we have these really great days and then other days are just maddening beyond belief. We have already started going to a social skills group associated with the ABA group we are using and Reiss does really awesome there and pays attention fairly well to the other kids' therapists who take charge of the group. Once we are up and running with our own in-home ABA program, our therapist will go with us to the group as well. Until then, I take Reiss and Milla and he has to do what the other therapists tell him to do.
Yesterday was quite interesting. We went to the social skills group. Reiss behaved pretty well but did have his moments of non-compliance. When he gets a timeout with the ABA therapists, he is generally very compliant and does his "time for the crime." Overall, yesterday was no different, with the exception of one instance where Reiss put up a bit of a fuss before his timeout. The therapist wasn't having it and seconds later, Reiss was sitting quietly in a timeout.
Fast forward to about an hour later when we got home and he did something to get a timeout here and being the observer I've learned very quickly to be, I did everything exactly as the ABA therapists, only to be met with a four-year-old putting up a fight equivocal to that of maybe someone three times his size just getting him over to the designated timeout area.
Seriously, I don't understand what I am doing wrong. I can do everything exactly the same (or, at least, I'm pretty certain it's exactly the same) as the ABA therapists, even down to the detail of showing no emotion. However, what works like magic for them most often results in kicking, screaming, pinching, hitting, and total lack of cooperation to sit in the timeout area. Reiss will sit quietly in a timeout for therapists and for his teacher at school a lot of times, yet I can't even get him to stay in the same place in a timeout when restrained in a booster seat. The only way to keep him in one place for a timeout at home is to put him in a booster seat that has buckles on it and also to restrain the booster seat to something else so that it cannot move. We have, well had - we need to refasten the straps - our booster seat sitting on the floor for safety and strapped to the posts that make up the railing around our stairs leading to the basement.
If it doesn't sound safe, I can assure you it is safe. There is no way Reiss can fall over, strangle himself, fall down the stairs, or whatever else anyone may be thinking. And just a note for anyone who may be thinking of calling Child Protective Services on me, I've checked, this is not only safe but actually what is recommended for keeping a child safe during a period of timeout.
I just keep thinking if my sanity can last until the ABA begins, we will all be fine. Reiss took non-compliance to a new level today. He peed in his pants twice. He pooped in his pants three times. He went through several pairs of pants and then fussed and complained and harassed me endlessly for two hours about how he has no pants that fit him. His ideal pants are Goodwill purhased, been through who knows how many children, faded beyond belief jeans....or home pants, as he calls them.
Now, I have nothing against secondhand clothes - they are practically all I grew up with and I still continue to buy from Goodwill occasionally when I can find something I like. However, for Reiss to say that he has no pants that fit him is simply ludicrous considering the fact that his size 4 and size 5 wardrobe has been complete since before he was even three years old, due to the fact that I exclusively buy him Gymboree clothing when it is out of season and on clearance and during Gymbucks earning and redemption periods and with coupons and using my Gymboree Visa and Gymboree Rewards program and on and on and on.....my method for getting Gymboree clothes for next to no money out of pocket is a whole 'nother post all its own and I won't bore anyone with that sort of thing today.
Needless to say, it breaks my heart when I see several pairs of excellent quality size 4 Gymboree jeans with those little marked down pricetags still hanging from them getting pushed to the far reaches of Reiss's closet all while he complains about having no home pants clean because all his crappy Goodwill jeans that cost more than the Gymboree jeans are dirty because he either pooped or peed in them.
And all this going on while Milla is trying to take a nap and keeping him at a low roar is like getting an elephant to tread lightly on a glass roof....
So going back to my original question....
Where ARE you, Supernanny???
Of all the lucrative ideas people have come up with to swindle parents of children with autism out of their dwindling financial resources, why hasn't someone come up with the idea of being a Supernanny-type professional exclusively for children with autism? Now that would be someone I would hire...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Glencraig 'Steiner' and Camphill Communities
I find it appalling that the Glencraig 'Curative' School in Holywood, has children who attend there, fully funded by the Education Boards in Northern Ireland yet we do not have an autism specific school for our children. (see: http://www.glencraig.org.uk/)
Link to the Holywood Steiner School: http://www.holywood-steiner.co.uk/
Tens of thousands of pounds per year is spent to fund individual children with special needs to attend this 'curative' school but to what end? Has anyone in Northern Ireland actually bothered to look into the teachings of Rudolph Steiner? Funny how if you want funding for an ABA program for your child you will have great difficulty, probably a tribunal, on your hands in order to get it. But, if your school Board thinks your child is a 'no-hoper' you might get a paid-for placement at the Steiner School. If ABA has little peer reviewed research backing it up, Steiner has absolutely none, yet it still gets funded.
Who in their right mind would submit their child to the teachings of these lunatics? How did Steiner's Anthroposophic ideals find their way to Northern Ireland, much less to the school boards who fund the school? He did have an affinity for Ireland, maybe that's it. Or maybe the schools thought that Ireland would be a good place, particularly Northern Ireland because of the political divide between the society and of course, schools. Steiner schools are no less politically motivated but they aren't 'catholic, nor are they 'protestant', so maybe someone at departmental level figured the school would be a kind of 'integrated' school? Integrated into what is the question? Give me religious sectarianism any day compared to anthroposophy!
I do not know, maybe someone has some answers? As a practicing Christian, I would never send my child to a 'Steiner' School. As a person who has a modicum of common sense and who is by no means a navel gazer or new ager, I also would not send my child to such a school, particularly a vulnerable child who has autism and who may take everything these people say literally.
If you google Rudolph Steiner or Waldorf School together with eco facsist, screwball and brainwashing/cult/ Anthroposophy you will form a picture of how unfortunate children with ASD and other difficulties as well as adults in Northern Ireland, this very minute are having their brains melded and their opportunities and potential scuppered by this movement.
Most of you can't get an OT to pay for a pencil grip for your child, but some 'lucky' (God help them) children are being funded by education boards year after year to attend schools such as these.
Here is an account of a Rudolph Steiner School in Wisconson USA. Sounds like a cult to me, in fact google brings up thousands of hits on cult like behaviour of these schools.
http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/lombard.html
Here is a thread of messages (over 1000) from UK based 'Mumsnet' from parents outraged by what the Steiner Schools have to 'offer' - pay particular attention to what one mother has said regarding Steiner's beliefs about children with development difficulties. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=education&threadid=487528-steiner-waldorf-schools-and-institutions&pg=1&go.x=14&go.y=8
'Here are some Rudolf Steiner quotes'
• “[A]n island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars. In actuality, such islands do not sit directly upon a foundation; they swim and are held fast from outside.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner, p. 607.]
• “[I]t is not that the planets move around the Sun, but these three, Mercury, Venus, and the Earth, follow the Sun, and these three, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, precede it.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner., pp. 30-31.]
• “If the blonds and blue-eyed people die out, the human race will become increasingly dense.... Blond hair actually bestows intelligence. In the case of fair people, less nourishment is driven into the eyes and hair; it remains instead in the brain and endows it with intelligence. Brown- and dark-haired people drive the substances into their eyes and hair that the fair people retain in their brains.” [Health and Illness, Vol. 1, pp. 85-86.]
• “[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this, for the heart has nothing to do with pumping the blood.” Freud, Jung, and Spiritual Psychology, pp. 124-125.]
• “There are beings that can be seen with clairvoyant vision at many spots in the depths of the earth...Many names have been given to them, such as goblins, gnomes and so forth...Their nature prompts them to play all sorts of tricks on man....” [Nature Spirits, pp. 62-3.]
• “[T]he brain and nerve system have nothing at all to do with actual cognition....” [The Foundations of Human Experience, p. 60.]
• “In the course of its development, the good portion of humankind will learn to use the Moon forces to transform the evil part [of mankind] so that it can participate in further evolution as a distinct earthly kingdom.” [An Outline of Esoteric Science, p. 393.]
• “The use of the French language quite certainly corrupts the soul.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner, pp. 558.]
All too surreal.
When your child completes the primary/secondary Steiner school,and enters adulthood after years of being cloistered away from real society and a real life (and is fully brainwashed, probably along with you as well) they can then be moved on to the Camphill adult wing and live there forever (if you can pay for it). Your child will be given duties of mucking out barns, growing vegetables or cooking. They will celebrate occultism, harvest moons and will be forced to suffer an unending turnover of staff, many of whom are students from abroad. They won't be using computers, their access to the outside world will be on the school's terms, not theirs and their psyches will undoubtedly be messed up by the Steiner philosophies (aka bunkum).
The mind boggles that Northern Ireland Education Boards will pay for this. Not surprising, I suppose. Muckamore is closing so I guess you could call Glencraig/Camphill the new mental hospitals - with grass.
Link to the Holywood Steiner School: http://www.holywood-steiner.co.uk/
Tens of thousands of pounds per year is spent to fund individual children with special needs to attend this 'curative' school but to what end? Has anyone in Northern Ireland actually bothered to look into the teachings of Rudolph Steiner? Funny how if you want funding for an ABA program for your child you will have great difficulty, probably a tribunal, on your hands in order to get it. But, if your school Board thinks your child is a 'no-hoper' you might get a paid-for placement at the Steiner School. If ABA has little peer reviewed research backing it up, Steiner has absolutely none, yet it still gets funded.
Who in their right mind would submit their child to the teachings of these lunatics? How did Steiner's Anthroposophic ideals find their way to Northern Ireland, much less to the school boards who fund the school? He did have an affinity for Ireland, maybe that's it. Or maybe the schools thought that Ireland would be a good place, particularly Northern Ireland because of the political divide between the society and of course, schools. Steiner schools are no less politically motivated but they aren't 'catholic, nor are they 'protestant', so maybe someone at departmental level figured the school would be a kind of 'integrated' school? Integrated into what is the question? Give me religious sectarianism any day compared to anthroposophy!
I do not know, maybe someone has some answers? As a practicing Christian, I would never send my child to a 'Steiner' School. As a person who has a modicum of common sense and who is by no means a navel gazer or new ager, I also would not send my child to such a school, particularly a vulnerable child who has autism and who may take everything these people say literally.
If you google Rudolph Steiner or Waldorf School together with eco facsist, screwball and brainwashing/cult/ Anthroposophy you will form a picture of how unfortunate children with ASD and other difficulties as well as adults in Northern Ireland, this very minute are having their brains melded and their opportunities and potential scuppered by this movement.
Most of you can't get an OT to pay for a pencil grip for your child, but some 'lucky' (God help them) children are being funded by education boards year after year to attend schools such as these.
Here is an account of a Rudolph Steiner School in Wisconson USA. Sounds like a cult to me, in fact google brings up thousands of hits on cult like behaviour of these schools.
http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/lombard.html
Here is a thread of messages (over 1000) from UK based 'Mumsnet' from parents outraged by what the Steiner Schools have to 'offer' - pay particular attention to what one mother has said regarding Steiner's beliefs about children with development difficulties. http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=education&threadid=487528-steiner-waldorf-schools-and-institutions&pg=1&go.x=14&go.y=8
'Here are some Rudolf Steiner quotes'
• “[A]n island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars. In actuality, such islands do not sit directly upon a foundation; they swim and are held fast from outside.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner, p. 607.]
• “[I]t is not that the planets move around the Sun, but these three, Mercury, Venus, and the Earth, follow the Sun, and these three, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, precede it.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner., pp. 30-31.]
• “If the blonds and blue-eyed people die out, the human race will become increasingly dense.... Blond hair actually bestows intelligence. In the case of fair people, less nourishment is driven into the eyes and hair; it remains instead in the brain and endows it with intelligence. Brown- and dark-haired people drive the substances into their eyes and hair that the fair people retain in their brains.” [Health and Illness, Vol. 1, pp. 85-86.]
• “[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this, for the heart has nothing to do with pumping the blood.” Freud, Jung, and Spiritual Psychology, pp. 124-125.]
• “There are beings that can be seen with clairvoyant vision at many spots in the depths of the earth...Many names have been given to them, such as goblins, gnomes and so forth...Their nature prompts them to play all sorts of tricks on man....” [Nature Spirits, pp. 62-3.]
• “[T]he brain and nerve system have nothing at all to do with actual cognition....” [The Foundations of Human Experience, p. 60.]
• “In the course of its development, the good portion of humankind will learn to use the Moon forces to transform the evil part [of mankind] so that it can participate in further evolution as a distinct earthly kingdom.” [An Outline of Esoteric Science, p. 393.]
• “The use of the French language quite certainly corrupts the soul.” [Faculty Meetings with Rudolf Steiner, pp. 558.]
All too surreal.
When your child completes the primary/secondary Steiner school,and enters adulthood after years of being cloistered away from real society and a real life (and is fully brainwashed, probably along with you as well) they can then be moved on to the Camphill adult wing and live there forever (if you can pay for it). Your child will be given duties of mucking out barns, growing vegetables or cooking. They will celebrate occultism, harvest moons and will be forced to suffer an unending turnover of staff, many of whom are students from abroad. They won't be using computers, their access to the outside world will be on the school's terms, not theirs and their psyches will undoubtedly be messed up by the Steiner philosophies (aka bunkum).
The mind boggles that Northern Ireland Education Boards will pay for this. Not surprising, I suppose. Muckamore is closing so I guess you could call Glencraig/Camphill the new mental hospitals - with grass.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
And The World Stopped......
Lin (Linda) Wessels is a friend of mine on facebook. Her son, Sam, has autism and, just like I am, Lin is an "autism mom." Her family's story is about to be told to the world in the form of a documentary being made by the United States of Autism.
You can read a small tidbit about her family in THIS article with KPTH Fox News. I love the phrase mentioned in the article that Lin used to describe the world from where she was sitting when she received Sam's diagnosis: "...we have your diagnosis and it is autism. And the world stopped..."
Because that is exactly what happens when your child receives an autism diagnosis. The world stops spinning and your whole life becomes a marathon of what-can-I-do-to-help-my-child? Autism doesn't sleep (literally and figuratively, with a lot of children!) and it doesn't take a break or a vacation. It creeps into every single aspect of life in not only the child with autism, but into the lives of his or her family. I wish I could explain this to people so they understand because it is not something anyone can even fathom until they walk down that road.
Enough of my blathering.....go VOTE. And if you are wondering what I mean when I tell you to go vote, first go read the article....then VOTE!!!!
You can read a small tidbit about her family in THIS article with KPTH Fox News. I love the phrase mentioned in the article that Lin used to describe the world from where she was sitting when she received Sam's diagnosis: "...we have your diagnosis and it is autism. And the world stopped..."
Because that is exactly what happens when your child receives an autism diagnosis. The world stops spinning and your whole life becomes a marathon of what-can-I-do-to-help-my-child? Autism doesn't sleep (literally and figuratively, with a lot of children!) and it doesn't take a break or a vacation. It creeps into every single aspect of life in not only the child with autism, but into the lives of his or her family. I wish I could explain this to people so they understand because it is not something anyone can even fathom until they walk down that road.
Enough of my blathering.....go VOTE. And if you are wondering what I mean when I tell you to go vote, first go read the article....then VOTE!!!!
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