In So Many Words

I so enjoyed posting a Friday’s Fave Five last week that I decided to do it again. It’s so nice to take time to “look back over the week and find those things that have blessed our everyday lives.”

This week I have read so many great blog posts that I wanted to share a few of them with you.

1. Things I’ve learned being a special needs Mama by Tammy at Praying for Parker – Tammy shares from her heart about the (mostly good) lessons she has learned since becoming mama to a medically fragile kiddo.

2. Practical advice on Ministering to Parents of Children with Special Needs – one of many helpful and inspiring posts at The Inclusive Church. I found myself agreeing out loud with many of the points addressed in this post and think it would be a great read for anyone who isn’t sure of the best way to be a friend and a blessing in this situation.

3. Moms who are teaching their kids, by whatever means necessary, not to be a bully, as evidenced by How It Starts by Dave Hingsburger and That’s probably what I would do, too by jillsmo. Way to go, moms!!

4. I can’t let the last day of school go by without a shout out to NO MORE HOMEWORK! Oh wait, they are sending home what? A summer packet? Well, at least we have 11 weeks to get it done. I’m sure it will be no problem at all.

5. And finally, some humor! This is a super funny video my son found on YouTube about the latest development in computer technology:

What are your favorite things this week?

Title: Big Daddy’s Tales From the Lighter Side of Raising a Kid With Autism
Author: F. Lewis Stark
Length: 178 pages
Genre: Humor
Publisher/Date: CreateSpace, 2011
Source: Review copy

For anyone familiar with Big Daddy from Big Daddy Autism, you will totally understand why I was so excited to have the chance to read and review his recently released book. The full title alone is quite a mouthful — “Big Daddy’s Tales From the Lighter Side of Raising a Kid With Autism: Never before published hilarity, favorite posts from the blog, marginally helpful tips, poorly drawn cartoons galore, and oodles of original stories from some of Big Daddy’s favorite bloggers.”

For those of you who haven’t already been introduced, here’s a bit of background info:

F. Lewis Stark, aka “Big Daddy Autism,” is the father of a beautiful, thirteen year old autistic boy. Upon hearing Griffin’s diagnosis over a decade ago, he felt as though his world collapsed. Big Daddy often wished there was a resource available to show fathers that raising a child with a disability was not all about sorrow, lost hopes and heartache.

That led him to start a blog and write his first book. On his blog, and in his book, Big Daddy uses hilarious anecdotes from his experience in raising his quirky son as jumping off points to demonstrate that, while his life did not turn out as he expected, raising an autistic kid is far from misery. Big Daddy shows how acceptance, gratitude and humor help to overcome a great deal of adversity.

As excited as I was when the book arrived, I was even more thrilled to find that it had been autographed by all four members of the Big Daddy family, thus earning it a permanent spot on my bookshelf.

Big Daddy’s Tales includes so many of the things readers of the blog have come to know and love – elevators, The Weather Channel and Wilford Brimley, just to name a few. Besides that, any book in which the first chapter is titled “And Then There Was Screaming” definitely has my attention. Take, for instance, this story of a routine blood test:

Griffin squirmed, wriggled, and squealed so much that, even though there was only one pinprick, my shirt wound up covered in blood. The nurses must have thought we had hit an artery. I left the office looking like an extra from the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan. I almost wish I had a fender bender on the way home just so I could have seen the reaction on the face of the other driver as I stumbled out of the car covered in blood.

Ahh, it makes me chuckle just reading it again.

Sprinkled amidst the Griffin tales and Big Daddy cartoons are essays contributed by fellow bloggers who are also parents of kids with special needs. And no, I’m not going to list them all here – you’ll just have to get your own copy of the book (available in paperback or for the Kindle, hint, hint) to find out who they are!

At the end of the book, Big Daddy even gets serious for a moment and shares some of the lessons he and Mrs. Big Daddy have learned over the years. Number 2 on his list is, appropriately enough, “Laugh. A lot.” As he puts it, “We have discovered that, by finding and recognizing the humor in our lives, we are better able to survive it.”

Big Daddy, thanks for helping us all take some time to lighten up a bit and find something to laugh about. And thanks to Griffin, Mrs. Big Daddy and Lil Sis for just being awesome!

As mentioned previously, my copy of this books was graciously given to me for free and I’m not giving it away to anyone! You can get your own copy at Amazon or find out more at Big Daddy Autism.

This morning I headed over to our local Intermediate Unit for a one-day conference called Maximizing Capabilities. It was put on by Central Penn Parent in conjunction with Bayada Nurses and a variety of other sponsors.

There were a variety of workshops, including one on IEP’s and another on discipline and behavior management plans, which I found quite helpful.

When I was on my way to the IEP workshop, I inadvertently entered the wrong room. As I was turning around to leave, one of the presenters asked me if they could help me. I glanced at the opening screen of their powerpoint and saw the words “Learning to Drive” and said no, that it would be a few years yet before my son was ready to drive, although he thinks he should be allowed to now.

She gave me a puzzled expression and asked if he was ambulatory. Yes, I said, with what I’m sure was an equally puzzled expression, but he’s only eight, so we’ve still got some time. Then I hurried across the hall to the correct room, where that presentation had already started.

As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the program and saw the full name of the workshop I had just left: “Learning to Drive – Step to Achieving Power Mobility, HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy.”

Aha, that explains the puzzled expressions!!

Wow, there is some powerful stuff floating around out there.

Melody is at 5MFSN today talking about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day, which is September 9th. She has provided several links to some great information about this COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE problem which affects us all.

In other news:

For her first Try This Tuesday, Jaimie has shared about her own challenges with sensory processing and offers some great ideas to help our children and our students deal with them.

And on a lighter note:

• Peek-a-boo at PsychMamma
• You Know You’ve Been a Parent of a Special Needs Child Too Long When (Part II) by Lori Miller Fox at Special Education Law Blog (and here’s Part I)

This seems to be the week for playing tag, as this is my second one. I have been tagged by Mimi Lenox, aka Mimi Pencil Skirt, aka Mimi Queen of Memes, for The Needs Meme. The rules are simple, just Google your name with the word “needs” behind it and post the results.
So without further ado (drumroll, please), here is what Trish needs:

• Trish needs a makeover. (Okay, this one is pretty funny because it is actually the first item in a list another blogger named Trish made doing this same meme.)
• Trish needs to always be in control of the situation and her men. (Hmmm . . . would you believe there are more bloggers named Trish? That have done this project too? And that have a child with autism – thanks, Mimi, I probably never would have found her otherwise!
• “Recruiter Trish” needs a job. (So if anyone in the Washington/Baltimore area is looking for a new HR person, here you go!)
• Trish needs space. (There was actually a bit more to this one, but it is not suitable for my family-friendly blog.)
• Trish needs your HELP! (I’ll take all the help I can get.)
• Trish needs hypo, neuopathy and vetsulin dosing info. (This apparently has something to do with her cat who has feline diabetes.)
• Trish needs your help! (Yeah, I think we figured that out by now.)
• Although Trish has spent her life helping others, she now needs help. With end-stage renal disease, Trish needs a kidney transplant. (Wow, I hope she got one. When I went to the page, her info was no longer there.)
• What Trish needs now: I need people who want to save their family histories so that their grandchildren will always know the stories of their ancestors. (So this lady, Trish Cosgrove, is a personal historian who creates DVDs for special occasions. Her company is a vivid memory – pretty cool.)
• With all this going on at work, the last thing Trish needs is the possibility of explosions at home. (Not currently applicable, but might come in handy at a later date.)
• Trish needs to follow up with contacts. (Ugh, work!)
• Trish needs some advice.
• Trish needs to improve a little.
• Trish needs more holiday cheer.
• Trish needs to re-write the corporate sponsor package benefits letter and get chapter approved due to changes in sponsor benefits since there will not be a symposium this year but 2 workshops and the golf tournament. (That’s it, I quit – how come nobody else has to do any work around here??)

Okay, I went to the third page just to see what came up and this is what I found:

• First, Trish needs to find out if she qualifies for unemployment. (Uncanny, isn’t it?)

So there you have it. I’m not sure how long this meme can go on because you get so many search results that are other people doing the same thing, but it was an interesting experience. So who to tag? Well, I’m going to pick some people that already blog under their own name because frankly I would be a little afraid of what Thrills Needs would pop up on Google! Okay, how about…

Tiffany
Katy
Melissa
Susan

I’m sure there are more, but it is late and I really need to get this post scheduled and go to bed! As always, playing along is voluntary but appreciated, and anyone else who wants to use their real name on the blogosphere is welcome to join in!

Photo courtesy of kiss the sun and walk on air’s photostream (it was actually the first picture that came up when I searched for “trish needs” on flickr).