In So Many Words

I have been collecting a bunch of bookmarked pages and emails with all sorts of information that I thought might be useful but didn’t have time to go through right then. I am finally getting to this project and wanted to share with you the fruits of my labors.

No-Food Birthday Cakes at American Partnership for Eosinophillic Disorders
I was doing some reading on eosinophillic esophagitis (for me, not my son), and found this great article at about how to make birthday cakes fun for a kiddo who can’t or won’t eat cake.

There are some very clever ideas here, and I’m sure something will jump start your creativity for the next celebration. Luckily, I have a few months to think about this one, but I definitely want to do it for Michael’s next birthday party.

What to Ask of An Occupational Therapist at The Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism
Wow! This guest post by Dr. Boucher from TherExtras blew me away – how I wish I had something like this when I was getting started!

No matter, I’m sure I will use it many times in the future and adapt it to any professional I am seeing for my son. And I’m also thankful to have been introduced to another great blog with tons of helpful information.

Autism Risk & Safety Management
This is the site of Dennis Debbaudt, a leading advocate for autism training for first responders. With the increase in encounters between law enforcement and people with autism, this is a crucial area of need, and this site has a lot of information about keeping your child safe and reaching out to the community.

I know several members of our Autism Society chapter take gift baskets to the police stations locally on their Memorial Day (where they remember fallen officers) and also ask for the opportunity to speak with them about autism. It has always been very well received by the officers.

National Parks FREE Access Pass
Did you know that a person with a permanent disability can get a free lifetime pass that is good at federal recreation sites? It is available to people who are US citizens or permanent residents and would also cover the person’s caregivers. The site has full details of the eligibility requirements and how it works, although you do have to obtain it in person so they can verify residency and disability documents.

Now that Michael is interested in traveling to different places, I am definitely going to get one of these. It will be a big help to the vacation budget!

My son recently completed his first swim class, called Angel Fish I, which was eight sessions at one of the local community centers. The teachers were great, especially the main teacher, Ryan. He was very comfortable with Michael and got a lot out of him. The only thing that Michael was too scared to do was jump in the pool, and Ryan ended up jumping in the pool holding Michael, which was so sweet of him.

The T-Position, His Favorite

Scoops - Swimming All On His Own!

Passing the Test - You Did It!

I was hoping Michael would be willing to continue with the next class, but he feels like he has had enough swimming. When I consider that my main goal was for him to stop clinging desperately to the nearest adult whenever he was in a pool, I am blown away by how much progress he actually made. By the end he was willingly doing everything they asked except for the jumping in.

And here's where we finally convinced him to jump in after class - one time- into two feet of water. I think it barely covers his knees!

Check out more great pics at Special Exposure Wednesday and Wordless Wednesday.