Seattle area

[Guest guest]

Hello all. I wanted to reintroduce myself (I recently asked who

has told their child of his/her dx). I have an 11 year old 5th

grader and we did three years of formalized ABA. I think one of

the things that has mystified me over the years is how the parents

of " older " children who are doing " well " disappear. It has always

left me wondering if I am alone in dealing with residual issues. I

know that I took a small vacation away from ABA/Autism after we

stopped ABA and took a good look at the aftermath that diagnosis

and autism brought my life. When I watched the Autism Speaks video,

I was surprised by the shear emotion that brought out- even though I

am not in the thick of things anymore like the moms on the video

were.

In trying to map out the next few years, I have felt completely

alone in this area of autism- the quirky and not yet

indistinguishable arena.

So rather than bitch and moan about my state of affairs, I wanted to

offer up help. Where was I completely alone in the past?-- the

biggest areas were play dates and advanced programming.

I have two neurotypical 7 year olds (boy and girl) and a quirky

social 11 year old boy. I am often with a group of other children -

an 11 year old girl and a 8 year old boy with another occasional

group of younger children. Need to bring your child and his/her

therapist to a play date? Email me. No need to explain autism or

why the therapist is tagging along. Wanna try some new ideas away

from your child's school social group? Email me. There are a

couple of parks and Mcs we can meet at and let the kids have

had it. Have a question about Wh questions? Email me. All my

freakin' binders are in the laundry room. I can pull them out. :-)

I can't be much of a grief counselor for young parents who are in

that stage of " should I do ABA or not? " (um yeah.. now get to work)

but I can offer help to those who have children in that 6-12 year

old stage and who are honestly trying and working on things that

require the co-operation of other children and social groups.

*one of the disappeared stepping up*