Last chance to help change lives

[Guest guest]

Hi Gang,My book about is almost complete. To those of you who sent me those great stories thank you. You might recognize a few of the stories from individuals on our list as well as many that have never been told. The stories are amazing and full of wisdom that only comes from dealing with autism for years. I was blown away by what you sent. When you write from your heart, it is so powerful. I know these stories will be the best part of the book and so helpful to so many parents. And to those of you who haven’t sent anything yet, this is the last call for your input that will greatly help other people living in our private hell. If you can’t get to it, don’t worry. I understand how hard it is to carve out even a little time with all the things you do for our children. Remember all the names of everyone will be changed. (And if you have a preference, please let me know what name you would like me to use for your kiddo.) The only chapters I have left to complete are the ones written by you. But you have a little time, the editing phase will be long. Please send them my way when you have a moment to breathe? I know that does not happen often with our kids. However, your stories do not have to be long; a paragraph or two is great. The chapters for the book written by other parents will be called: How Do you CopeThis came about by a question from a mom on a list I subscribe to. She was worried about her child’s future and in a moment of need turned to the group for comfort. The answers were so amazing and full of compassion. They were mostly hysterical and great stories of revenge. She asked… I wonder how you stay strong and continue to believe that our children will get better. My son has been diagnosed with Autism since he was 2, now he's turning 4 years old. I have done lots of therapy and I believe he's slowly improving. Despite that, relatives and friends always have got something to say. As much as I don't want to be affected by their remarks, I get upset now and then. How do you cope with peoples stares, judgments about your family. or when you feel you're losing the battle?Thank youI still need to contact those caring moms who took the time to help someone else and ask permission to use their stories. With all we go through it amazes me that we haven’t lost our sense of humor, continue to support each other and march on in the face of so many difficulties. You are the best moms I know. Stories of HopeThis will consist of inspiring stories of kids who have overcome autism or are on the road to recovery and greatly improving. I would like all stories of recovery and improvement. Mine is a NIDS story but there is more than one way to get this done. Stories from anyone who has had success and will inspire others to keep going. I Didn’t Sign Up for This--Stories from the Ledge. This is your chance to turn the bad times into something good. When a parent has a particularly tough day on the ledge; maybe they will reread a story from this chapter so they can say maybe my kid isn’t so bad. As parents we know what it feels like to have a kid with autism and have experienced those moments that were so awful or embarrassing we never shared them with anyone. Each of us has a situation that could have caused us to jump off the ledge, if one had been close by. Without much effort, our kids can make us stand on the edge ready to leap. Even worse, are the times our children are standing right behind us trying to push us off. This is just part of being in the A club. So give me your worst experiences that will make us laugh, cry or possibly both. It might be a story you’ve never told anyone. But don’t worry; I decided to change the names of the kids so the identity of the child will remain private. I have a particularly bad one about that happened in middle school. But you won’t know it was him because I will use another name. I changed his name and the names of all the kids in this chapter. I’m not sure I did this to protect them or me. I would like each of these stories to be done parent to parent–basically like you are directly talking to another parent. Most importantly it should be what it feels like to have a kid-- the anguish and embarrassment and or even the absurdity of what our kids come up. You can’t make this kind of stuff up. After reading this chapter I hope other parents will realize they not alone in these experiences. One mom calls this chapter, " Things a Parent Should Never Have to Say to Their Child " . The most outrageous thing she told her child was, “No, it's never acceptable to wipe your butt on the dining room tablecloth even if we are out of toilet paper.” Best,MarciaP.S. Also please include your address so I can send a release form when the time comes. A phone number would also be helpful so I can check in with you if I need to change or shorten anything.

[Guest guest]

I am feeling the need to share. I am a technological moron, though, along with

being a biomed moron, so I am not certain these links will work, but I hope they

do.

1. Here is a link to a poem I dedicated to my daughter's therapists, in case you

want to include it in the book about our kids with autism. I cried and cried as

I wrote it. http://kocakoca.blogspot.com/

2. Here is a link to a bit of my mischievous daughter's therapy session. She

sometimes likes to give the wrong answer just to be funny, and you'd better not

react or else she'll keep going.

3. All you biomed parents are so smart. I wanted to let you know how I feel when

I read all your smart

posts:https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2 & ik=6d6f432e85 & view=att & th=132882ed1f3d0\

f3c & attid=0.1 & disp=inline & zw

4. Got a call from the coroner's. The bone my older daughter found in a junkyard

belongs to a deer. It was a letdown for the budding medical investigator.