Hearty

With the 30/30 SPD Fundraiser starting this Friday, I have had lots of inquiries about just what the PRICE PACKS will be.  So, without further delay -- Tell 'em what they can win Bob! GRAND PRIZE PACK : How to Win : The grand prize pack will be awarded to the person who raises the most money in the month of October, from now until midnight PST on the 31st of October. In order to get credit for a donation that does not come directly from your PayPal account, your name and email address must be listed in the “Message to Merchant” space on the donation form. What is in it ? The Grand Prize Pack will contain a LARGE assortment of sensory-friendly items. The value of this prize pack? PRICELESS. Ok, I hate it when people say that too – the total value is over $500 . Here’s the breakdown (please note I reserve the right to substitute equal prizes of equal value at my discretion). Custom Made Weighted blanket from Dream Catchers valued at up to $267 Subscription to SI Focus Magazine Auto...

Hartley’s Life With 3 Boys is holding a one of a kind event showcasing the stories of 30 Families parenting a child with SPD in 30 days.  This event is designed to not only help spread awareness of Sensory Processing Disorder, but to raise money for the SPD Foundation’s 30th Anniversary. With a new ‘sensational story’ posted every day through the month of October, including a never-before-published story from Dr. Lucy Jane Miller that will move you to tears, as well as the inspiring stories of other SPD advocates and authors such as Chynna Laird and Terri Mauro, and an emotional story told through the poetry of Jennie Linthorst, among the many other families just like me and you, these stories showcase what it is really like to raise a child with SPD and how increased support and funding is so desperately needed. This event will spotlight the struggles and successes every SPD family faces on their SPD journey; from ‘ah ha’ moments, to finding help through Occupational Therapy, these fa...

It is that time again! Please join the SPD Blog Carnival by posting your link below -- our theme for September is "Sensational Siblings". Let us know about your 'other' kid(s)!  How do they handle having a sibling with challenges?  Have you found a great way to include them, teach them, bond with them?  How do they connect with their siblings?  Did they do something AWESOME and you just want to brag?  Let us know!  If your child is an only child, please feel free to blog about sibling issues in a different way -- write about a sibling book, or a SibShops class near you, or about your choice to only have one child and how it was influenced by your child’s needs, BE CREATIVE! This is an amazing way to take the best of the best from the SPD Blogging Community every month, and publish it in one location -- kind of like having a monthly 'magazine' that people can come to and read. Everyone of you that reads this (even you lurkers!) can participate -- you DO NOT ...

I know it is a little early for Halloween -- but trust me, regardless of whether or not you are thinking of it, your kids are.  And, my blog is going to be dedicated to the 30 SPD Stories in 30 Days for the entire month of October, so now is the time to post this!  Halloween is another one of those holidays that requires special planning when it comes to having a kiddo with SPD. Technically, I can’t think of many holidays that don’t require some kind of planning on my part…maybe Veteran’s Day? (Actually, that is a NO, because my father served in Vietnam and my boys are concerned that we honor him appropriately, so I don’t even get to take that holiday off. Ugh.) All of that aside, my kids love Halloween. Which has made me start to like it too. : )  So much so, that we already have their costumes for this year -- they are in the box still right here in my office, just DYING to be tried on.  But, I say it is too early to take the chance they will ruin them (I am mean like that), so I am...

Matthew is undergoing his evaluation for Asperger’s. The ADOS, the Wissler Intelligence Test for Preschoolers (that just sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Intelligence tests for preschoolers…) and an attention test (can’t seem to remember the acronym for that one). We started last Friday, and we will have two more testing Fridays followed by a ‘review of the results’ early October. There’s the official news. So, we go into the psychologist’s office two Fridays ago – me and my hubby Jeff -- to meet with her and tell her all about our darling son. We both immediately like the new psychologist – we aren’t seeing Gabriel’s Psychiatrist or Pediatric Neurologist because the wait is TOO DAMN LONG – and liking the new psychologist is a great start for both of us. We get to the conversation about attention. I say, "Matthew doesn’t have a very good attention span for things that others choose." Like his teacher. Or me. "When we give him something he finds less than intriguing, then...

I still get comments on the " You Know When ..." lists of mine, so I thought I would post one for the teachers out there-- All of those men and women who have spent the last few weeks getting to know our darling kiddos as students in their class. You Know You're Teaching an SPD Kiddo When... (a list for teachers and all of us who watch our kids struggle in school) 1 . He chews his pencil, both the eraser and the lead, all day long. 2 . He can’t seem to stay seated for over 30 seconds. 3 . He constantly wants to get a “drink” but really he is just playing in the sink. 4 . During circle time he sits virtually on top of the kid next to him. 5 . You have to remind him that he cannot touch the hair of the girl next to him—no matter how cool it looks. 6 . You implement Handwriting Without Tears program the first day — because you can’t read anything he writes. 7 . He wears the same pair of  Soft sweatpants (made to look like jeans) every single day. 8 . He is the only one in c...

Wondering about the title?  Well, this story really starts about three weeks ago. So let's start there. My husband Jeff’s birthday was coming, on August 25th, and I knew the one thing he wanted:  Football Tickets. And not just any ticket – no – he wanted to see the Kansas City Chiefs when they came to play at Quest Field against the Seattle Seahawks for the first time in nearly a decade. And by ‘tickets’ I mean tickets close enough to the field that Jeff can yell at the players and feel truly involved in the game. Last time we went, long before kids, he was yelling at the Chief's bench (I am sure they loved him for this…) and as a player named Snoop Minnis came off the field, Jeff yelled, “HEY SNOOP! You’re under-rated in Madden!” Which apparently Snoop appreciated and agreed with, because Jeff got a giant grin and a wave from him. Making every penny we’d spent on the tickets, well worth it. Yes, these kind of tickets aren’t cheap. Nope. Not cheap. Close to $200 a piece. Whi...

That’s So Cliché! Guest Post by Alysia special needs mom and blogger at Try Defying Gravity When Hartley told me she was looking for a guest post about siblings, I knew this was right up my alley. I have three boys: Gerry is eight, Howie is four and Lewis is almost two. Howie has sensory processing disorder and autism spectrum disorder. I deal with sibling issues 24/7 and sometimes it feels like we are constantly walking on eggshells as we try to figure out how to best interact as a family unit. I have learned quite a bit from teachers, doctors and occupational therapists about how to approach our son’s issues and help his brothers better understand how he interprets the world around him. Recently I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how to best share our experiences. For some reason, I keep coming back to the word “cliché”. Clearly, there’s nothing cliché or stereotypical about our kids with SPD – in fact, the only predictable thing about the disorder is that it is so unpredictable...

I can't believe it is finally here.  We finally started school.  All three of them.  And aside from the total logistical nightmare of transporting three kids to three different schools, not to mention the picking them up and being home in time to get the bus chaos, we made it.  We made it! Gabriel This is the first year in the history of being Gabe's mom that I am not stressed.  Thank god.  School is just one of those things, that every year, no matter how well laid the plans are, we seem to get off track.  Not this year.  As you all know, Gabriel is at a private therapeutic day school that caters to children of various abilities.  Which means that this year, I don't have to worry about accommodations or IEPs.  I can worry about other things (ha!), like anger management, frustration tolerance, and social skills.  And know that this school, is teaching those things too.  Yay! Gabe came home the first day covered in something green -- all over his shirt sleeves and up onto hi...

I do know why we thought that going out to dinner at a real sit down restaurant was a good idea; I was bored.  You see, we spent all day Saturday at home cooped up in the house because the weather was rainy and miserable.  We did a ton; spent two hours on a game of Star Wars Monopoly, an hour building and playing GeoTrax, way too long watching TV and we had snacked on everything in the house -- so it wasn't like we hadn't done anything, but I was super bored.  Me.  I was bored. So my hubby suggested we all go out to dinner and that we invite my parents to meet us. We agreed on the Olive Garden, half way between our house and my parent's house, and off we went. I was nervous.  I mean, we DON'T take the boys to restaurants all together.  Nick only eats peanut butter (really) and Matthew isn't much better (Matt doesn't even eat fast food except the occasional chicken nugget at McDonald's -- so this is a challenge). Add to that it is 6pm at night when we decide ...

Sensational Links for 9/3/10 (Back to School) Kaelan's Not So Good Day at School from ASD dad Gavin Bollard at Life With Aspergers :  Gavin talks about the awful day his 10 year old had at school -- from a fight on the playground to losing the lollipop it took 1-year of points to earn.  School Visit ... Check by SPD mom Jennifer at When Your Senses Don't Make Sense :  A post we can all relate to -- visiting the new classroom before the start of school -- with a happy ending. Buses, Bullies, Academics and Asperger's by ASD mom (x2) StatMama at StaticVox :  Continued bullying of her young daughter Reese on the school bus.  R-E-S-P-E-C-T Find Out What it Means to Me! by SPD mom Patty O at Pancakes Gone Awry :  A great post about gaining the respect of one her students when she was a teacher. Hope your kids are all finding sucess at school already, H

Here is September's First Things First article, which was written by Amy Sheridan who is the mom to a son with Asperger's and blogs at Asperger Ninja . For more information about First Things First click here . There is also a list of the previous First Things First articles under the " Interviews, Guest Posts & FTF " tab at the top -- with the obvious title of "First Things First Articles". -------------------------------------------------- Sick and Tired, How a Single Mother of a Special Needs Child Deals with Sudden Illness As parents, we always worry if our children get sick. That’s part of our job. We are prepared before they are even born, having been told countless stories by our parents, friends who have children and sometimes, complete strangers who are more than happy to spin the tales of their children’s maladies. But, no one ever truly prepares you for the time when YOU get sick. There is no chapter in the Parents Handbook that tells you how...