Autistic Pride and Q & A

Yesterday (June 18th) was Autistic Pride Day. What a great day to celebrate! Too bad I was sick. I still explained to Liam what it was and he sported his Autism Hearts shirt in honor of the day. Good enough for now. Some days I have to take a day off from advocacy :) I did however make this pic for my facebook page:

For more info on Autistic Pride day, CLICK HERE

I am also very excited to report that after speaking with a wonderful woman named Margalit, and sharing with her some pics, and answering questions, she has posted my interview. Margalit is the admin of Autistic Globetrotting on Facebook. I had submitted a pic of Liam in a state park, and she emailed me and asked if I would like to participate in an interview. I was stoked!!!! Being of a low income, we have to be so careful of what we do for fun. Yet, we always make sure we have something to do. When Liam grows up, he may say, "we didn't have a lot of money when I was a kid..." but I do believe he will also say, "mom and dad always spent time with me, and we did fun things anyway." You don't have to be rich, or even well off to find fun things to do with your kiddos. Some of our best fun is free! To read more of my interview CLICK HERE

OCD rears its ugly head!

So our aspie has a "newer" obsession. In his words, "when I walk, I have to erase my footsteps." When hubby and I ask him why, he replies, "because my brain tells me to repeat them, so I tell my brain to erase them." So he does. Last nite was awful. Every step LJ took, he repeatedly exclaims, "erase, erase!" It breaks my heart. At only 5 and a half, he should not have to endure such things. So we are left with the question, what are we to do? We can tell him he doesn't have to do it and discourage him til we are blue in the face, but so far that does no good. How can one so young argue with his own brain? We were told we can medicate him, but as of yet, we are uncomfortable with that idea. So now what? I will say on the bright side, since this obsession has taken precedence, he is less anal about hand sanitizer, and licking his face raw. He is still a germ a phobe, but he's not using hand gel til his hands are raw, and throwing temper tantrums over it being out of reach. When I was a teen I often found myself obsessing over death and house fires. Due to my age, and maturity, I was often times able to talk myself out of these worries. How though, can one so young cope with such things and to a much greater degree? What must go through his little mind to make him feel the need to "erase" EVERY step he takes? I guess I will never really know, but I'd love to be able to help him. As a mom its my job, and I can't stand feeling like there is nothing I can do. I guess if it keeps on, hubby and I are going to have to rethink meds, because our son is too young and innocent to have to live this way...

OCD and my lil Aspie

So last nite before bed, our aspie comes to us and says, "mommy, I am having trouble walking." When asked what he was talking about he replied, "when I walk, I have to back up and do it again, and tell my brain to erase my footsteps." I was shocked! My aspie is 5 and a half, and is like talking to a grown man, but I was more shocked because he seems to be becoming more self aware of his "issues." Hubby and I try not to talk about his obsessions and compulsions in front of him because he is so bright, and we don't want him to pick up on what we say and then do them for attention. (Aspie loves attention!) I was also bothered because it wasn't something I had picked up, and I always notice aspie's quirks, I'm his momma, its my job. As I said before my aspie is a busy body, and seems to be in perpetual motion, which may be why we didn't notice. The fact remains, HE noticed, and it breaks my heart that he has to "tell his brain to erase" anything. The fact that he knows it's his brain telling him to retrace his steps astonishes me and makes my heart wrench. I have been saying I hate not knowing what goes on in his brain, but maybe now, as I am beginning to realize, I hate KNOWING what is going on in his brain. His father and I are against medicating him for any of his "quirks" so I guess this means more research for mommy in ways to help him nip the obsessions and compulsions in the bud, if that is at all possible. I hate feeling like I can't help my baby, its one of the worst feelings in the world!