Autism Awareness

My youngest son has a form of autism. He is diagnosed with PDD-NOS, which is high-funtioning. Because autism is only a part of what he is, I don't scrapbook this part of him frequently. I do scrapbook and post a page about his life with autism during the month of Autism awareness, though. Here is the page:

He's had a wonderful year. I ascribe that to seeing a psychologist BEFORE the school year to help train him in relaxation techniques. I don't know if this will work for others, but it worked for Dominic. The year has been disruptive, but he's managed and excelled, in particular by learning to manage his unstructured time.

Design wise, I tried to use happy colors and happy symbols, since it's been such a positive year.  Many years ago a fellow high school teacher, one who works with kids on the spectrum, told me that children with autism make progress by making two steps forward and one step back. This year Dominic has made two steps forward and another step forward. He is a wonderful young man growing more and more into himself.

Thank you for visiting my blog and learning about my son's journey! He is a treasure, and he is growing each year more comfortable into who he is and what he wants to be. I'm enjoying every second of the journey.

What makes my son rad

April is Autism Awareness month. My younger boy has a form of autism known as PDD-NOS. He was first diagnosed through the school district at around age 4, and he has been receiving services since then. His progress is cyclical--the beginning of this school year was hard, for example, but by now his behavior and work has evened out and he is largely happy and excited about school and his activities (theater, music, and taekwondo). Every April I make a page about his journey with autism. Here's a page I made to celebrate his talents:

I started making the list myself and then asked him to supplement. That's how it ended up having talents like "speed eating" and the specific details about Stratego and Minecraft. I'm glad I invited him to participate in this record of his strengths. It showed him how much I recognize and admire his talents. Mind you, these are not going-to-be-a-professional-skateboarder talents, but he has fun skateboarding and playing basketball, so they make him rad.

So much time is spent building strengths upon his weaknesses because of his autism (and this should happen--he needs to learn how to function socially in society, and he is so bright, he will be able to contribute vastly when he learns to), I believe I must remind him that his strengths are there. There is no one in the world like Dominic, and he is a wonderful, funny, enthusiastic boy. Though he has autism, that is not the only thing that defines him. This page is a look at some other things that make him unique--and totally rad.

Scrapping tough subjects

When I scrapbook, I try to scrap my whole life. Still, I'm a generally optimistic person, so how do I record the tougher moments? Here's a look into one tough story I'm working through now.

My younger son has high-functioning autism, called PDD-NOS. Ever since he's been in school, he's had struggles, but it's been intermittent. First grade was terribly hard, and this year, fourth grade is also difficult.

I wanted to record some of what he was going through so he could see the progression of his development, and also for him to know my love of him, no matter what. Here's a page I made recently about his struggle:

I actually started with the circles. The high school I work at has an autism center, and one teacher told me progress for children with autism goes in circles. That insight has given me patience and faith, so I decided to use circles to represent the progress my son makes in learning to work within society's norms: a little forward, then a little back. I then stitched circles around the wood circles to connect them, then added the title and stamping along the edge. Here's some details:

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm an optimist, so my journaling tends to look to the future with hope. That' what I must do to scrap these tougher subjects.

Thank you for looking at my page! I hope this gave you ideas for how to deal with scrapping difficult subjects in your scrapbooking.

Mom, do I have autism?

My son Dominic has autism, specifically PDD-NOS. He was diagnosed around when he turned 4 and has been receiving special services since, mostly with social skills, but also OT to help his sensory needs (he also processes sensory stimulation inadequately and needs more sensory stimulation every day--which explains a lot, LOL!) I don't post a lot about his autism because it is only a part of who he is, and I want to record his whole life, not one part. Still, since April is Autism Awareness month, I make a page and share some of what his autism diagnosis means he is working on and going through right now.

I made this page recently about something I knew I would have to talk with him about eventually: the fact that he has autism. I'll post the journaling in case you can't read it above:

Because Dominic has autism, people sometimes ask me if I watch Parenthood. I tell them no, I watch TV to escape, not to repeat the stress in my life. The last episode I remember seeing Max wanted to participate in a fundraiser for kids with autism. His parents wrestled with what to say to him. This made me wonder what I would say to Dominic someday about his autism.

I recently encountered that situation. When I drive the boys to school, we listen to NPR, one day to a news story about autism. Dominic listened and asked, “Mom, do I have autism?” This was the moment I’d wondered about for a while. I told him yes, he had autism. He asked me what that meant, so I said that people with autism had brains that were different from people who didn’t have autism. People with autism, I said, have a harder time learning to communicate with others. Dominic reacted pretty casually, telling me that he did have trouble talking with people. Sometimes when people were talking, he would say something that didn’t fit with what they said.

I remember reading a book by a man with autism who said he had started to understand that he was different from others when he was around 9 years old. This year Dominic appears to be starting to come to that realization himself.

This conversation happened last fall, which means some time has passed. I couldn't remember Dominic's exact final words in our conversation, just that he had a sense that he had trouble talking with people but that it was OK. He didn't dwell. I suppose I dwell more on his diagnosis than he does. My job as his parent is to not shower him with my worries but instead to share my hopes for him and my belief in him.

I tried to write a lot in a small amount of space, so I worry that it is a bit compromised story-wise. The name of the book was Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. I read several books about autism, and I found this one to be valuable because it shows someone who is a successful, functioning adult, something I think gives a fuller picture of autism (Not everyone with autism is Rainman, e.g.). The book also shows his journey towards self-awareness, which included pitfalls and quirks that tend to circulate around people with autism. I recommend the book if you haven't read it.

If you are interested in scrapbooking, here are some details from the page:

 

Thank you for letting me share my family's story with autism. I cannot emphasize enough what a privilege it is to be Dominic's mother.

Thought bubbles and speech bubbles: Autism Awareness

My son Dominic, who is 8, has autism.

This is not a post about his diagnosis, or his journey. Since April is Autism Awareness month, I thought I'd share some of where he is right now to spread awareness of autism, and hopefully to open up conversations with your neurotypical kids.

A few weeks ago he climbed on my lap to talk with me about trying to talk with kids at school. He was having a hard time, and he didn't know what to do. He wasn't really asking for advice. He's not there yet, but he's beginning to recognize that he doesn't "get" social interactions, which is heartbreaking for me. For him, he's still stuck in "What can I do?" when what he needs to think of is "What do other people need?" (I know that may sound defeatest, or even that I'm not supporting my son, but a good part of learning to function in society is learning to be attuned to other people. Which is exactly what people with autism have difficulty with.)

To help, I told him that he need to learn the difference between private conversations and public conversations. He could enter into public conversations; it's considered rude to enter into private ones. The trick is figuring out which conversations are private, which is not easy, since people hold private conversations right in front of others. (I'm blaming this on cell phones, which make us think we're the only one hearing the conversation, when that's true only of half of it.) My son's working on something similar in his social skills group: learning the difference between thought bubbles (what he can think, which is just about anything) and speech bubbles (which is limited--you can't say everything you think). Heck, I think we all know some neurotypical people who need to learn that difference! It's tough, especially for people with autism.

To remember this conversation, I made this page (click the image to read the journaling):

I used the Studio Calico March kit Story Hour, appropriately enough. Here's some design info:

  

I wanted to use a big ampersand, so I took an old Basic Grey chipboard one, traced around it, painted it, then outlined it. I then placed letter stickers  over it and sewed them down.  

 

I like adding stickers in a bunch, along with other embellishments (here, buttons, brad, and flower) to get at some of the ideas behind my page and add some emotion. Since this was a people page, I added red, which is my color for people in the Big Picture class Twelve.

 

I used the paper upside down, but I don't care. I needed the big design on the bottom, not the top, and the words/numbers were barely visible, so OK. More stickers and embellishments that mean something.

Thank you for reading about my page and about my son. If I can give you any words to raise autism awareness, it's this: when your child talks about a child at school that seems "weird" and says or does odd things, try schooling them a bit. Perhaps the child has autism and doesn't know any better, and will take years to learn how. Teach kindness and patience. Believe me, that means a lot.

Here are some resources that I've read and seen that I recommend:

1. Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation 
2. Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew
3. Temple Grandin. This film does a remarkable job of visually representing how some people with autism perceive the world.
4. Look Me In the Eye. This book's chapter on small talk is one that I know Special Education teachers of older students with autism use with their students.
5.  The Journal of Best Practices. Confession: I haven't read this, but I heard the author speak on NPR, and I look forward to reading it.

Scrap weekend

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling north and spending it at a cabin rented by some scrappy friends and me. More photos of that weekend to come. Also coming are some layouts I made--I finished 5 pages completely and almost finished another 6, for which I lacked supplies. Here's some of what I produced:



I love these photos and made a page about my son's love of trees. The paper from GCD Studio from their Soul Food line is so perfect, I didn't need to add much else.

I did add stitching, of course, using my Bazzill flourish stitching template.


I found this photo when editing photos on PSE recently. It's been so cold, and spring is in permanent delay here in Minnesota, so I decided to print it 8x12 and make a page about looking forward to summer. It will come. I think. (I should mention it snowed Sunday when we were at the cabin.)


I layered some of the goodies from the April Studio Calico kit Singing in the Rain. Let me tell you, we've had so much rain we're not singing but griping about the rain and cold. Well, it could be worse. The snow could have stuck.

Guess why I put that saying up there?

This next page I made the journaling for before I left. It's the page I meant to do about Dominic's autism from his point of view. He helped me write the part about what he likes:

I used the Crate Paper Toy Box collection for this, plus an old piece of Cosmo that had bubble sheet paper on it.

A fun cluster next to a winning smile. He used those chewies for a while, then stops, then starts, then stops. I'm not sure why--Stress? Sensory needs? Right now he's stopped. His sensory needs are being met by bike riding and tree climbing. And mom heart attack inducing, I guess.

I cut the big title letters out of a piece of patterned paper. It didn't have all the letters I needed, so I also used letter stickers from the same line. It fits with the title thematically, too.


Here I am, driven to add strips of ribbon and paper. Again.

The journaling is meaningful to me. I haven't shown the whole thing to Dominic; like the last LO about his autism, I'll let him read it--and correct me, I'm sure--when he reads his albums again.

I'll try to post the journaling later--I saved it on my husband's laptop. If you click on the layouts, you can make them big enough to read (I hope!). ETA: Here's the journaling:

My name is Dominic and I have autism.

I have some of the symptoms you think of

when you think of autism.

I talk to myself sometimes.

I appreciate the visual easier than the verbal.

I have trouble playing with other kids.

I am different, though.

I don’t resist human contact; I crave it.

I’m rarely bothered by noise, but I am calmed by it,

especially music.

I don’t have one big thing I love, but many:

Star Wars, maps, fencing, swimming, and violin.

I like being around other people,

but I don’t know how to talk about other people’s interests

or know how to play with them.

I get angry when I don’t get my way

because right now I can’t see anyone else’s perspective.

That’s a part of my disability,

and I’m working on it, but it’s hard.

I’m seven years old.

Because I have autism, I hope you understand me.

I have trouble processing verbal directions.

It’s really tiring for me, so if I get cross with you,

please try to understand.

Interacting socially doesn’t come naturally to me,

so I appreciate help and patience when I get frustrated.

I want to do well, but I’m stubborn,

so I might resist your help.

Please try to be patient with me

and help me learn to be patient.

My greatest gifts are my energy, my enthusiasm,

my creativity, and my brain.

Please recognize those strengths

as you help me manage despite my disability.

And now for some shopping discounts:




I fell behind in posting discount codes to match spring training at Ella--here's a boatload of terrific books. The sketch book and design book are among my all-time favorites. Here's the codes: HAPPYDESIGN for Design Workshop, SPRINGSKETCHES for Stretch Your Sketches, SPRTEXTTRKS for Text Tricks, and SPRPICTPERFECT for Picture Perfect.

Each code will give you $1.00 of the selected text--again, I'm not sure if you can use more than one code per transaction, but it would be worth separate transactions, let me tell you. The codes expire May 15th.

Autism Awareness month

April is Autism Awareness month. I am not a part of a movement, but I am a parent of a child with autism. Dominic has something called PDD-NOS, a high functioning form of autism.

He began the diagnosis process when he was three; he didn't know how to play with other kids in his preschool, and the teachers brought to our attention that when kids were playing, the only thing he knew how to do was lie on them. He also had mild echolalia, repeating conversations he heard on Dora rather than initiating "real" conversations.

He has been receiving services from the school district since he was four, and he is on an IEP to help him learn to interact socially and behave according to social norms. It's a bumpy road, but he's made progress. His progress is complicated by the fact that he also has ADHD, and finding the most helpful medication has been tricky.

For this month, I made two pages to raise people's awareness autism and what it entails. Here's my first page:

The photos I had hanging around for a while. I took them last year. This year has been much harder for him socially and behaviorally. A recent comment he made inspired the page. Here's the journaling:

Some time recently you told me, wistfully, “I miss Kindergarten.” Dominic, I know 1^st grade has been hard, not academics—you rock there—but social interaction and behavior. It’s strenuous to go a full day, especially since your autism makes the extra time processing language and social cues very tiring, and you lash out when tired and frustrated. I want to encourage you to hang in there.

• Treat people with respect.
• Be flexible.
  
• Work to understand their perspective.
  
• Most of all, be kind and thankful to people who are trying to help you.

These are the most important things. When you live them, it gets easier and fun like kindergarten.

Design-wise, I used Studio Calico's March kit, Into the Woods. I also misted with two colors on the background. I also used the EK Success Bumpy Road punch with purpose.

Dominic loves these pictures of himself--I haven't read him the journaling yet, though. He loves looking through his scrapbooks, so I'll let him read the journaling when he will.

One symptom of his autism is that I can't "make him" learn something socially that he needs to learn. Right now he tends to treat many social interactions as competitions, and when he loses or doesn't get his way, he overreacts, which can be scary for other kids. I can talk with him about not doing that, but when it happens again, he doesn't rationally think back to our last conversation. He acts upon those frustrations again, socially inappropriately.

I'm letting you know that so that you can understand that some kids with autism honestly can't control their emotions; it will take them longer than many neurotypical kids to do so. When you see a child having a meltdown that seems age-inappropriate, extend some kind thoughts for the parents. The child may have autism, and it may be beyond the child's control.

I'll share my other page when I finish it. This second page is a little more personal because I'm writing it from Dominic's perspective.

Celebrating my son

I love Stacy Julian's book The Big Picture. I got so much inspiration from it and her approach to scrapping my life. I took special notice of the LO she made about her son with ADHD. She noted that it is her job to celebrate his strengths, since his disability doesn't normally lead to many kudos. (I don't remember her exact words, sorry. That was the gist.)

And so I remember this when I scrap my sons. My younger boy has both ADHD and autism, a double difficulty for him, particularly in school. This year's been tough, so I made this LO to remember what his strengths are (thanks, Stacy):


I used Studio Calico's February kit Sweet Shoppe. I added the stamped honeycombs with the original idea of printing the words, then pasting them on the patterned paper, but that was too much work, so I handwrote his strengths. The photo used a PSE action called Teeny Tiny World from Coffee Shop; this action blurs the background and focuses in on the center of attention, not that Dominic needed any help with that in this photo!

I have to admit, I was nervous about stamping on this LO, mainly because I was masking out part of the stamp, which can go awry. It was OK, but I try not to let fear get in the way; there is no such thing as a mistake in scrapbooking, only an unplanned opportunity for more creativity.

I think I make a page like this for both of my boys every year. I like that I do. Hopefully they'll always know that even though we're trying very hard to improve their behavior and focus, we know very well that they are fabulous kids. I don't remember who said this, but I'm using this quote as my mantra now: We don't grow up, we only learn how to behave in public.

Busy week and a big day

Man, has this been a busy week! Preparing for my mom to fly out from Maine, my son's yearly IEP meeting, grading like a maniac, working on pages for upcoming articles and blog posts...whew! Thank goodness for four-day weekends. I can now get caught up.

First, you should head over to Sketch Support to check out this week's page. Here it is:



The details of how I did the heart as well as the original sketch are on Sketch Support.

And the big day? Well, 7 years ago this guy was born:


He is such a funny guy. He could barely sleep last night in excitement for today, then he woke up super early this morning. He asked me, "What's special about being 7?" I told him 7 is a magical number, there are 7 days in the week, and it means he's in first grade. Then I asked him what he thought was special about it, and he said, "The other numbers are scared of it." I asked him why and he said, "Because 7-8-9." (Say it out loud.) What a card.

This past year has been up and down, not uncommon for first graders but complicated due to his autism. I dreaded the IEP, but it was a positive experience, focusing very much on problem solving, rather than what he can't do. That warmed my heart. His biggest challenge is developing flexibility in routines and the ability to take other perspectives.

About a week ago, I was sharing with a teacher colleague at the high school some of my anxieties about his challenging year. She is a communication teacher who works with students with autism, and her words reassured me. She drew a series of circle in the air with her finger that moved gradually upward and said, "This is how kids with autism progress. It's not a straight line." Her words reassured me and inspired this page:




I used the Studio Calico January kit Who's Who for this page. The journaling is basic: Two steps forward and one step back is still Progress. I debated journaling more extensively, detailing what's happened this year, but I didn't want to right now. Today I wanted to focus on his progress, so there it is.

Happy Birthday, Dominic.

Conferences

It's conference time for me, which means I'm way tired after several 12 hour days and I'm also apprehensive awaiting my sons' conferences. This year the apprehension was compounded because my husband is away on business and the conferences were attended my moi alone.

Good news: my older boy is succeeding academically and behaving less disruptively than in the past (except for trying to parent the class: "Stop talking everyone!").

Not so good news: Dominic is succeeding academically but struggling with his behavior. Socially, he's having trouble, especially at the playground, which is unstructured, doubly hard due to his autism. This was so hard to listen to; my throat clenched up the whole conference, which ultimately lasted 45 minutes. I still cry thinking about it. I knew he was having trouble, but God knows I have nothing to offer the teachers. He doesn't know how to act. He's been more oppositional. I don't know what will help. Parents of autistic children would pay me millions if I had answers. I don't.

I did share some strategies we try at home to deal with unstructured time, which mostly involves minor role play--what will you do, why, what will you not do, etc. It helps at home, and the teachers and staff said it was helpful. I hope it is.

I can't tell you how gut wrenching it is to hear about the social difficulties of my son with autism. It is so hard. It was helpful to hear about other neurotypical students having trouble at school, and it helped to hear that other neurotypical students didn't know how to play either, but hearing about his social struggles still hurts.

We're hoping a meds change for his ADHD will help with the oppositional behavior, which became more pronounced when we switched to these meds last spring.

Since he may not hear these words as often at school, I celebrate my son's gifts at home. He's very creative and enthusiastic in his play. Here's a layout I did to celebrate using the color scheme from the Color Room:

Autism Awareness

I had some trouble posting earlier--lost the whole post--so hopefully this will work now.

My son was diagnosed with autism at 3 1/2. Specifically, he is identified as PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified). Since then he has been receiving services to help him learn to interact appropriately with others. He's come far in the time since his diagnosis, and I'm grateful to all the help we've received. Here's a layout I made a year or so ago expressing gratitude to those who have helped him progress.


I have occasionally scrapped his autism. That is not the only thing I scrap about him, nor have I done a whole album regarding his autism. It's a part of him, but autism is not the whole of him. I scrap everything that makes him who he is.


This might be the first page I made about his diagnosis. It's a funny story, and those are my favorite pages to scrap about him.


This layout reflects on one of the initial signs of his autism--his incisive visual acuity. He loved this yellow car die cut from Archiver's--he carried it around for a long time. I was glad to put it on the page.


I'm sorry this journaling isn't easily read. It was the story of a time he asked me to make his napkin into a circle, a request that I was for a long time clueless to fulfill. I finally got what he meant. Dominic's verbal skills are pretty good, but still not as good as neurotypical kids, and since he's smart, he can fake knowing more words than he actually does. I need to remember that.


This was the latest LO I made, just finished today. I was inspired by my...let's call it "distaste"...for the word "tolerance." I don't think that should be the goal. I expressed how I felt in the journaling, which for some reason I can't post. I hope you can read it.