Xander... becoming what he is afraid of!

So the last three or so months have been really interesting, to say the least.

Some people know that you do not give an Autistic child an abstract concept, such as the world might end in 2012. For most of us we understand that the world probably will not end this year, and if it does it will be fast and we won't really know it. But for a boy with autism telling him the world was going to end brought our world to a stand still.

He stopped for all intensive purpose living his life. He digressed in most aspects of life, he hyper focused so intensely on the end of the world that nothing could get done. he even began to watch my little pony, "because they were happy." After some intense stressing, lots of praying and an intervention or two he started settling down and believing that the world had in fact not ended.

He started his life again, re-entered 5th grade with a new enthusiasm and started to enjoy activities again. Then last week he had his maturation program... you know were they explain what kind of changes your body is going to go through as it becomes a man. Again those of you who have autistic kids are probably already shaking your head because you can guess what happened.
With all the things that they told him about fluids and changes and growth and voices the one thing he takes away was that he was going to grow hair... everywhere...

"I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A WEREWOLF." Not a man a werewolf! Funny I didn't hear anything about fangs and claws! So this week it was all I could do to convince him he was not going to be a werewolf.

Threw all of this Xander has worked diligently with his scout troop to move from a Cub Scout (Webelos) to a full Boy Scout... he earned 16 pins, two belt loops, the religious knot, his webelos badge, the World conservation patch and his Arrow of Light. So all the time he spent worrying about becoming a man or a werewolf he was working hard on it. Thursday night he crossed the bridge on his way to adulthood and I couldn't be more proud. Don't get me wrong I know the road a head is not paved in marshmallow but I think as long as I have chocolate in my pocket when he cracks again I will make s'mores.

And for those that don't get the last joke too bad, but it means more for me.

I have changed my Blog to Blue!

In support of Autism awareness I have changed my blog colors to blue...
Those of you who know me IRL know my son Xander and the amazing kid he is and the fact that he has Autism has not held him back but increased his determination and my strength. he is an outstanding kid and I don't think I would be who I am today with out either of my children but Xander's diagnoses only made me that much stronger as a mother!

If you feel like you want to know my son as I do or just a glimpse of how far he has come read my older post!

"Life is changing"

"What's in a Sign"

"Today was a good Day"

"The stress of it all"

Feel free to read any of the others!

Life is Changing...

Autism effects 1 out of 150 children... my 8-yr-old is one of them. He was diagnosed with PDD (On the autism scale) at the age of 3. I thought then his life and mine would never be the same.
I talked about his diagnosis in an earlier blog.

I keep seeing articles in the paper and hearing stories on the news that a small percentage of the children effected with Autism have "recovered" or are "cured".

After an extreme amount of testing that the school requires each couple of years I was told that Xander was one of the children that had seemed to make a significant recovery. As I cherish the thought of him fitting in better, my heart breaks for my friends that have older children that have not seen a positive change or have watched them get worse over the years.

What's in a sign...

These are signs I created to help my son understand that not everybody sees him in the same way. That the negative things that some people see are the good and kind things that I see in him. And that just because he has Autism does not mean he is broken.

The stress of it all..

November 15, 2008

Warning note to my readers:

This is my first official blog and all though I know I have a lot to say I don't always know that I can get it out, at least coherently so if you end up reading this or even following along good luck.

I am a single mother of two great kids and this in and of it self is great and i could write and tell all the wonderful things my children do, but I have an added struggle as do many people that I know my son who is 7 was diagnosed with Autism, luckily... I always laugh after that word... any way he was diagnosed at 3 so I have had four years to get to know my son and to try and learn what is like to live in his world trying to live in our world.

I say this because even thought he is extremely high functioning there are days that he just does not get why people act the way they do to him, frankly I don't always get that either but I am sure that it is in completely different ways.
It just gets harder for him as he gets older, he still has the disposition of a 3 or 4 year old, his mental age is appropriate as far as education, as well as his size but his peers are starting to see him as a target rather than a friend. So he gets abused at school, on the playground and on the school bus, even from younger students who have the mental capability to become friends with older students.
The School has stepped in but he is feeling very down on him self right now and expresses his wishes that he had never been born, and that he was not around. I try and tell him that would be very sad for all of us because he is one of the best things that I have ever done.
That is all I have the heart for now but I will be back...soon.