Saturday, December 31, 2011

A bit of reflection...

Broken, abused, rejected, abandoned, disabled, ill, and alone...

When one looks at me and my life they may not see much worth looking at.  I know I was struggling to see anything good earlier.  It

Thursday, December 29, 2011

A wonderful piece shared from a friend blogger :)

This piece is not mine, but I feel it is a wonderful piece and definitely a must read in my opinion. :)  It comes from a friend of mine I that I

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Calling all those that good with computers :)

Anyone know how to take this version of my awareness card and get it into a program that would allow me to print it as an actual card with both the front and back?  It's currently sitting in a paint program where

Meltdowns in public... Oh dear...

My David is quickly getting stronger than me and his brother is now showing signs of Autism too (and Joshua's meltdowns are worse and LONGER than David's...)  All I have ever been able to do is get them out

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas! :)

May the memory of His birth fill your heart with wonder, the memory of His life here fill your heart with love, and the memory of what He did for us on the cross fill your heart with humble praise.  But most of all, may the knowledge that He rose again and now lives in Heaven and in our hearts fill your entire being with HOPE :)

Merry Christmas everyone ((hugs)) :)

Friday, December 23, 2011

EDITED: Beautiful picture :) And one I can personally relate too as well :)

I was told about a picture that made me remember my son's precious encounter with Santa all over again and have gotten permission to share that picture here. :)  I love this and I think all of you will too. :)  Thanks to Richard for both this picture and for allowing me to share it. :)

the link to Richard's page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/ButtonsAndMore

the link to the original posting of his pic: https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10150431606845718&set=a.113942495717.109157.633195717&type=1&theater&notif_t=like

Sorry it took me so long to get those in here.  I haven't been able to get on-line.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

A very precious Santa :)

A friend of mine told me about a Santa in town who specializes in being there for special needs kids and kids with disabilities so I wrote him ahead of time and told him about my kids and asked if we could come see him and he welcomed us with open arms. :)  He was so

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

It's official

David's diagnosis is officially finalized now.  He barely missed the severe diagnosis by 1 and 1/2 points if I remember correctly.  The specialist said that his ability to understand us and how I've used that

Sunday, December 18, 2011

"Welcome To Holland". More than just a poem...

A few days ago a dear friend of mine told me about a poem called "Welcome To Holland" written by Emily Perl Kingsly.  She said it was a great piece for parents of special needs children.  It was so much more

Friday, December 16, 2011

Why Mom's Rock! :)

WHY MOMS OF SPECIAL NEEDS KIDS ROCK!!!

1. Because we never thought that "doing it all" would mean doing this much. But we do it all, and then some.

2. Because we've discovered patience we never knew we had.

3. Because we are willing to do something 10 times, 1,000 times if that's

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

From Max Lucado

Another devotional that really hit home for me and brought some encouragement. :)  Hope it can help others here too. :)

--Crafter Dream
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Restrain or not restrain?

I recently came across a discussion thread and conversation about restraining methods when dealing with an Autistic child in the middle of a violent meltdown or outbreak.  A lot of the people commenting were trying to make restraint out to be something cruel and abusive, even when used

Monday, December 12, 2011

Love this song :)

I Need a Silent Night
by Amy Grant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRSSsNbF29I

Merry Christmas everyone :)

Autism Night Before Christmas (by Cindy Waeltermann)

Found the following poem through a great new (to me at least) page I follow (http://autism-daddy.blogspot.com/).  He has a lot of great posts so go check him out after you check out this cool poem.  Thanks :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Autism Night Before Christmas
by Cindy Waeltermann

Twas the Night Before Christmas
And all through the house
The creatures were stirring
Yes, even the mouse

new obsession maybe? lol

What is it about the novelty of being in the fridge all of a sudden?  They're not hungry, but they dig out all the food and spread it around like their trying to form a work of art or something.  Actually, when David is

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Had to share this one :)

This came from an e-mail from Max Lucado through his daily devotional option on his website. They are not my words, but I had to share them here. I hope they can encourage and help someone who reads them here

Ending on a good note :)

Today has been a hard one in more than one way but I just had to share how it is ending.  Here I sit after having just got home (having a driver's license again rocks!) with the lights off and the tree and decorative lights

It's been a day...

Struggling a bit today with missing Aaron, Joshua is completely cranky even though he had the most sleep out of all of us, and David is stimming

A little distracted...

2 weeks until Christmas.  Usually I would be pretty excited about now, eagerly awaiting the day I get to watch my kids smile extra big and giggle and shout with glee as they discover all their surprises.  Getting a little

Saturday, December 10, 2011

this one’s for the sisters

this one’s for the sisters

A beautiful post I found through another blogger that shared it. A must read for any woman in need of a reminder of His love, greatness, and acceptance. :)

The True SPIRIT of Christmas



Found this challenge blog through a friend I follow and decided to join in. The question, what do I believe the true spirit of Christmas is? Well, with my faith in Christ I already believe the true reason for Christmas is Jesus. I have full faith that the first Christmas was when Jesus was born to the

Non-verbal huh? lol

For being labeled "non-verbal", David has definitely masterd the word "cookie".  In fact he's in the kitchen right now with his brother admiring his newly hoarded stash of them. lol :)

What I long to hear

Recently a question was posted on one of my favorite support sites for parents of children with Autism.  It was geared toward the parents of kids with limited to no verbal communication and basically asked what is one thing you would want to ask most of your child if you knew you would

Friday, December 9, 2011

My craft site :)

I am in the process of trying to start back up my old home based craft business.  Please go check out my current site on facebook. :)

https://www.facebook.com/notifications#!/pages/Onahs-Craft-Shop/252540211466275

Heaven's Very Special Child

HEAVEN'S VERY SPECIAL CHILD
by Edna Massionilla

A meeting was held, quite far from Earth!
It's time again, for another birth.
Said the Angels, to the Lord above,
This special child will need much love.

I needed this reminder...

"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials." - 1 Peter 1:6

"To consider it all joy is to look down the long road to the eternal.. to look

I hate discrimination!

The Driver's License Bureau actually tried to deny me a license today and throw out my certification of completion in the driving course all because I answered honestly about having a disability and using hand controls to compensate for it... grrr....

Blatant discrimination. I am so tired of it! (Warning, rant ahead)

Today I got my mom to help drive me to the license bureau to get my certificate of completion turned in for an actual driver's license.  I was on my own with my two boys there while waiting because my mom had to leave to make it to an appointment she had.  Well at first things were

A quote that hits home...

"You know best. You might not be an expert on autism but you’re an expert on your child. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t." --unknown

This hits home even harder now after my last meeting with David's new specialist yeterday.

When I asked her about what she was thinking on the issues David struggles with and what they mean she answered, "Your gut instincts were right. Everything you were concerned, worried, and wondering about are true... Trust your gut. It has been very honest with you."

Update From Doctor

David has hope. :)  He has been stuck in the world of a 2 year old (in some areas even younger than that) even though he is now 4, but she believes she can help us get the help we need to make that reality change for him. :)  I needed to hear that.  Especially after how hard things have been lately with him starting to regress again.

Another looooonnngggg night... :|

Sometimes I wonder if David has now decided sleep is for wimps...

A Day Of Blessings :)

I did it! Praise God for his gracious and timely blessings! :D I have passed my driving course and am one more ride away from my license! (The license bureau kind of frowns on someone driving themselves in to get their driver's license lol ;) )

I am SO excited! :)

Also, God has truly blessed me more than once today. :) After getting back

Thursday, December 8, 2011

I have my license! :)

Today has definitely been a day of miracles for me and my household. :)  I don't have long to write because we're getting ready for an appointment with David's specialist today, but I just had to share this one. :) 

First off, I had another driving lesson today which is in part significant because my instructor had recently been cancelling on me a lot.  I am disabled, but have been trying to learn how to drive with hand controls so that I could have my license again and I was hoping to have it before winter so my kids and I could still get around to the store and doctors and things like that.  Well I had only had a few lessons so far so I was starting to fear that I wouldn't be getting my license any time soon, but when he came out today I was able to show him that my practicing in between lessons has paid off for me.  He handed me the certificate of completion for the driving course! :D  All I have to do now is secure a ride to the license bureau and I will be an officially licensed driver again. :)  I have waited a long time for this day as I haven't had one since the day I started getting sick and ended up disabled and that was over 3 years ago. :)  Just goes to show that prayer, faith, and determination/unwillingness to give up truly does pay off in the end. :)

Thank-you so much Father ((hugs)) :)

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The star

Today we were supposed to be going to David’s final Autism evaluation where we would get more specifics and also answers and connections for getting some help with all this. I’m very tired today and both physically and emotionally worn out. Last night/evening was a hard one... One of the hardest I have had to face in the last few weeks, and definitely one of the hardest overall that deal with David and his struggles that Autism throws into his life. I already wrote about it in another post that I copied from a letter I wrote to a friend afterwards so I won’t repeat the story here.

Regression

I feel like I am losing him more and more each day... It's sooo painful to watch... I know he's in the middle of a regression so I am supposed to expect this, but I keep praying and hoping he'll just snap out of it, you

The ornaments

Tonight has been hard... harder than most. David basically did something that really hit hard and he honestly had no comprehension of what was going on, what he did, why it was wrong, why he was in trouble, why Mommy was crying, etc., etc. ... In all reality it really wasn't anything big. It basically involved him getting into some paint and the ornaments we were supposed to get to do together and did them all himself, ruining the carpet and my paint brushes in the process...

Autism speaks. Or so they say. It speaks, but in no ordinary way. It speaks through silent rocking of a child who’s had too much. It speaks through a mothers tears, because her love isn’t enough. It speaks through the

Memories


Pumpkins and wagon rides. Giggles of glee.
Oh how I love to give gifts to thee.

Determined

I’ve seen a lot in my 29 years and not all of it good. I’ve seen hate at its fiercest, betrayal at it’s deepest, abuse at it’s cruelest, confusion at it’s foggiest, loneliness at it’s most solitude, and hearts at their coldest. But I have also seen love at it’s finest, faith at it’s purest, friendship at it’s best, loyalty at it’s truest, and hope at it’s highest. And through His grace I have been allowed to see that victims can become survivors. A survivor I will be.

David's diagnosis... the "I knew it" moments

My "I knew it" moment was really a series of behaviors that weren't going away and he wasn't just "growing out" of them. Things like David's constant self abuse, the way he could lose himself in his meltdowns to the point he couldn't recogonize anyone or anything anymore (even me...), his smarts that waaaaaayyyy surpassed his age but yet he had so many severe delays physically and socially along with it, his seemingly constant need for calmer environments and "routine" experiences, his tendancy to so easily fall apart just because something suddenly looked different than he was used to or someone moved a car out of his line-up, the fact that he always lines everything up...

A little background on my family


My name is Cindi and my two precious sons are David, 3, and Joshua, 2. I am a disabled single mother and both of my children are special needs. My husband, their father, left us. Between that and disabilities in the family ranging from Sensory Integration and Auditory Processing Disorders to diagnosises of things like Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Autonomic Nervous Dysfunction, Pervasive Developmental Delay, Autism, partial deafness, and possible Apraxia our life has been anything but easy. We take every day with a firm grip of determination though and with a faith strongly rooted in the love, compassion, and friendship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. :)

Some insight into me (thanks to a Monvee personality assesment)

HOW YOU THINK AND LEARN
You most likely enjoy one or more styles of learning. You thrive with the combination of auditory, visual, and conversational approaches. While this is not a traditional learning style, it represents how many of us have become comfortable learning.

Here we go lol

I recently received a "challenge" from a friend to record the thoughts, feelings, and days of my life with my son and his Autism diagnosis. Something to help make the memories more permanent and lasting. Good and bad, funny and sad. A way to sort of have something to look back to when life gets hard to remember the good times and be reminded the bad times don't last.