Vaccines, Autism, and the Coronavirus - Part One I’m very passionate about this issue, so I need to “check in” with it from time to time. Now seems like a really good time to check in on the topic of vaccines. First, I’ll discuss my (relatedly strong) opinion on autism-related vaccines. What’s the issue with vaccines and autism? The false notion that vaccines cause autism. This is a pretty big issue in the autism community. It’s an issue with an important and very wide reach because it has to do with the health of our entire country … [Read more...]
04
May 2020
Autism, SAT Tests, and the Coronavirus My child is a junior in high school who took his SAT exam in the fall (2019). What was the process like? Well, when he was a sophomore he took the PSAT, the practice SAT. This is standard for sophomores who want to attend college. He did fairly well on the PSAT, all without studying. As a way to prepare for the SAT, we signed up my son for an SAT tutor. Why did we choose a tutor? Even though the tutor cost more than a class, (some of the SAT prep classes are free!), I felt my son would learn about … [Read more...]
20
Apr 2020
Autism and Adjusting to Pandemic Schooling Like all kids these days, schooling looks quite different during these pandemic times. We used to walk to the elementary school, and I’d pick up my child post-school either for autism-related appointments or after the after-school program. He had an aide back then. He did well in school, yet had many autism-related/behavioral issues. The middle school was farther away, but we’d still walk once or twice a week. By eighth grade, he would occasionally walk home from school. My child liked the … [Read more...]
30
Mar 2020
Autism and Coronavirus I don’t have to explain too much about this title because we’re all in the same boat. Typical and special needs together. This virus doesn’t discriminate. What is my situation? My seventeen-year-old, my husband, and I are staying-at-home and socially distancing if we have to go out (for groceries, pharmacy runs, and walking). My son’s school will begin at-home, online learning tomorrow. They plan on bringing the kids back to the school in early May, yet that plan could change. My husband works from … [Read more...]
01
Mar 2020
Autism and Making Important Observations Subtitle: Autism and Meaning Well We recently had to put our dog to sleep. She was only nine and a half years old. My son was seven when we got here. She was “his dog.” How did my son do with this sad event? I’ll discuss the one autism-like response that my son had below. It has to do with the subtitle to this blog, Autism and Meaning Well. When we got the call that our dog was declining quickly and we needed to go put her down, I told my son. He said he was sad, even though he didn’t show it … [Read more...]
02
Feb 2020
Accepting the Autism Diagnosis I was recently reminded of the early days and months of our child’s autism diagnosis. Did we accept the diagnosis right away? Well, our son was too young for an official diagnosis. In those “early days,” he was developmental delayed. We were given a provisional diagnosis from a California Regional Center which gave him services. This was a good thing. When did we receive the actual diagnosis? When our son was three years old. The provisional was removed. He officially had autism. Did we accept … [Read more...]
21
Jan 2020
Autism and Small Town America I found this article interesting since I’ve now been to Iowa, plus I wrote an autism-related screenplay about how to raise a child on the autism spectrum when you don’t live near a metropolitan area (which was not our experience). This is an easy read and very informative… Check it out… http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/autism-small-town-america-378223 Autism and Small Town America More on Kimberly Kaplan: To purchase "Two Years Autism Blogs Featured on ModernMom.com" or "A … [Read more...]