Experience

Again my excuses are poor but valid. Homeschooling has been rough this year. We discovered that poor Jess suffers from depression which hasn't been pretty. You see, in Asperger's patients depression goes the way of agressive and sometimes violent mood swings. Homeschooling hasn't been an easy task.

That and the fact that AO sucks!! I bought this after speaking to several people about great they were believing that I could sidestep the religious aspect. OMG, who were they trying to fool? Me, apparently. I now understand why so many of these CD Roms are on EBay for sale! Instead of being the visually positive tools of education that I thought, it's nothing more than a textbook on the computer. Confusing and doesn't give appropriate material so that the students can research the answer.

So now I'm backtracking to find material to use. We can't afford to buy anything right now since the dh was laid off and is working a min wage job that barely pays for gas and groceries. Fortunately I have a friend who is loaning us her Rosetta Stone Spanish CD Rom that she got for free. Now in Texas, you can't graduate unless you are bi-lingual in Spanish and English. Grreeeaatt. :( That will mean I will never get Jess graduated; she absolutely hates foreign language.

So I suppose that you can say that experience is the best teacher. Unfortunately it's a costly educator as well.

Oy!

My goodness I've been gone awhile! LOL. Not surprisingly, work and school and my own business have gotten in the way of blogging.

I recently went out to purchase CD Roms for the girls' school. Language Arts for Alyssa and Science for both and then Spanish workbooks for Aly. I'm hoping more visuals with help poor Aly comprehend more. That and the fact that we put her back on Metadate! Her medicine alone cost $130!

And then the most horrible thing happened. The family computer crashed! Our laptop is so old that it can access the internet but can't handle downloading or CD Roms because it doesn't accept XP or Vista. SIL promised to build one for us via her work since she is the head of her IT dept. But you know how that goes. Promises for the many; solutions for the few.

I also am having another issue with my website. It is finally taking off only to hit a stall in all of this because my laptop cannot download photos of my jewelry and soaps from my digital camera. All this technology and I kenna use it!

So I keep doling out jewelry, soaps and candles and pray that hubby and his sister get my up and running soon.

A New Day

(Even Mia the cat decided to get in the groove of school while Alyssa was attempting to do fractions!)

I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to get more organized when it came to homeschooling. Lately I have made a lot of personal changes which I was afraid might not be for the better. Apparently it has had a positive affect on Jess however.

I visited one of my favorite organizational sites called donnayoung.org. If you are a homeschooler and looking for a way to get organized then this site is the place to go. I decluttered and organized my dining-room-turned-office-workroom and set up notebooks with specific subjects and goals(such as Alyssa's math notebook is for nothing but math formulas that she is to write down so she can learn them to memory) and set up a binder that was filled with grade logs, daily planners and 6-week grade grids.

Usually Jess is not only my grumbler, she is my whiner and tantrum thrower when it comes to school work. This morning, she saw the individual Monday-Friday school schedule that I had posted on the bulletin board for her and her sister and...

She went straight to work! Amazing!

I was literally in shock on how easy she sailed through her copywork,journal writing, her speller, language arts, reading and typing! Jess, as you may know, is Asperger's and such subjects do not come easy for her thus she drags her feet[for hours] and complains and even cries over it.

Jess needs schedules and discipline. What she WANTS is to watch TV and do suduko all days. We always have had school Mon-Fri but I suppose seeing log sheets and planners and grids makes her feel more structured and organized than before. Whatever the case she jumped right into it. Let's just hope tomorrow is a lot more of the same!

Curveball

Yes we've been thrown a curve ball amidst everything else that occurs during those first few weeks of new curriculum.

Alyssa had not been doing well with either school nor anything else. We had been on a Weight Watchers diet together..the entire family. Everyone was having their ups and downs but doing well. Except for Alyssa. The last straw was when she gained 11 lbs in a one week period and I discovered that she was sleep-waking AND raiding the frig at the same time!

Now I got panicky! G and I had talks with her and found that not only was she was sleep walking(which is an eery thing to watch) but her sister, due to stress, had gone back to talking AND singing(loudly) in her sleep thus Alyssa couldn't sleep. I attempted to make an appointment with our local GP to no avail and knew that I couldn't wait.

So now we're on a new program. Alyssa can sleep on the living room sofa if she likes as long as she doesn't get up and raid the kitchen. So she reads, does word search and quietly watches a movie of our choice and has a warm cup of General Foods coffee.

Yup, coffee. Which leads me to step two of this program: new diet.

Alyssa, if I haven't mentioned before is ADD, and the stress of school, our different work schedules, and her sister's ever-growing teenaged angst has sent her into turmoil. The new diet is specifically designed by a homeopathic doctor is for ADD/Autistic/Dyslexic patients. And it's a trip, let me tell you.

Here it is in a nutshell:
For the first two weeks

NO DAIRY PRODUCTS, especially cow's milk.

NO YELLOW FOODS. Especially Corn or Squash.

NO JUNK FOODS.

NO FRUIT JUICES.

CUT SUGAR INTAKE BY 90%.

CUT CHOCOLATE BY 90%.

NO NUTRASWEET.

NO PROCESSED MEATS and NO MSG.

CUT FRIED FOODS BY 90%.

AVOID FOOD COLORINGS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

AVOID FISH.

NO CEREALS, CRACKERS OR PROCESSED BREADS

ONE PROTEIN SHAKE USING GF COFFEE DAILY

CHELATED MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS

'ATTEND' VITAMIN DAILY(PURCHASED VIA THE NEWIDEAS.NET SITE)

LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER

ABSOLUTELY NO COKES

AVOID ALL METALS THAT ARE IN CERTAIN FOODS.

After two weeks, she is allowed to be introduced to one of the no-no foods/beverages such as food colorings one at a time and for 4 days straight. This is to see what she might be allergic to before introducing the next one. But she still can't have sugar, chocolate, cokes or cow's milk anymore.

Then there's Jessica...

Apparently she has developed a severe sensitivity to synthetic clothing. Now I'm hunting down old 70's patterns for kurta and dashiki style tops, A-line and wrap around skirts and dharma pants that can be sewn using natural materials. In other words, she'll be the one dressed in hippie clothing, which is making a comeback. I know this because of the hundreds of hippie clothes sites that I have found and the clothes that I have purchased on-line. With everyone going eco-friendly, I suppose it shouldn't be such a shock. I rummaged through my closet and found clothing that I wore during the 70's when my family lived in a commune. A little adjustment but it fit her well!

What it gets down to is we're getting back to MY roots. Organic with all organic clothing. I knew processed foods were bad and attempted to steer clear of the lot but now it affects our children in unimaginable ways.

Alyssa has already shown signs of improvement. This weekend we get to begin turning the office into Jess' bedroom so possibly she can sleep better.

Still gathering homeschool supplies though. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Alpha Omega because of the adamant desire to change history and science to fit their dogma, we have decided that it's the best route for the girls. Especially Alyssa!

You see, ADDers and Autistics seem to have all the brain activity in the frontal lobe area. When they are confronted with something that doesn't interest them, they have a tendency to literally shut down ALL lobe activity. NT kids brains slow down but dont shut down. And since AO is the only one to successfully use CD ROMS with their curriculum and stimulate the kids to learn...well whatever works, you know. There will be a lot of stop and start because 'Mom' will have to throw in some added information.

Unfortunately AO is pricey($40-$70 per CD)so it is a get-them-a-few-at-a-time situation. It's the only time I wish I had twins! LOL. We're still working out of Saxon math, American history, reading,spelling and thinking skills books from last year so we can wait. And herbology and mythology come right out of Mom's library anyhow! :) So the year has started off with a bang and a thud.

Curve balls are only welcome in baseball.

P.S. If you are interested in the diet, because it really seems to be working, go to www.newideas.net. Lots of reading material to be had on ADD/ADHD.

Dieting in Summer? Are you mad?

Apparently. It's 105 most days here in North Texas and the girls and I have devoted ourselfes to Weight Watchers! Being hot, miserable and starving is never a good combination!

But we're doing a pretty good job of it if I do say so myself! We have even had moments of 'cheating' when we're out on one of our 'adventures'(as Jess likes to call them). But Jessica and I started at the same weight(gulp) and have both lost 7 lbs within two weeks and Alyssa has lost 4 lbs. That is only because she gained a few after a moment of weakness involving her Dad's "hidden" Malted Milk Balls! :)

Since the heat reigns us indoors pretty early in the morning our exercise consists of yoga, low impact exercise and 30 minutes on an air glider! Alyssa has also been consistent in her karate classes which has quite a few strenuous exercises on their own! So even though the weight just doesn't melt off of us, we are doing quite well and really haven't starved or cheated....too much. Jessica seems to be the only one to be able to bank points for the next day! Of course she is my strident schedule girl!

This journey all started when I bought a scale that was on clearance. Ours had died a slow agonizing death and I'm one of those who feels if something passes you need to replace it immediately. It quickly went on the shopping list in the GM section.

My 'GM'section is non-food items. A lot of them are at the bottom which indicates that they are replacements and not emergency or urgent purchases. Can you tell I'm ADD or what?

Anyway....afterwards I decided to weigh the girls since it had been a while. GASP! I was in shock at how much they weighed! Too many days of playing video games or on the computer and my babies had become couch potatoes in the worst possible sense of the word. I mean, I'VE been pregnant five times. I have an excuse but two teenaged girls? I don't think so! So off to the internet and WW I went.

We don't attend meetings because $100 a monthly doesn't seem like frugal spending to me and I've always been about frugal. So I searched out sites with recipes, lists, charts and points and went from there.

At least we're not gasping for chocolate nor chaining ourselves to the frig. Not just yet anyway.

Going Back To Another Time? Scary!

A Minnesota court has decided to uphold a local church's ban on an Autistic teenager from attending church. His mother plans to appeal but it will be an uphill battle I am sure. The judge seems to think even the little sounds the boy makes were considered 'harassment'.

Then there was the issue of that now-famous plane incident when an Autistic boy and his mother were kicked off of a plane because he was having a meltdown. As the mother attempted to calm him, the attendants decided screaming at him was the best course. Anyone with an Autistic child knows better.

I'm certain that Autism and Special Needs advocates are agonizing over the course of events that has transpired in our society of late. Not to mention some idiot radio talkshow host announcing that Autism was a 'scam'. As Autism grows in numbers, the general public have felt a great need to not turn the other cheek but their whole bodies. The news stories have shown in great detail that society would just like to show a great many of the people with disabilities into homes, hospital wards..anywhere where they didn't have to know about it or them. As stated by Terri Mauro of About.com's special needs site, "Public opinion is not running toward accommodating those with behavioral differences, whatever their cause. (In churches, or in airplanes either.)"

But on the other side of the coin, parents of special needs children need to plan better. Informing the airline or even church ministers that these children were autistic beforehand would have helped tremendously. Being a parent of both an ADD and an Autistic child I have learned the art of preparedness. Scheduling and routine has always been a must. And then there are things that one must sacrifice for the sanity of oneself and the child.

We stopped taking the girls to church a long time ago. Once upon a time they liked to go but then they got older and changes were bound to happen. And yes, the adults-in-control were less than Christian in their own behaviors and attitudes. Not that my kids jumped up and down in the pews and screamed their bloody heads off but certain things that Jess espcially would do to self calm herself(she has tactile sensitivity to various things such as light, loud noises and crowds) did not draw favorable comments or actions.

When Jess was barely one, she liked to say 'hi' to everyone in church. The minister not-so-politely asked us not to return because she interrupted his sermon. She was one for cripes sake! And it's just escalated from there. Aly doesn't have the same issues as her sister but never felt comfortable sitting for long periods nor how they treated her sister. Bad feelings overall begin to grow. So now the girls don't even ask to go with their aunt or grandmother any longer. And we don't force it. the last conversation I want to get into at this time of their lives is why some Christians aren't very Christian.

It reminds me of the quote by Ghandi,"I like your Christ. But I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Why does it seem that we as a society go backwards instead of forwards with the tougher issues of our time?

It's Time

With everything ekse going on(gearing up for school, work, working flea markets, writing), I decided(for some insane reason) to weigh the girls and myself. Oh my gosh! Well, that just ruined our day! Hence we three are all on Weight Watchers.

Jessica, who is 5'8 clocks in a 220 lbs. Alyssa is my height of 5'5 and is 185 and I gained all the weight I lost(and then some) and now am at....220 as well! Thank you Wal-Mart :(

So we started WW this morning much to the chagrin of my daughters. We are doing the flex system but the point system is really driving them nuts!

We are also putting Jess on the GFCF diet full time. We've only used this diet partially because it's just so expensive to buy the bread products. But now I'm paying the $80 a month for the bread,cookie and cake mixes for Jessica. Her temper has become more and more volatile and we're hoping cutting back on the processed wheat and sugar that is a large portion of her diet(as it is with a lot of Autistic kids that we have met), that it'll help control her out-of-control mood swings.

This morning, at 5:30, Gary found Jess on the computer. When he told her not she wasnt allow to be on the computer that time of morning and that she needed to go back to bed...well hell opened up! Within minutes, Alyssa ran and jumped in my bed and for the next hour I listened to hysterical screaming and stomping. I stayed in the bedroom with Alyssa because if I have learned anything I know that having me enter the room could make it worse. Jessica feels that she is being attacked just by the physical presence of both parts and will get worse. So I stayed put.

Afterwards, we both talked calmly and rationally to her and she literally pass out asleep within minutes. She's been fine ever since. As I have said before, life with an Aspie.

The diet will not only take more finances but more time on my part. Measuring and menu planning for when I am not home at night will have to be scheduled into my mornings. And then cooking special casseroles just for their diet, laying meals out on plates so I can make sure that they're getting the correct portions(not too sure Dad with remember).

All this just in time to go to work. Oh like I didn't have enough to do...