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Author Archives: Trish

Married for over 16 years and mom of a six year old son with autism, I spend most of my time as my Little Guy's case manager/advocate/ cheerleader/everything else.

The Evaluation Tightrope

Written on September 5, 2008 by Trish

15 Comments

Let me preface this post by saying that I am truly thankful for the behavioral health services we have access to in our state, and that I generally try to focus on the positive. With that being said, here are my top seven recommendations when going into a psychological re-evaluation: Do not speak glowingly about…

in Advocacy, Laughing Through The Tears

- 15 Comments

Try This Tuesday #7: Jumping and Running

Written on September 2, 2008 by Trish

8 Comments

When I posted about feeding issues last week, many people mentioned sensory processing difficulties as a factor for their child, and I can definitely attest to that being true at our house. My son’s sensory differences affect every area of his life in some manner. One surefire way to bring my son’s energy levels up…

in Day In And Day Out, Therapy, Try This Tuesday

- 8 Comments

A Roller Coaster Week

Written on August 29, 2008 by Trish

5 Comments

This week was the first week of school in our area, and it has been a roller coaster of emotions for me as I continue to try to coordinate transportation, after-school programs, support staff and IEP implementation. I am making some progress on getting everything organized, but I have started thinking this is just a…

in Day In And Day Out

- 5 Comments

Try This Tuesday #6: Expanding Food Choices

Written on August 26, 2008 by Trish

13 Comments

Although my son has always had a definite dislike of certain textures and tastes, he was a fairly good eater until around his second birthday, at which point he was down to about 5 different foods. Over the last few years, he has slowly increased the number of foods he will eat, but he is…

in Day In And Day Out, Feeding, Try This Tuesday

- 13 Comments

This Just In: IEP Edition

Written on August 24, 2008 by Trish

7 Comments

In my recent post Learning to Make Sense of an IEP, I asked for everyone to share their favorite resources on the topic of advocacy and special education. Between this site, my own blog and some emails, I got a bunch of responses and wanted to compile them here for the benefit of all of…

in Individual Educational Plans, Resources

- 7 Comments

The Companion Pass

Written on August 22, 2008 by Trish

10 Comments

Growing up, my family’s favorite vacation was to go to an amusement park. Mom liked to see the different shows and ride the tamer rides, while my dad would take us kids on thrill rides like the Scrambler and the roller coasters. When my husband and I moved to Pennsylvania, we were fortunate enough to…

in Day In And Day Out, Family Life

- 10 Comments

Try This Tuesday #5: Preparing for Kindergarten

Written on August 19, 2008 by Trish

12 Comments

My son has been showing some nervousness about starting kindergarten next week. Although there is an open house tonight for the students from his class and their parents, I was concerned that it would be too overwhelming for him to really take in much information. After getting some input from the autism consultant last week,…

in Individual Educational Plans, Try This Tuesday

- 12 Comments

Learning To Make Sense Of An IEP

Written on August 15, 2008 by Trish

17 Comments

Each time I go through the process of working with Michael’s team to write an Individualized Education Program (IEP), I get a little bit better at it. Maybe by the time he graduates from high school, I’ll have it down! Thankfully, there are a lot of great resources out there to help parents learn how…

in Advocacy, Individual Educational Plans

- 17 Comments

Try This Tuesday #4: Bluetooth Prompting

Written on August 12, 2008 by Trish

9 Comments

Today I want to share an idea that I think is very exciting and may be helpful at some point in the future with my son (although I think he’s a bit young for it right now!) During the autism conference I recently attended, one of the lectures was on the topic of Applied Research….

in Assitive Technology, Try This Tuesday

- 9 Comments

Never Letting Go Of Hope

Written on August 8, 2008 by Trish

6 Comments

The most intriguing session on the agenda at the autism conference I attended this week was titled “Yes, Your Child Is Autistic, But Who Are You?” It was presented by Eustacia Cutler, and if that name is not familiar to you, you may have heard of her daughter, Temple Grandin (well-known in the areas of…

in Advocacy

- 6 Comments