January is National Migraine awareness month. And while most people have some level of familiarity with migraines, relatively few have ever even heard of cyclic vomiting syndrome, or CVS even though it shares many similarities with migraines. At our home, we know CVS so well that we’re on a first-name basis. It’s a relatively rare…
Category Archives: Advocacy
A Regular Guy: Growing Up With Autism
Hello! I’m Laura Shumaker, a new member of the 5MFSN team. I’m the author of A REGULAR GUY: GROWING UP WITH AUTISM (www.laurashumaker.com) It tells the story of raising my autistic son, Matthew, from babyhood to young adulthood. The story that I’m sharing today will introduce you to Matthew, and the weeks to come, you’ll…
Saving Medicaid
At the end of this post I’m asking for your help. So please stay with me to the end of this post. A few days ago the question of whether the state of Utah should either support the elderly disabled or preschoolers with autism. Adult Protective Services, an agency that helps protect autistic elderly adults…
At least it’s not meth, right?
Guess what I’ve found out about childhood cancer…one of the long term side effects is apparently a raging case of hypochondria. It’s not hard to figure out, but Peyton is addicted to pills. Not in an Amy-Winehouse-Betty-Ford-bound sort of way…but I suppose that’s what happens when you take daily medications for thirty months. Now that…
Why Doesn’t She Just…?
See her? That mom over there? Why doesn’t she just… …Leave her baby in the nursery at church? …Give it a rest with the hand sanitizer? …Breastfeed? Or that one — right over there — why doesn’t she just… …Make her child behave? …Stay home? …Get a sitter? What about that one — why doesn’t…
Thumbs Up for a Good Team Meeting
Well, we had the team meeting I posted about last week. I was pretty happy with how well it came together, especially when the gym teacher replied to the email and said that she was interested in attending the meeting or in somehow getting some assistance working with Michael. The autism consultant, who is available…
Creature Discomforts
I love these ads that are running in the United Kingdom. I suggest you take a few minutes to explore the Creature Discomforts website, especially the information about the people behind the characters. The ads are based on the work of the creators of Wallace and Gromit, and the goal of the ads is to…
Try This Tuesday #27: Teaching Impulse Control
Wow, what a great response last week to the topic of getting a pet. Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and experiences on the subject – it was really helpful to me and to others as well, I’m sure! Topic Suggestion for this Week: Teaching Impulse Control This topic was requested via the comments…
Celebrating Perfect – An Interview with One Sick Mother!
Please join me in saying hello to “One Sick Mother”. My favorite thing about this interview is how she describes her children – “perfect”! Tell me a little about yourself and your family. I am 41 years old and originally from Ireland. I met my Scottish husband in London and we moved to New York…
Taking the Lead
I realized just the other day that we have not had a team meeting at my son’s school since mid-October, despite the fact that we had planned to meet every other month. The Learning Support Teacher, who is the lead person on the IEP, is also supposed to review the forms so that emerging issues…