Fire on the Mountain

I consider myself an Ozarkian now, although I hale from Nebraska, have roots in Wyoming, and spent the bulk of my young adultness in Colorado. The majority of my dad's side of the family live from Central City to Denver, and my brother and sister have also migrated there. My mom is currently with my sis in Colorado Springs, where she is getting the best medical treatment and dialysis. Yesterday, my mountain, Pikes Peak, which towers over the city of Colorado Springs, became engulfed in fire...and is quickly moving towards the city.


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Chapel Hills


 




 Air Force Academy the devastation and loss of the Flying W Ranch Please take a second this morning, and pray for a resolution to this disaster. Pray for the firefighters and law enforcement giving their all to get it contained, pray for those that have been displaced, will be displaced, and those that will be starting over with nothing. Please Pray for Colorado

How Smart is My Kid?????

When trying to describe Molly to workers/teachers/case workers/doctors/nurses, I always tell them how smart she is. They usually give me the "pity look" ...like I'm still swimming in some kind of IQ denial. She is smart! and very tuned-in to those closest to her!!  I think she is also smart enough to figure out that if you flip your teachers breakfast tray onto the floor, mom (whom she KNOWS was not preparing for a work day) will probably come right back to school and pick you up.


In addition to the Sarge (hubby) and Molly Kate, we house 4 pets....2 dogs, Sarge and Mizzy....(yes, I am aware my dog and hubby have the same name) Hattin the Cat & Lucifer ;I have tried not to get too attached to them, them making it easy to achieve that goal for me in the spring with ALL THAT HAIR....but my resume would read..."a lover of animals" right after 100% Mom. 


One of my cats is old, probably 16 yrs or better...Lucifer, the crotchety old overseer of all that enter this home. He rules the puppies as well as any workers or visitors that come into his realm. He prefers grandpa's room now, as it's off limits to little girls, and as much as he loves them his old body doesn't tolerate them too well.


and one fairly young...4 to 5 yrs. The latter is my grand-kitty, leaving home with my eldest for the big city as a tiny kitten, only to return home. His now-over 10 pound size, and inability to cope with Sissy's 18 hour away-from-home days was wearing thin on the both of them...he's a needy thing.  >Hattin the Cat (Shauna came up with that cleaver spoof on Dr Seuss) is quite the clown, and even the crusty ole Sarge (daddy) who vowed to me his dislike of ANY felines has come to refer to him has "his cat" Molly just calls him "Coo" (don't ask, i can't tell you...she calls Old man kitty, Lucifer..."cat cat cat cat CAT!!")


So Monday, I notice that Hattin is not acting his typically irritating self (running by, taking a flying leap and biting my arm, for fun) AND he doesn't want to partake of his nightly treat. (Usually he SCREAMS & trips me until i give him the treat.) So Tuesday morning, I call the kitty doctor, who's up to his whiskers in sick animals, and make an appt...we have to wait for Wed morning...THIS morning, right after i drop Molly at school. I have to guiltily mention at this point about feeling a little grrrrrrrrrrrrrr at the fact that on the ONE day off that didn't involve  an appointment of one kind or the other, BAM, the CAT has to go! 


We got up this morning, and Hattin was not to be found. 


Called the vet, my fear evident in my voice, as I hear his receptionist say "I'M SOOOOOOOO SORRY!" which nearly sends me into tears, but I am super woman, and WILL find this cat if it kills me....and it feels like it nearly did.  Crawling through the woods in the spring is a prickly thing to accomplish. I have found the blackberry patches that are ready to pick, and returned several toys to the fenced yard,  but am scratched to pieces, and probably ate up with chiggers. (something only southerners will understand)


Each time I left to explore a different side of our property and the adjoining sheep pasture, Molly would pull on her shoes and ready herself to help me. "No, Molly, Mommy is looking for Coo, Coo is gone, and you need to stay here with daddy" ,.....and so it continued all day. Mommy was short tempered and focused on a task, and although I wasn't paying attention to Molly too close during this time, she was paying attention to me.


I did take a break and take her swimming, but ventured out soon afterward to explore the woods behind the house. At one point I thought I may have heard one "meow" and did a dash that caused me to sprain an ankle, but never heard it again. 


I finally gave up and came in to soak off the chiggers, (hide/cry in the bathtub) and no sooner had slipped in when there was a knock at the door....and then i heard it....the loud Hattin wail...


Jumping out of the tub and grabbing a towel,  I throw open the door to see the Sarge standing there and cradling a very sick kitty. 


"Where WAS he?"


The Sarge just looks at me and says "I don't know, Molly just walked into my room, and handed him to me"


By the type of dirt that was falling off of him on the vet's examining table, I'm guessing he crawled up under the deck to die.


 He is currently at the kitty hospital staying overnight for observation. Blood tests have cleared him from any fatal, tick-born  illness, and now we just wait for him to recover. 


Yep, that kid of mine is something else........and Very Smart!
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Hattin the Cat died that Saturday night....*sniff* We are so grateful for having him in our lives as long as we did. He was a HOOT!!

Where did i go? I've been hiding.

wow....still reeling i guess. Still getting used to having a kid on the spectrum.  I heard a mom refer to her denial & depression of the Autism as "Pre-Diagnosis" and laughed. I knew just what she meant.

She KNEW that her child had fallen onto that spectrum we had heard so much about, but wasn't doing anything to hurry along a diagnosis. Some parents want to know, they need a reason, and i think those are mostly the parents of NTs. Those of us that have a kid already born with designer genes, don't want another dx.

Then, i got the dx. (that's diagnosis for you NT parents) (NT= "neuro-typical" for everyone else..hahahah or "typpies" as i say, as in  "my other kids, who are all typpies") Yes, we have our own language.

I had a great team at school. They saw it happen, too...and started making adjustments for it while waiting for me to catch up. We started referring to it as "the A word" in IEP meetings. This started happening the summer between 5yrs and 6. In between the two times she attended Kindergarten.  I thought she was angry because we held her back....and hung to that reasoning for 2 years.

Then we contacted an Autism specialty group called Judevine, later bought by a bigger group and renamed Touchpoint. I am still happy we went this route...as they sent a trained eye out with a camera...filmed the testing, and then took it back for review by other experts. It took 6 weeks to get their results back, but the day the envelope came (Larry opened and read, just nodding at me) I got phone calls from all over the state. Technicians wanting to come in and teach us how to teach molly, support, and technical advising. They were wonderful.

I was not wonderful. I cried for a year every time i tried to verbalize the word Autism. Every single time.

That is when the blogs slowed down. you know, if you can't say something nice.........

Then i saw this statement from the blogger group:
http://autismpositivity.wordpress.com/about/

 A couple of weeks ago, someone somewhere googled “I Wish I Didn’t Have Aspergers”.  The phrase popped up in a blogging dashboard and struck the blogger as being particularly sad.  She wished she could have answered.

We don’t know who it was.  We don’t know where he/she lives.  We have no idea if he/she found what he/she was looking for in that search.

So, we got to thinking.  What would we say to that person?  What if it was a kid, desperately trying to make it through tough years of intolerance and ignorance?  What if it were a person who might never stumble across the amazing voices speaking for autism acceptance?  What if that person thought himself/herself all alone?  What would we say about the present?  What would we say about the future?  What would we say about happiness?  And hope?

Each of us in the autism community –- self-advocates, parent advocates, friends and family, teachers, health professionals—we would all have different messages for #IWishIDidn’tHaveAspergers.  But likely we would all try to send the message that there is a brighter future and that friendship and support are out there.

We are asking every blogger in the autism community to write a message of positivity to #IWishIDidntHaveAspergers.  So that next time that individual (or another) types that sad statement into Google, he or she will find what they need – support, wisdom, and messages of hope from those who understand.

And – for those of you who do not blog but wish to join in – please post your positivity message to http://autismpositivity.wordpress.com/ or send us an email at autismpositivity@gmail.com

Please join with us on the last day of Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month – April 30^th – in a flash blog .

Those are some pretty amazing people. And now that I've been slapped out of my funk,  I will also try to get back on the writing horse  and share my Molly, and all her glory, with all of you. She will be 12 in June, and it's time for me to get over it, and get on with it. 

Today? they asked her to stop riding the bus. 

*sigh*

Autism Awareness

IT'S NOT A BEHAVIOR ISSUE!!!

did that get you attention??? You might think you are a better parent

than me, and that you have the inside track on raising the perfect child....

You aren't....You Don't

THE CHILD NEEDS TO BE BETTER DISCIPLINED!!

Wrong again...it is not a behavioral disorder. Disciplining someone who

has not commited a crime is cruel.

IF THAT WERE MY CHILD, I'D TAKE IT OUTSIDE AND WHOOP IT!!

you can't beat the autism out of a kid, anymore than you can beat the brown out

of her hair....the only thing you do is hurt her, and make her distrust the outside

world even more.

TEMPER TANTRUMS SHOULD STOP AFTER 2 YEARS OLD!!

it's not a temper tantrum. It's over-stimulation. You see, she is very sensitive

to stimuli that you cannot even sense. She pulls the scencys out of a drawer and throws

them outside....she cannot wear clothes that haven't been washed, she cannot have a sheet

on her bed. Loud, warehouse/gymnasiums ceilings cause an echo that make her cringe.

When there are too many sensations happening at once, and being unable to verbalize

the terror, she just melts. Sometimes this includes screaming, throwing, hitting or head-banging.

It is just a method to make everything else that's attacking all of her sensory inputs....stop.

You yelling at her doesn't help the situation.

So don't stare...and keep your opinions to yourself. If you happen to be with one of these

ignorant parents, do me a favor and try to educate them. "She may not be spoiled, it may be

that she is on the Autism Spectrum" is a good way to start out.

Autism does not define her....it is part of my beautiful child.

She can learn to control

She can learn to trust

She is extremely funny and humorous, with a dash of ornery.... just like me

She has beautiful eyes

She loves to swim

She loves the Black Eyed Peas, and can rap with them.

She loves being outdoors especially now, when spring is blooming.

She loves her pets, and even the dogs "get it"

She loves playing with other kids....don't shun her. we MISS the

birthday party invitations...we MISS the playdates.

Don't be scared. Just ask us...we'll tell you. We have no problem in answering

honest questions....we DO have a problem with "know it alls" talking behind

our backs.

Your Autism Awareness Lesson for Our Day.