World of Autism

WOW, it’s been crazy around here!

We were really busy in April for Autism Awareness Month; we attended an autism walk in both PA and in DE, and enjoyed filling lots of orders at LucasWorks.

Of course, the rest of life was busy, too.  I had Lucas help plant some seeds for a garden, thinking that if he helped to grow some vegetables, maybe he’d enjoy eating them.

First, he put the dirt in:

Then he shook some tomato seeds into his hand: 

He carefully put a couple of seeds into each little pot: 

Last, Lucas added water to the newly planted tomato and pepper seeds: 

It’s been Lucas’ job to keep the seeds watered, and he’s enjoyed watching them grow.  We’d been looking forward to planting them in the garden the first week of May…

Until our septic system had to be replaced.  Which meant that all but two of our beautiful trees had to be removed in the back yard.  

 So of course it rained for 10 days straight.  And Lucas and I got to run around to the various county offices getting the required well, septic and property stuff.  Here in Delaware, these offices don’t even share the same computer systems, let alone the same office locations! 

Once the rains stopped, the trees came out.  Then the fun began.

So while Lucas has certainly enjoyed watching the chain saws, tree climbers and Tonka toys working, our plan to put the garden in around Mother’s Day didn’t quite work out, since half the yard was being ‘reconstructed’!

Of course, while all this was going on, life merrily marched forward.  We still had Lucas’ school, Alan’s and my work, and the daily grind, all balanced with running around pulling permits, constant phone calls from tree people, septic people and county people, and of course, keeping Dixie the dog under control during the parade of strangers through the yard!

They’re finished now, and we’re getting back on track.  The garden should go in this weekend.  I’ll let you know…

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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Things have been pretty busy here lately.  April is Autism Awareness month in the U.S., and we’ve been working hard making autism awareness jewelry to sell at some walks we’re attending.

But something funny has been happening, too.  We’ve been coming up short on our autism lanyards; they’re disappearing faster than we’ve been selling them.

The other day, I looked in Lucas’ little toolbox to borrow a screwdriver.  When I opened it, I discovered several wires in it…

Hmmm…thinking, thinking…  Then I noticed the ENDS of the wires:

The ends of Lucas’ wires have ‘crimps’ on them, which means they USED to have beads on them!  It appears that Lucas has been stealing lanyards, removing the beads, and tucking the wires into his toolbox! 

When I showed Lucas the wires, he looked at me as if I was a complete idiot, and said, “The flux capacitor!”  (See ‘Lucas Goes Back to the Future’ for further info on this.)  It appears he’s been disassembling lanyards so he can steal the wire to build a ‘flux capacitor’.

Needless to say, finished jewelry is now put away immediately, and we’re checking our appliances for missing parts (mixer, lawn mower, furnace, etc.) 

One thing about autism, life is never dull!

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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Lucas participates in Special Olympics through his school.  Last week was the Basketball Skills competition.

He enjoys hanging out with his classmates at the gym.

When it’s “Basketball Skills”, they don’t play an actual game.  But they DO have to shoot baskets, rotating positions and taking turns.  Here’s Lucas, getting into position (concentrate, concentrate…)

He shoots!  He scores! Go Lucas!

Changing places and taking turns.

Another basket for Lucas!

The Gold Medalist with his world-class coaches (who double as his teachers, his guardian angels and his friends!)

Way to go, Lucas!

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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 ’Tis a fine day for the celebration of Saint Patrick, who brought the Faith to the Emerald Isle! 

Since Lucas and his brother were little, they’ve had green milk at breakfast on Saint Patrick’s Day: 

This was one of the first ways we got Lucas to start pouring his own milk.  I used to put just enough for his cereal into a small cream pitcher, the kind with a nice spout. 

He was so surprised by the green milk that he poured it with no problem.   Of course, once he showed he could do it, we had him do it every time he had cereal!

So it’s become a tradition here to have green milk at breakfast on Saint Patrick’s Day.  Slainte!

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snow, snow, Snow, SNOW, SNOW!¯

There’s about six inches of fluffy, white stuff on the ground.  It’s 5 below with the wind chill, and even the birds have taken refuge from the cold.

We really have to bundle up when Lucas walks his dog Dixie. 
Lucas is enjoying being out in the snow…poor little Dixie isn’t!

Off they go on the freshly plowed streets, “Trudging across the tundra, mile after mile…”

The travelers come home from their morning walk.  (About a quarter mile, and boy, was it cold!)

The nicest thing about taking a walk in the snow?
HOT COCOA when you get home!

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“Mom, I want…turkey fried chicken!” Lucas said.  From the way he paused after the “I want”, it was obvious he wasn’t sure what to say next.

 But turkey fried chicken?  What the heck was that?!  (We don’t even have “turkey fried turkey” in this house!)

After he repeated it a couple of times, we finally figured it out.  Lucas was asking for KENTUCKY Fried Chicken for dinner!

Needless to say, in our house, Kentucky Fried Chicken will now be known as “Turkey Fried Chicken”.

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Lucas just got around to writing his, “Thank you for the Christmas present” notes last week.

These days, Lucas types his thank you notes on the computer, and folds them into a note card size.  Then he stamps the front of the card, and signs his name on the inside.

I help him make them look special by letting him choose a border for the “note” section, and letting him choose from a couple of different “Thank You” stamps and ink colors.

These choices make it more fun for Lucas, and give him some control over the situation.

“But how does he know what to write?” you ask.  He doesn’t! 

So when it’s time to do thank you notes, (I give Lucas 2 or 3 days AND times to choose from, and then remind him so he’s prepared), here’s what happens:

• Lucas gets to write the notes over several days, writing 2 or 3 per day (this way each writing session isn’t overwhelming.)
• He chooses who to write to each day from a list I’ve made of who gave him what.
• Then he has to read what they gave him (with my help if he needs it).
• I try to get him to think of one more thing he can put in the note, asking him questions like, “What did you see in your new book?”, “What do you want to get with your money?”, or “Do you like your new DVD?”
• As we go through the process of who he wants to write to, what they gave him and something else about his gift, I’ll neatly print this information on a piece of paper, so Lucas has something to follow when he types his note.

Even when Lucas was very young (and completely non-verbal), he sent thank you notes.  Back then, I would write them for him.  Then with my hand over his to guide him, I would help Lucas stamp “Thank you” and also stamp a heart inside each note.

Then, according to what he had learned over time (typing skills to get around on the computer, writing his name, reading printed letters, etc.), I’d let him practice his new skills on the next set of thank you notes.

So if your child can hold a stamp, type an internet address, print or sign his name, consider helping them to write a thank you note next time they get a present.  It’s a great way to help them practice some skills, and the person who receives it gets a marvelous surprise!

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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Every day, I try to find time to write something, and every day I run out of time!

But Christmas is tomorrow, and I find myself with ten whole minutes to share this photo of how Lucas helped to decorate our house this year:

He found some lights that we hadn’t used anywhere, and being Lucas, HAD to hang them somewhere!

It’s rather festive looking, isn’t it?

If you look closely, you can also see the stockings that Lucas hung from drawer pulls on our dining room furniture. 

I’m pretty sure that Santa will find them, and that he’ll love the lighting scheme!  And I’m very thankful to Lucas, for helping remind me not to get too wrapped up in the serious stuff, but to enjoy the simple things, like the colors of pretty lights hanging over a doorway.

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace to men of good will.”

Merry Christmas to all, and God bless us, every one!

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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These last few weeks have been really unbelievable.  We’ve had a series of unplanned events that we all had to get through, and Lucas came through with flying colors!

 I mentioned that my uncle died on August 24.  We attended his funeral, and Lucas did pretty well.  Of course, we got caught in traffic on the way home, causing our normally 2 hour drive to stretch to 4 hours, which was hard for Lucas.

But then my aunt died on September 12.  She had been in the hospital since August 11, and I had been back and forth since then to visit her.  Lucas had to get used to Mom being gone on weekends, which threw him just a little (but not much).

But her death was truly difficult for us all, as she was so much more than just an aunt.  She was one of my best friends, and more like a grandmother than a great aunt to Lucas and Robert.  

Of course, this meant another funeral.  As we stood in the Church waiting to follow Aunt Fran’s casket in, I couldn’t stop crying.  Lucas leaned over and said to me, “Mom, I hate this, either.”  Bless his heart, he did his best to comfort me. 

The weeks after Aunt Fran’s funeral had me driving to her apartment to help clear it out on weekends.  But now that’s done, so I’m able to get back on track with writing, and putting our lives together without Aunt Fran.  She was so much a part of it, and it will take some time to get used to not having her around. 

I think that Lucas learned some things about sadness and death during these past two months, and I KNOW he’s tried hard to be good while I’ve dealt with all these things. 

But life goes on, so I’ll be sharing photos of the Special Olympics Soccer Skills event, probably in the next few days.

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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The other day, Lucas found an egg from a fallen bird’s nest while walking Dixie the dog.  It had a little crack in it, but was otherwise okay.  We put the egg out of Dixie’s path, but Lucas was very concerned that I tell his dad about it so that Dad wouldn’t let Dixie get to it on their noon walk.

Later that morning, I found Lucas sitting quietly in our living room, holding the egg .

He had gone outside and rescued it, bringing it inside and placing it carefully into a small nest that I had found a couple of years ago.

He spent the better part of the morning staring at that egg, hoping it would hatch, no doubt.

It was so cute, seeing him sitting there so quietly, just watching that egg to see if it would hatch a baby bird.

But since the egg was cracked, I knew it wouldn’t be hatching.

 So in an effort to gently detach Lucas from it, I explained that eggs can’t hatch unless they’re kept very warm by the mommy birds. 

Lucas may be autistic, but he’s not stupid!  He placed both the egg and its nest into a bowl under one of our living room lamps, which he then turned on.  “Keeping warm” was his response when I asked what he was doing.

Okay, how do I tell this kid that we can’t keep an egg inside, because eventually either the cat will get it or it will begin to stink? 

I came up with a brilliant idea, and explained to him that I was worried that the mommy bird might be trying to find the egg.   He agreed that we should take it outside, and placed it into a windowbox, where the mommy bird could find it but it would be safe from Dixie.

Whoever says these kids aren’t capable of empathy is dead wrong, because you can see the concern in Lucas’ face for that little egg!

Needless to say, for the rest of the day Lucas was outside every few minutes, checking on “his” egg. 

Early the next morning, I took care of the egg.  Of course, when Lucas awoke, he immediately went outside, where he discovered the egg missing.  I asked him what he thought happened, and he said “Mommy came back” in a very satisfied tone of voice.

It’s days like these that I LOVE being Lucas’ mom.

Tags: Daily life by Lauren
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