Welcome! I am the single parent to two boys on the autism spectrum. I have been writing at this site since June of 2005. My youngest son, Matthew is eleven with severe autism and behavior issues, as well as being non-verbal. Matthew has been on anti-psychotic medication for over three years now. We have been attending feeding therapy for five years with steady progress and floortime therapy for almost a year now. Matthew can be seen skipping around the playground, a skill he mastered before age three. He won a race at his Early Intervention class during a competition with another school. I see him as being the next Carl Lewis - Special Olympics could be in his future.

My older son, Nicholas is thirteen and considered higher functioning on the autism spectrum. He was fully included from first through fifth grade. He has been accepted into California Virtual Academy, utilizing k12 curriculum for September 2007 as a sixth grader. We are learning about the homeschooling experience and will be posting about it as we start this new journey. Nicholas wants to be a marine biologist or a zookeeper like Jack Hanna. He was thrilled with the visit to Sea World over spring break on his tenth birthday. Nick used to participate in weekly social skills´ classes with other children in his age group. His favorite television stations are Animal Planet, National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel.

Both boys were retained in the first grade. They attend a special autism day camp every summer. I will be sharing tips, ideas, suggestions and resources for a variety of subjects. These will range from books for children, preparing for field trips, terminology, government programs, supervised visitation, assessments, going to the Doctor, communication systems and IEP goals.

Here is a listing of the Future Article Topics as of April, 2008.

I have been writing Reviews on Epinions for over eight years. You will also come across my reviews on Amazon. I sell books on ebay under the id of "autismfamily". I have a group known as Autism Families at gather.com and my Profile there as well.

Whether you are new to the autism world or have been living with it everyday for many years - I hope you find something of interest here and check back often for new articles. Parents´ helping other families is what support is all about. For many of us our own families are not in the picture and we gain insight and strength from those who have lived with autism on a daily basis.

Visit the Forum and learn about our CHATS so you can participate. See you Sundays at 1pm (PST), which is 4 pm EST.

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I created a yahoo group in January 2004 that shares PECS cards and resources.





Click to join MakingPECSCards


Educational Autism Tips for Families 71 page resourceful ebook for families entering the school system with a recent autism diagnosis. Find out what issues take place over the course of a school day and meet these challenges head on.

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