Tonka

We adopted this sweet little kitten from a local cat rescue.  He arrived last month and Austin and Kaleigh are completely in love with him!  The lady from the rescue named him Tonka and we thought it suited him, so here is our adorable kitten, Tonka!  

The Anti-bullying Blockade!

Two weeks ago, I got an email from the special needs technician at Austin's school.  When something occurs, the phone call or email always starts off with "Austin is okay but ...". This one was about a scare Austin had at the hands of another student.

If you have read this blog previously, you will know that Austin is TERRIFIED of spiders! The school has it documented in his IEP, that's how serious it is, no joke!  One of the girl's in his class had a book of spiders and was tormenting Austin with it.  He got so upset, he ran to an empty locker and tried to hide inside of it.  The girl continued to torment Austin outside the locker.  A bunch of other children rallied around the outside of the locker and tried to keep the girl from getting near Austin who was hysterically crying at this point! One of the boy's ran to get help and a woman from the office came out to resolve the situation.  Austin was taken by Ms. D (the lady who works in the office) to the special needs technician (Ms. L) to calm him down.  The girl was dealt with, she was removed from school for the remainder of the day, well deserved I thought.  I couldn't believe this story and was very upset!  When Austin gets this upset, I have to go into school and get him to settle him down. This time, thanks to the fantastic support system he has at his school, Ms. D and Ms. L were able to calm him and he was fine within minutes.  I called and spoke to Ms. D and she assured me Austin was fine.  I told her to call me if anything changed and I would race to get him from work.  Thankfully, he was calm and able to proceed with his school day without anymore upset or incidents.

When I spoke to Ms. D, I asked her to tell all the children who rallied around Austin to protect him, THANK YOU!  I was so impressed that these children stood up to the girl and supported Austin.  The girl was upset that these children were displeased at her behaviour towards Austin and took his side but children are smart, they know when something is wrong.  What she did was wrong.  She was given her consequence and I can only pray she won't target Austin again and all the children will get along well!

Once again, my heart was touched by the children who stood up for Austin and I am so grateful to all of them!  Each one of them a HERO to me!

All the best! *HUGS*

Schooled by the Spectrum

I started working at a school last year supervising over the noon-hour, this year I was hired by their daycare.  I have found that my experiences with Austin has helped me a lot with understanding and being proactive with some of the children at the school who face their own challenges.  I don't claim to be an expert on autism at all, I am not.  I am still learning everyday.  I am happy though that I have learned somethings that I am able to apply to help other children who on their own journey.  Some have a much more challenging time than Austin did and are more sensitive.  There are children too that have challenges I have never experienced and the staff I work with are fantastic on helping me become more educated on how to handle situations and always there when I need it.  I am very grateful to all of them!

Yesterday, I brought my iPod with a movie on it for one of the boy's at school who has sensory issues.  He doesn't like loud things and we were to show a movie in the afternoon for all the children.  I thought that if he had his own little movie to watch in another room, with our supervisor, it would really help him, and it did!  My supervisor, who goes above and beyond to help all the children, asked for the iPod and he was on his way to a supervised, quiet room, until his parents came to get him at the pick up time.  I was thanked and it made me feel humbled because I just reacted from my experience with Austin.  I didn't think I did anything special and all the staff at the school I work at help to accommodate all the children as much as possible.

I look back on how lost and how much I didn't know when Austin was younger.  He has progressed very well and continues to.  As he does, new challenges arise and we address them as they happen.  It is a long road, a journey, a step each day into an unknown.  I am comforted to know that my journey with Austin has given me a little bit of knowledge that may help someone else and make their road a little sunnier to travel.

All the best!  *HUGS*

Transgender Talk

I have wanted to do a post about this topic for a while.  Not that I have any in depth knowledge on the subject, but Austin has discussed it with me since he watches "I am Jazz" and I explained to him about Caitlyn Jenner.  He understood it quite well and had a lot to say and ask questions about a child  that is a transgender female who he knew before transitioning.  (That is a post for another day.)

Tonight we were driving into town to pick up dinner.  My husband is away fishing with the guys so I thought, I deserve a break, Chinese food it is!  While I am driving, I hear Austin talking to Kaleigh about transgendered individuals.  Kaleigh is enlightening Austin with her knowledge of how someone transitions from a male to a female.  What changes and what doesn't (she doesn't go too in-depth, to her, you take pills and you can change gender).  Austin verbalizing back what his understanding is about transgendered females and males.  It is really interesting to hear a 7 year old and a 10 year old discussing this subject.  There is no prejudice or judging, just a very innocent conversation back and forth.  At the end of their conversation, Kaleigh said to me "Mom, I wish I was transgender, then I could be the brother Austin always wanted!"  "Gotcha Kaleigh!"  You would have to meet this little girl, she is wise beyond her years and anyone who meets her, agrees!

I have always taught my children to accept people for who they are and everyone is different in their own way.  They have asked a lot of questions in the last year about transgendered individuals and I have done my best to answer them.  It is important to me that Austin and Kaleigh continue to keep an open mind and loving heart!  They are both very sweet children.  I can only pray that they will continue to mature with the same attitudes and acceptance that I encourage.

All the best! *HUGS*

Bullying Aftermath

I was talking to Austin after school the other day and asked how is day went, I do this everyday.  He said that everything was "good".  After last year, I ask more questions to ensure he is not being bullied again.  I asked who he played with at recess.  He said that he plays alone to "stay out of trouble".  I asked what he meant by that, and he said that he won't be targetted again if he is alone.  My heart broke!  I don't want him to be wondering around alone or off by himself all the time.  I was so sad!  He doesn't seem fazed by being alone but I am not letting it go at that.  I contacted the Psychologist and I am going to take him into see her to see if she can help him overcome this fear.   Even though this boy that bullied Austin last year is gone from the school, he left scars!  Poor Austin!

When I spoke to Austin, another day during the past week, he told me about a girl this time, who took both of his tennis balls and smashed them against the wall.  I can't believe this poor child is such a target!  What possesses these children to go after Austin?  He is so non-confrontational, it is very scary to me!  He wants to stay out of trouble as much as possible but this is crazy!  He did tell the noon hour supervisor and she dealt with the situation.  I contacted Austin's teacher to let him know what happened.  I don't want a repeat of last year and the years before and Austin shouldn't have to endure this treatment.  I am praying that no one will bother him and bringing him in for some help with give him some tools to deal with situations that arise.  I long for the day that there will be no more bullying stories to blog about and Austin would have a few friends to play with at school.

I am so PROUD of Austin and I will not stop fighting to help him and protect him with all my might! I am determined to get him tools to protect himself too, enough is enough!

All the best! *HUGS*

Queen, AC/DC, Rival Sons, Ike & Tina and the List Goes On

We bought an iPod shuffle for Austin for his Birthday this summer.  He LOVES music!  All kinds of music, a lot like me.  My Dad was always playing all kinds of music as I grew up and I loved it!  (Okay, not Willie Nelson, sorry Dad.)  Austin has the same love of music! I think it is great!

He loaded his iPod the other day and played it in my truck.  I dropped him off at school and let it continue to play.  Ike & Tina, Rival Sons, AC/DC and Queen (Austin's favourite) all playing in the truck.  AWESOME!  He also likes The Who, Aretha Franklin, Elvis and various new artists, except Justin Bieber, he is not a fan.  I am so happy to see Austin loving music so much and he is always open to listen to new things I play for him.  He has no problem saying what he likes and what he doesn't.  Austin smiling and singing along to the music, without a care in the world, it is a beautiful sight to see! :)

All the best!  *HUGS*

Teacher Touchdown!

Austin's first day of school went very well!  YAY!  He really likes his teacher!  I am so relieved!  I have spoken to the teacher and he seems very nice!  I have been told he is very structured and mathematical.  I told this to Austin and he said he thought that the teacher was a great match for him! I am hoping all will go well and Austin seems to be adjusting easily!  YIPPEE!!!

All the best! *HUGS*