Ashes to ashes, dust to BUST!

Aaahhh...Ash Wednesday - the beginning of the Catholic community's Lenten season. It marks a period of selfless sacrifice (*sob* Do I REALLY have to give up my coffee? How about I give up Oreo cookies instead? You haven't had an Oreo since you were in the 5th grade! That's not selfless enough!), courageous fasting (must....ignore...smell...of...juicy...burger...), and -of course - the humbling ceremonial rite in which the ashes are placed on our eager foreheads.

Or, in NBear's case - NOT SO eager.

I don't want STAMP on forehead! No Mommy! No daddy! No stamp on forehead anymore! NO!
[That was BEFORE the ashes]

I want take off! *sobbing* No STAMP on forehead! Noooooo! *sob* I want take off!
[...and, after.]

Yup. Need I also mention that the second she was face-to-face with Father Dan and he was ready to place his blackened finger on her face, she (very politely) said "No thank you, sir!" I didn't get a chance to see his reaction, though - but the sigh the Huz let out behind me (we sandwich the kids whenever we have to line up for anything. Great strategy to prevent runaways) was enough to convince me that Father was probably NOT impressed.

Hey - at least she followed directions and didn't rub it off when the Huz told her not to. PLUS, she allowed me a rare photo-op, despite the teary evidence.

Of course, the smile didn't last very long so MBear compensated. (Who else? She looked at the ebony smear like it was the Hope Diamond in tattoo form!)

Well, at least our first-time ash-ee was all smiles!

Whaaaa...???

*photo - NBear with Kimo in Guam, September 2008*

She LOVES animals!

Can everyone see this?

Yup - I'm a facebook fan...atic, but I happened upon this "Cure Autism Cause" page thru (through) a cousin's invitation.

I didn't realize there was a whole community out there of people who did NOT think ASD conditions should be cured! I feel like I've discovered a lost civilization of sorts:

Two reasons why this cause is horrible.

Post #1
1. There is nothing wrong with being autistic. 2. The most talented and intellectual people on earth are on the autistic spectrum. p.s. A group for awareness and advocacy would be great. Curing it is not the answer.


Post #2
i agree

Post #3
Wow I never saw it that way!! That is so true! My brother has a child whom is autistic....

Post #4
I agree it should not be 'cured'. Recent research has discovered that those with autistic spectrum disorders actually have more highly developed brain columns and have faster firing neurons than a 'normal' brain. Similar to Savants, ASD appears to over-ride primal instincts and the brain begins to work more like a computer. Children with ASD are highly intelligent - they just need more help with being able to express their thoughts as they can apprear random, when they just need channelling.

Post #5
Not to mention that autistic people have just as much of potential to be happy as anyone else. The people complaining are the family members who consider their autistic sons/daughters or siblings a "burden." Someone with cancer or aids would be more than happy to have a cure, but would an autistic person really want to change who they are?


Post #6
no they wouldn't - if you went to China, you'd learn to communicate in Chinese, France, you learn French - how about the so called "normies" learn to communicate autistically, and learn to develop their other senses other than just flap their gums a while....how many english speaking people use the language, and don't understand what they are saying in the first place!!! LOLhave the potential to be happy - they exceed most people with their daily gratitude in the first place... my 21 yo daughter says she has no desire to change because she doesn't know how to be anything but autistic....who has the problem here???

Post #7
Okay my autistic son is gifted, very bright, yadda, yadda. However, I have friends with AS children who are severe/profound in their disabilities - and they want a CURE.There are two sides of every argument.


Post #8
My son is PDD NOS, he behaves 'normally' in most things, now, after getting him much Occupational and Speech Therapy. But when his allergies flare up, his brain doesn't work the same and his PDD NOS becomes very obvious and the typical behaviors are present. When you get a 'cure' it doesn't mean it has to go away. I want the research to provide a better understanding of what happens, so when the communication breaks don't happen. The fits and inconsolable moments are rare. Let them flourish without some of the negative aspects that are associated with it.My son is not a burden.

Post #9
Okay, if you don't want to "cure" autism-spectrum, how about reaching a level of knowledge where it's possible for autism-spectrum kids to have what we laughingly call "normal" lives, including the ability to form friendships and interact with other people on both one's own and the other person's level? And the ability to deal with changes without having a meltdown?--Phil, parent of an Asperger's Disorder suffer-er

Post #10
I am a behavioral therapist who works with ASD kids, those of you who think that a cure is a bad thing have obviously never been close to someone who is so severly imparied by this disorder that they can not communicate to you when they are feeling hungry, sad or sick.

...but, to be quite frank - I don't GET these people (the ones who are anti-cure)!

Not.At.All.

What I wouldn't do to make my princess better. :)

Thanks, RMS!

Childhood friend and NBear-godparent RMS sent me this short but sweet (and significant) link:

I little more light was added to the end of MY tunnel, I tell ya....


*Hope they win! crossing fingers like crazy!*

Today

*photo taken on her 7th birthday this past June, at her cousin's house (she had just learned how to appreciate goggles!)*

Today -

1) MamaBear (my alter-ego, when MommyBear is not as relaxed as she should be!) took half a day off of work to go to NBear's annual IEP.

2) MamaBear and the Huz found out that NBear has met many of the academic goals that her IEP had stated. *yeah*...although we heard the usual, "She is great at reading, BUT needs work with comprehension!" (So do my 4th graders....I thought to myself...)

3) We reiterated the need to keep her on a GFCF diet, and that she could not indulge in the same snacks her other classmates had, if they contained the dreaded ingredients. This was the part I hated because we had to bring up the whole biomeds program, since her principal and BMT supervisor were there - (You know, the Jenny McCarthy story? Oh, I see you're not familiar with it. Well, it is OUTSIDE the umbrella of the typical way people "treat" autism, and it involves believing that your child can make huge gains - which we have definitely seen - with supplements and chelation.......)

Let me just tell you, that no matter how convinced you are that you know what's best for your child, you will always feel like you're saying the wrong thing when you get nods and confused stares in return.

Oh well. :)

4) We learned that she still had her fits during mainstreaming, and would sometimes go to the bathroom and dilly-dally in the hallway to avoid having to do the work that was assigned! Needless to say, the Huz meekly added "I think she got that from me..."

5) I smiled to myself at how far she has come.

6) I thought it'd be nice to share that with you:)

....nite.

Three things:

Because I'm in a Lovely Listing (otherwise known as Energetically Enumerating) mood, here goes:

1. Having had NBear on biomeds under the care of one Dr. Mielke, it's become easy for us to see when a yeast overgrowth is occurring. (3 things to remember, as per Dr. Mielke - stimmy, silly, spacey) So, it looks like we'll be following what Jenny put in her book - To remove Evan's candida, we did start him out on a prescription of Diflucan but after a few weeks, I switched him to a natural supplement that did the same thing. It is called ThreeLac, and if you Google it, you will find many places that carry it. (page 200, Louder than Words)

2. We went to my mom's apartment yesterday, and - for the first time EVER - we both noticed that NBear had NOT once rewound the Blues Clues video she was watching. (Mind you - this is her routine as soon as she enters the door: say hi to grandma, rush to the TV and VCR *yes, VCR - remember those?*, pop in the video, and rewind certain scenes numerous times until we leave.) It was a good day!

3. This post was beautiful. It features a teenage orator named Soeren Palumbo, taken during a speech he makes during (I'm assuming) a student body assembly. He doesn't talk about autism specifically, but about disabilities as a whole - and how the world (as we know) can be a cruel, unforgiving place. I won't tell you anything more, in hopes that you will watch it in its entirety. Don't let the shaky camera in the beginning turn you off to the rest of the video!

What are YOUR three things? :)