Life’s a Beach

Swinging back in to give a little update since it’s been way too long since my last post.

My husband was laid off from his job in March, so we decided to take a little time off to recharge the batteries and drive home to Maine for a visit.  We ended up renting a really cool beach house near Old Orchard and have been taking long walks on the beach every morning with the dogs and the kids.

My son is having an absolute blast and has been soaking up all the love and attention from his grandparents, aunts, and uncles. So has his little sister. It’s nice to be home.

Moving Day

Sorry for not posting much this week.

Our family is in the middle of a huge transition and it’s been consuming most of my time this week. We are packing up our stuff, putting it in storage and making the 2100 mile trek home to Maine for a few weeks to spend time with family. The kids are doing really well amidst all this changes and are excited to spend time with their grandparents soon.

We will definitely be back with some fun posts as soon as we hit the road later this week. Thanks for checking in on the blog!

Reblog: What Happened When They Treated Autistic Children With Medical Cannabis

This article about medical marijuana for individuals with autism is the second one that’s crossed my feed in the last few weeks.

Admittedly, I have extremely mixed feelings on this treatment being used on children and it’s definitely not something I would be looking into for my own child. However, I can see how individuals with severe autism might benefit from this treatment.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think individuals with autism should be granted access to medical marijuana?

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What Happened When They Treated Autistic Children With Medical Cannabis

For some bizarre reason, there is not a state in the US that recognizes Autism as a qualifying condition to use cannabis medically, except in the case of California where doctors can prescribe cann…

Source: What Happened When They Treated Autistic Children With Medical Cannabis

In Search of More Natural Easter Options…

This week we sat down to do our yearly Easter egg dying project. We chose to do a circus themed kit and also purchased one of the typical store bought dye kits. I was surprised at how well the circus eggs turned out. They actually looked like the finished eggs featured on the box!

However, in the midst of all the Easter festivities and fun, something kind of strange happened. About halfway through the egg dying process, my husband and I noticed a huge behavior shift take place. It was almost like some kind of switch turned on and all kinds of unusual behaviors started emerging. I was a little perplexed by what was happening. Could exposure to Easter egg dyes cause such drastic and immediate behavior changes to happen?

I looked into this phenomenon a little further and, sure enough, USDA studies have shown that artificial dyes can have an impact on a child’s behavior. Wow, I had no idea. It looks like we’ll be going the natural route next year. We will also be phasing out artificial dyes in our diet.

I did a little research to see what our natural options are because Easter eggs are a big deal in our house and it’s not a tradition we are willing to give up. Fortunately, there are tons of awesome ideas and resources out there and I got a lot of ideas around ways we can make our Easter experience more natural. I pinned a lot of these ideas on my Natural Easter Eggs board over on Pinterest board. Be sure to also check out some of the other resources listed below as well.

Posts About Natural Easter Egg Dyes
Better Homes and Gardens – Natural Easter Egg Dyes

Blame it on Dad!

June contemplated how she would explain junior’s profanity laced echolalia to his teachers. She only had one choice. She must blame his father.

Source

Special Books By Special Kids

Today I want to introduce you to a very cool Facebook page called Special Books By Special Kids . Please give them a “like” if you can.

Mr. Chris Ulmer is the special education teacher behind Special Books By Special Kids. He and his special education students are working really hard to spread a message of neurodiversity and acceptance with the world. Mr. Chris does this by traveling the country and interviewing neurodiverse people. He also creates inspiring videos with the students in his classroom. Be sure to go check out the videos page here…

Thank you for all you do, Chris Ulmer. I wish we could clone you and put you in every special education classroom. You are a blessing to your students.

 

3-Day Quote Challenge – Day 3!

Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones. Thich Nhat Hahn

3 Day Quote Challenge -Stephen Hawking

“It surprises me how disinterested we are today about things like physics, space, the universe, and philosophy of our existence, our purpose, our final destination. It’s a crazy world out there. Be curious.” – Dr. Stephen Hawking

Money Saving Tip – Cheap Compression Clothing

I was over on Sensory Processing Disorder’s Facebook page the other day and saw a really good tip mentioned. I have to share it with you guys!!!

A lot of individuals with autism benefit from the use of compression clothing. The idea behind it being the compression of the clothing gives the child a single sensation to focus on versus the countless ones they could be experiencing in an environment. Compression clothing can be really expensive to buy and it’s the reason we haven’t tried it yet. But then I saw this tip and I can’t believe I never thought of it before.

Instead of spending money on expensive compression clothing for your kiddo, try buying  children’s rash guards that are a size too small instead. Obviously, you don’t want it to be too tight or too loose for your kiddo, but it’s definitely worth a shot. I think I’ll start saving his rash guards each year to use as compression clothing the next year.

I can’t wait to try this idea out with my kiddo! What a great money saving idea!

3 Day Quote Challenge

I was nominated to complete the 3-Day Quote Challenge by my dear follower and poet, ChangeToday . Thanks for nominating me!

Here are the details of the 3-Day Challenge

The Rules:

• Thank the person who nominated you. (Done!)
• Post a quote for three consecutive days. (In progress)
• Nominate three new bloggers each day. (In progress)

Hope you guys enjoy my quote posts!

Today’s quote is from Theodore Roosevelt. He’s kind of a big deal out here in western North Dakota and we spent the day hiking at the National Park named in his honor. So I thought a quote from him would be fitting.

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt