brightsideoflifeasd.blogspot.com
Bright Side of Life!: January 2015
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Tuesday, January 27, 2015. The world of a special needs mother. I sit on the peripheral, glancing at the time displayed on my phone. It all comes down to time. Every precious second of it. Time is dictated by my child. Time revolves around him. It's not his fault. It is not mine. My personal window of time is limited. I can make a plan for extra time. A little pocket of an extra hour, or two, or three. But time always pulls me back in. Back to my child. It's not his fault. It is not mine. It is not mine.
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Bright Side of Life!: World Autism Awareness Day ~ Lighten up, people!
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Wednesday, April 1, 2015. World Autism Awareness Day Lighten up, people! I am finding social media very scary these days. The month of April in Autism land appears to be fraught with tension. Eish, I don't know what colour to wear on the 2nd of April. Frankly, blue is my colour. I like it and it suits me. But then again, I do get compliments when I wear red. Decisions, decisions! I am so confused that I don't even know what the correct terminology is anymore! Life is all about choices and having the free...
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Bright Side of Life!: August 2014
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Sunday, August 31, 2014. Mindset drives actions, actions dictate results". Well, we will make a plan! In short, Nick's lovely comfortable daily life is going to be thrown upside down. He is going to face challenges which may go beyond his *edge plus one*. Mind you, we do have some memories to fall back on, a little bit of familiarity to encourage our feelings of competence. We did the same plane trip last year, and while it was a nerve racking experience (for me, not him! It was also a wonderful success.
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Bright Side of Life!: Di's 23 ways on how to communicate with a non verbal / pre-verbal / verbal child
http://brightsideoflifeasd.blogspot.com/2013/11/dis-23-ways-on-how-to-communicate-with.html
Wednesday, November 6, 2013. Di's 23 ways on how to communicate with a non verbal / pre-verbal / verbal child. Stop talking so much:. If you do talk, stop repeating yourself, say something once and then pause. Pause (a lot) and give the child time to process the information. Pause for as long as it takes, at least 45 seconds. How close are you to the child? Are you at the child's level? Make a small noise, perhaps gently clear your throat or click your tongue. Child still not referencing? Bring in that b...
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Bright Side of Life!: December 2014
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Thursday, December 18, 2014. Hey ho, my last RDI/Autism blog post for the year! 2014 has seen some lovely growth in Nick. His increased resilience and flexibility has made for a better quality of life for the whole family. Although we make accommodations for him, our life is no longer ruled by autism. We make spontaneous decisions, change plans at the last minute and get to experience new places. Nick just goes with the flow (we do have the iPad for backup should he need a distraction). The following cli...
brightsideoflifeasd.blogspot.com
Bright Side of Life!: February 2015
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Saturday, February 28, 2015. I live in a house of males, and that includes the dogs. I need pretty and I love having flowers in my home, even those that are on their last legs! Bright Side of Life. Thursday, February 26, 2015. Think Autism start small. When Nick was a little boy, he was highly anxious and very insistent on extremely rigid routines. As mentioned in previous blog posts, he could only cope with going to school, staying at home. and at a pinch, going to one local coffee shop. Working example...
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Bright Side of Life!: RDI ~ wise words from Kyra
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Monday, February 25, 2013. RDI wise words from Kyra. Many years ago when I first heard of RDI I started scouring the internet for information. I also signed up with a Yahoo group called RDI Mid Atlantic (or something along those lines). From following link after link after link I came across the following post. The words really stood out for me and so taking into account each point that is mentioned, I started changing how I communicated with Nick. Thank you, Kyra. Image pinched from Amazon! Disclaimer: ...
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Bright Side of Life!: Parenting the RDI way!
http://brightsideoflifeasd.blogspot.com/2013/10/parenting-rdi-way.html
Sunday, October 20, 2013. Parenting the RDI way! We are back in the kitchen again and this time we are making almond milk. In an effort to encourage my boy to become a healthy eater, I have introduced juicing. And we are now trying our hand at smoothies. I have found that the best way forward for us is for me to include Nick in the whole process of preparing what is needed. Why Almond Milk? As part of my framework I am mindful about pausing and giving Nick time to process any information, think about his...
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Bright Side of Life!: April 2015
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Tuesday, April 21, 2015. Project 365 bits and bobs. Nikon has gone in for repair (again! Woohoo, I have reached 200! Bright Side of Life. Saturday, April 18, 2015. Our Life Episode One. Information for my family. Today, as we were strolling along the beach front, Nick asked me to sing our version of 'The Wheels on the Bus'. Throughout the song we had a bit of banter about what to sing, lots of non-verbal communication with some noises and words thrown in. It went something like this. Quite the strong lad.
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Bright Side of Life!: March 2015
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Sunday, March 29, 2015. Project 365 Looking down. Bright Side of Life. Tuesday, March 24, 2015. Going slow works for us. The following video clip is from a recent planned engagement. I am sharing the clip in its entirety, however, don't panic, it is only four minutes of footage! A little bit of spotlighting. 0:21 I pause and wait. I want Nick to *feel* the time that it takes for the aircon to start pumping out cold air. I make sure to spotlight when the cold air starts coming out. 1:34 I reminded Nick th...
