Another New Year

As usual....I did not post as often as I expected ....
It has been an usually difficult past year...mostly for myself but life in general. My purpose for,this blog is specifically dealing with Autism and related stories, experiences and subjects however occasionally I veer of course and need to be much more focused and proactive...I hope that this year will bring good times and a renewed perspective on many aspects on life including Autism.

I really want to encourage those of you living with autism to take a deep breath and really appreciate the little things in life...like the smell of rain or freshly cut grass, perhaps how blue the sky is or the reflections in a puddle of water....often times when we have just reached overload and we think we have hit our limit its those small things that only take a minute or two, that allow us to not commit to the "funny farm"! 
For those of you who don't live with this "crap" disorder my encouragement comes with a request to learn a bit more about autism, help a parent or caregiver in some small way.(like take their trash can in after trash has gone or even a friendly hello or phone call for a few minutes to let them know they are human), or simply be less "ready" to draw a conclusion about an individual that might be acting strangely because with percentages at 1in50 births now yielding an autistic diagnosis..it is very probable that you witness more incidents than you realize.

One example that comes to mind immediately is the other day Dak and I went to the pharmacy to pick up a couple of scripts; he has been sick since the day after Christmas...mind you this is a kid who has no motor skill to blow his nose or spit...much less have the typical ability to cover his mouth when he coughs. So its Kaiser and the frickin line to pick up scripts is worse than a line at Disneyland and it's filled with plenty of sick people many more sick than Dakota. He coughs and of course I try to remind him please cover your mouth....AND HERE COME ALL THE DIRTY LOOKS. One woman standing behind us heard me reminding him and she chimes in with "oh you can cough into your elbow". Look I understand we live in a world of Germ-o-phobes . People are freaked out about their personal space and I do not believe the lady was being necessarily rude, I just think she thought she was suggesting something that might work but without assessing the situation properly.Then there was another man who I can't seem to get a complete read on even now a couple of days later....I'm not sure if he was just sizing up Dakota or judging him but I felt his eyes on us the entire time we were in line. Ok so again I veer off topic; My point is just be aware befor passing an opinion.

I have great aspirations to share new stories and observations this upcoming New Year...
Many often develop after I read some of the Autism boards online....Infact most who have kids much younger than Dakota, who are struggling with things that we have already been thru.Although the solution may never be the same, often just being able to tell someone what you went thru and how you worked it out for your family will give them the creative sense to find the right "fix"!