**WOO HOO! It's time for Autism Awareness Month!** Why does this matter to me? Because my fabulous son is one of the 1 in 166 children diagnosed with this condition. I'm using this month to kick off my fund raising and team recruiting efforts for the Tacoma Walk Now for Autism 2008 Walk!
I've set up my personal page and our team page!
My main goal in this walk? Is to raise awareness. Let people know what autism REALLY is. It's not rainman. It's not unaffectionate shells of children. It's not something evil and bad. Mostly? It's not something to be afraid of! It's not contagious. It's not caused by bad parenting. It's definitely not the end of the world! So many people are so afraid of their child 'getting' autism! Yet without autism I wouldn't have Liam! Without Liam my world wouldn't be complete.
What can you do? Well...you can sign up to walk with us! the walk is July 19th in Tacoma, WA. I don't care if you don't know us! Come out and walk with us anyways. Obviously you know SOMETHING if you're here! Sign up is easy to do. Or hey! Start your own team! The goal is all the same! Sign up for a walk in your own town! There are walks all over the place all year long!
You can also go to My Page and make a donation. I've set a darn easy to achieve goal. Hell! If everyone who visits daily gave just $1 I'd have my goal instantly!
Things you can do that take no money and no walking?
* Learn the Signs of Autism there are many more than you think.
* Pass on this info! Cut and paste whatever you want! Link to the walk pages! Whatever you want!
* Are you local? Go to the Seattle Mariner's game that supports autism Autism Awareness Night is Wednesday, May 7th. Tickets are discounted through that site! Plus? $7 of each ticket goes towards autism research!
* If you suspect something is even the SLIGHTEST bit off about a child you know? Be it autism, speech delay, motor delay, etc? Do EVERYONE a favor and don't be afraid to bring it up! I know it can be frightening to tell something something may be less than typical in their child but sometimes parents just don't see! And early intervention is so important! Screening is free! Every state has an early intervention program. Contact your local school district for more information on the birth to three programs available in your area (I also know other public health facilities have the contact info as well such as WIC, DSHS, etc)
Just listening to my long winded ramble means so much! Just knowing you now know WHO and WHAT autism is really all about makes me smile. I encourage you to look at this monkey:
And realize that he has autism but that's not all of who he is. He's loving. And funny. And goofy. He loves tickles and wrestling with his sister. He still drinks from a bottle and has a ridiculous limited food intake. He works his butt off every single day in therapy pushing himself harder than any 2 1/2 year old should have to do and every day amazing me with his ability to recover even when it's too much. He likes to 'read' books and loves to do puzzles! He hates wearing socks and loves to put hats on people. His number knowledge is astounding. Counting as high as 14, putting the number 1-9 (plus 0 at the end) in order. Then backwards. Counting up. And down. Everything he sees. Screaming out numbers as we pass by signs. He loves cars and backyardigans and pigs and elephants. He snuggles better than anyone ever (don't tell his sister). He's huge for his age with a heart to match. He loves to feed his parents (while refusing to feed himself!) French fries make his world go round. His language is slow going but his determination unbelievable. His use of PECS system is getting better daily. His word use constantly growing. He likes playing on slides, climbing on everything, and making big messes. He is every bit a 2 1/2 year old...just with additional lessons to learn and to teach.
Liam is what autism is really about. There are people with severe autism. Who resemble the cases people 'fear'. The majority of people with autism lay more on the other side of the spectrum. You'd never know unless you were told or spent extensive time with him. They fit none of the stereotypes and constantly surprise people.
If nothing else? I hope my participation in this walk teaches people that no two autistic people are alike. They aren't hopeless or helpless. We can all learn from them by taking the time to view the world a little differently.
After all differences make the world go round.
Now onto the general "about me" babbles....I hate these kinds of things. Lets see, the brief rundown? I'm halfway to 30 and live in Puyallup, WA.
I've been married since December 2003 and in October of 2005 I gave birth to THE most fantastic little boy. We named him William, after my dad who passed away in 1998, though we call him Liam. Most often we call him Smooshbot (Or smoosh, or bot). he has such a smooshy little face! (its those fat cheeks of his. love them!) Though lately he's been called Monkey for his love of climbing. His initials are WXY which cracks me up and makes everyone think I'm just a LITTLE strange (what a shocker.) Liam is currently enrolled in therapy 4 days a week due to significant delays in language, interpersonal, and communication skills. Not to mention has some extreme oral hypersensitivities and feeding problems. He's recently been diagnosed with autism but that's just a tiny piece of him. He's one of the funniest little people I know and I am so lucky to have him as my son. He's teaching more more than I could ever imagine.
April 7th, 2007 (1 day late!) I gave birth to our daughter, Lilianna (we call her Lily). She's so the opposite of Liam as an infant and I thank cod for that! She's so chill and easy to please! No hours of walking her to sleep! She's the happiest, smiliest, giggliest girl EVER. Whereas her brother was huge for his age she's a petite little thing. Very long and lean (don't I wish I had that problem?!)
How these two have not always been around is beyond me!
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I work part time at an ...oh WAIT! That's right! My position was "ELIMINATED" therefore I get to pretend to be a stay at home mommy! (Never in a million years did I see that coming! But it's by far the greatest job I've ever had. And then some!) My husband works for peanuts to keep us afloat but ooh! We get free cable and internet! WOO HOO!
We have 2 rotten cats who are neglected since the birth of our son. Strike that. We have one cat. :-( Roxie went off and left us sometime without us noticing so it's just Sophie remaining in this house.
And if I had any free time I might have hobbies but as it is my kids take all my available time. And then some.
I have some serious class issues and use the word "fuck" entirely too often for a lady. And this, my friends, is the greatest blinkie ever:
Someday I'll stop the profanity thing. Hopefully before my kids are old enough to realize what I'm saying. My fondness of the "F WORD" isnt something I'm proud of but it's who i am *shrugs* at least I'm honest in my weaknesses, right?!
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