tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86959341570954333052011-11-22T12:13:12.640-08:00storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.comBlogger681100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-47798208811436663892011-09-03T20:01:00.000-07:002011-09-03T20:12:57.711-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted. A lot has happened in the last 11 months. The biggest thing is that I am in the process of divorcing my husband. It has been very difficult. It's one of the most difficult and contentious divorces my attorney has seen. It's been hard on my kids. Luckily we all have good therapists. Because of the difficulty in this process, I am unable to comment

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-27567949268023527782010-12-27T08:47:00.000-08:002010-12-27T09:09:15.763-08:00

Okay. Not sure what who voted or what they were smoking, but I got a notification today that my sad little blog here that I occasionally post on was #62 on Wikio, they list top 100. Sad to say, Age of Autism was #1, so I guess that shows someone was smoking something for this vote, as there are far better blogs to get accurate evidence based information from as well as blogs that promote

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-10283007892488062102010-11-27T10:31:00.000-08:002010-11-27T10:35:31.729-08:00

My son was flying a Pterosaur, playing with dinosaurs with his brother. My husband asked why there are not any Pterosaurs flying around any more. "Because they're extinct." my son said. Husband asked, "What does extinct mean?" My son replied, "they all died before mom was born."I feel old now.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-11061487024564975612010-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:002010-11-27T10:09:24.632-08:00

My son is now in the fourth grade, mainstreamed with paraprofessional, and is doing more independent things in school. As anyone with an autistic child knows, pragmatic speech is difficult for them. He aces his spelling tests, but understanding the content and nuances are difficult for him. I have made it a point over the last few years to teach him similes and idioms, usually as they come up in

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-40549212628256166082010-07-18T09:07:00.000-07:002010-07-23T03:52:25.869-07:00

RIP Mark HaskellMark died yesterday afternoon when his plane crashed on takeoff. He was a wonderful family man, I had the privilege of caring for Alison's pregnancies and delivering two of his three children. He and his wife and family live just down the road from me. We see each other all the time around town and walking and playing with the kids. He and his wife, Alison, became one of my

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-18548977955643966742010-06-21T13:05:00.000-07:002010-06-21T14:04:56.619-07:00

I received the following message from Liz Ditz. I read the AoA article this morning and thought there might be trouble when someone listed emails and addresses from Dr. Gorski's boss and board members. Please send a message of support to Dr. Gorski's Board of Directors to counteract the smear campaign from AoA. From: Liz Ditz To: Storkdok Subject: Gorski under attack Date: Mon, Jun

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-56315415128954688082010-06-14T07:41:00.000-07:002010-06-14T07:51:00.245-07:00

I know, I know, this is totally late. Life's been busy, but I just have to share the Valentine's Day card my son gave me. We went to Target and I told him he could pick out a card for me and for Dad, and for the grandparents. He very seriously started reading the cards and went through many cards before he found the right ones. Here is the one he gave me:MomLong beforeI could have known,you

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-38939647590578289732010-03-27T16:21:00.000-07:002010-03-31T08:28:34.546-07:00

One of my more Smockity memories goes like this...I remember one day when my oldest son was just entering kindergarten, and my youngest was a very busy toddler. We went to Sabbath school and my older son, who is autistic, was moved into the kindergarten class. The expectations were a lot more, like sitting in his chair and following directions and listening, no talking unless asked. It

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-55958971699510168852010-03-25T17:55:00.000-07:002010-03-27T18:36:27.671-07:00

This morning I was cruising around the blogosphere, and I came across a post on Temple Grandin and her comments about manners. The reason I was looking specifically for Temple's comments on manners was that my son has had two incidents this week where he became emotionally dysregulated and had outbursts. These are generally far and few between now that he is older, and he is learning and using

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-3373498322919528532010-03-18T18:44:00.000-07:002010-03-18T19:03:50.879-07:00

My son has been saying he wants to have friends, he wants to have them over for a playdate, and he wants a sleepover party for his birthday. I've talked with him about making and keeping friends and that we are working towards that goal by using the Social Thinking Superflex curriculum at home and at school.Today a boy who had been in his first martial arts class moved up to A's class, and they

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-54308278696192470032010-03-18T06:48:00.000-07:002010-03-18T06:57:57.705-07:00

Well, my son has stopped washing his hands so compulsively, they have healed up! He has been on a low dose of fluoxetine prescribed by our developmental pediatrician, and for a week now, he has not subjected anyone to an inquisition coming out of the bathroom about whether they washed their hands or not. No side effects, either. He is much more relaxed!The other problem behavior was nose

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-46096390459739104642010-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:002010-03-18T06:47:14.171-07:00

My son's third grade classroom wrote letters to soldiers in Iraq. They are sending books and other sundries to them as well. My son accidentally brought the letter home one night instead of leaving it at school to be sent. He wrote:Dear friend, My name is A. I love science. I like to go boating on my dad's motor boat. I'm in third grade in _______, Maine. Please write back to me.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-90150453333151148642010-03-17T10:25:00.000-07:002010-03-17T10:38:22.286-07:00

My son's third grade class is studying biographies right now. He read a book on Amelia Earhart and wrote (no corrections made):I recently read about Amelia Earhart. She was a famous Pilot. She flew around the world. She disapeared in Papua New Guinea. I think she an amazing persion.Funny, because apparently no one talked about PNG except for me, because my husband and I did a medical student

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-700214907721509752010-03-10T09:19:00.000-08:002010-03-18T03:45:54.468-07:00

My son's third grade teacher is big on teaching all the kids about social skills, social thinking, pragmatics, how to work in small groups, etc, all stuff that is challenging for my son. During his IEP last September, I asked our ST about possibly including the Social Thinking of Superflex from Michelle Garcia Winner. His classroom teacher asked about it, and when she heard a synopsis of what

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-47490234211690557212010-02-24T20:23:00.000-08:002010-02-24T21:12:58.626-08:00

I'm just so pissed off I can't go to sleep. Maybe if I write about it I can relax. Maybe I'll get more worked up. Whatever...Wednesday mornings I have been taking the boys to early ice skating at the college. The ice time is provided by the head coach for the local ice skating club. My boys are not in the club, not experienced enough yet, but they take lessons on Saturdays and my youngest

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-57961113024110149262010-02-23T18:59:00.001-08:002010-02-23T19:13:38.588-08:00

So people are starting to talk about April "Autism Awareness Month" on Facebook and other social networking sites. I'm tired of the same old thing, people calling autism an "epidemic" or a "tsunami". I'm tired of the inaccurate portrayal of autism on AoA, GR and Autism Speaks. People not living with autism hear these stories and/or associate the portrayal of autism in popular culture as what

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-13944689198996976062010-01-05T05:32:00.000-08:002010-01-05T05:38:02.354-08:00

Yesterday I took a couple of "Snowmen kits" into school. My son asked three girls if they wanted to make snowmen with him, and he had a GREAT outdoor recess time! Got to think of more things like this to help him at recess time.Got any ideas?

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-19717420142781538162010-01-02T13:23:00.000-08:002010-01-02T13:32:57.997-08:00

My son's hands are chapped and bleeding from washing them so much. He is so afraid of "germs" especially since the high profile of H1N1 flu, even though he is vaccinated. He questions everyone if they have washed their hands (home and school). His anxiety levels are rising, it is so hard to watch. He completely lost it a couple of months ago when I told him I would have to walk to the car to get

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-18471120315775128192010-01-02T08:15:00.000-08:002010-01-02T11:05:16.460-08:00

The following is a correspondence between me and a Maine legislator. The Maine DOE is trying to make huge cuts and changes to special education in Maine in a special "emergency session", many of which were already debated and REJECTED by the legislative education committee. It is an end run around the committee's previous decisions. It will undermine the hardwon rights of disabled children (

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-40522547924094065992009-10-25T06:27:00.000-07:002009-10-25T06:31:33.774-07:00

The last 8 months have been difficult. I haven't been able to blog, mostly because it is impossible on an iPhone. We had so much water damage and found old rot and carpenter ants, that we had to move out of the house for almost 3 months this summer. We got back in 3 weeks ago. It will take me a year to unpack. But, I got a new house out of it! The adjustment is hard, older son having hard

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-17382471821866075232009-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:002009-06-14T18:02:40.115-07:00

Since Gonzo was hit by lurker, I thought I would post the nice little rant from lurker/Billy/King Dick or whatever he calls himself I received last year: selfishness Billy to you - Aug 2 2008 More Details From: Billy To: storkdok@aol.com

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-33325902195566453682009-02-21T10:57:00.000-08:002009-02-21T12:28:30.260-08:00

A recent post by Orac on Mercury in vaccines as a cause of autism and ASD: A failed hypothesis brought out the best in the anti-vaxxer crowd (sarcasm). Although it is repost, it is appropriate because of the recent findings in the Autism Omnibus Test Cases. The Special Masters in the first three cases which were dismissed wrote that the petitioners' physicians and experts had "gross medical

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-55567925306766639062009-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:002009-02-01T18:39:58.560-08:00

Peers are key for autistic kids, researcher says is an excellent article about the research by Connie Kasari, at UCLA. "The best way to help autistic students fit in at school is by training the child's typical peers, says Connie Kasari, a professor of psychological studies in education at UCLA.""Her work focuses on developing social-emotional skills in atypical children, and her most

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-32862048330582995392009-02-01T17:22:00.000-08:002009-02-01T17:45:13.873-08:00

I am in such a funk. I am exhausted from the DHHS fight, which finally was found in my son's favor, but they are still sending me tons of paperwork, bills, and I have not received my son's records from them, as they promised. Our IEP went well, thanks to our developmental pediatrician coming to it and advocating for a more generalization of social/emotional skills and cognitive behavioral work

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-23975042812628754172009-01-15T07:43:00.000-08:002009-01-15T07:48:46.773-08:00

Holy Moly, I hope I sound lucid! The science correspondent, Jon Hamilton, called me and we talked about The Transporters, which my son has used to learn about emotions. Dr. Baron-Cohen was interviewed in their BBC office a couple of days ago. The episode will air tentatively next Wednesday, depending on the inaugural things going on.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-34437875039955646022008-12-06T03:57:00.000-08:002009-01-06T02:28:17.439-08:00

My son has had the Katie Beckett Medicaid waiver since he was 2 years old. He has a diagnosis of classic autism, now called "Autistic disorder". He was diagnosed at Children's Hospital of Boston and has been followed by our developmental pediatrician, who is the head of the division for Developmental Disabilities at Maine Medical Center for 6 years, who also has his diagnosis as Autistic

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-80842215535820194772008-12-01T06:20:00.000-08:002008-12-01T06:21:05.333-08:00

Yesterday when my husband brought in the days old mail, there was a letter from Grandma to my son, thanking him for the puzzle letter he had sent her. He held it, got a funny expression on his face, looked into my eyes and said, "Mom, it feels like winter!" I had to think about it, then I asked him if it was cold, and he said, "Yes! Like winter!"What a nice way to say something is cold!

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-16793358275205592362008-11-30T06:12:00.000-08:002008-11-30T06:14:09.921-08:00

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-71582223514199644252008-11-27T16:16:00.000-08:002008-11-27T16:19:32.801-08:00

A is 7.5 years old. He has had severely delayed fine motor skills which finally improved enough a year ago to allow him to draw.For a week A has been googling the Apollo missions and has concentrated on the two that caught on fire, Apollo 1 and 13. He has been telling me what happened on each mission, I didn't even remember which mission did what. My dh got out the Apollo 13 movie with Tom

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-63171710126756605202008-11-27T15:58:00.000-08:002008-11-27T16:11:32.852-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all you bloggers out there! I have had a great time getting to know some of you over the last few months!

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-38833171220521456772008-11-25T06:33:00.000-08:002008-11-26T15:20:50.076-08:00

My son came home yesterday with a school T-shirt order. There are 35 drawings from kids on it. I looked closely and the first drawing of a bus looked familiar. It looked like the bus I drew for him all last year for his daily schedule. Then I saw the name, it was my son! His drawing was picked first out of all the kids! I'm so proud! His is the very first drawing.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-56723759996573317622008-11-24T06:42:00.000-08:002008-11-24T06:43:50.088-08:00

A post by Dr. Mark Crislip explains how the immune system is NOT overwhelmed by vaccinations in very young children: A baby’s body is bombarded with immunologic challenges—from bacteria in food to the dust they breathe. Compared to what they typically encounter and manage during the day, vaccines are literally a drop in the ocean”, and Dr. Offits studies theoretically show an infant could handle

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-14370795747909357842008-11-22T12:02:00.000-08:002008-11-22T12:04:36.301-08:00

I started writing this post last April. I have a lot of unfinished posts, thanks to my spirited 3 year old! I wrote most of it before reading Dr. Michael Chez's excellent book "Autism and It's Medical Management". I decided to quote a paragraph from his book, as noted, because I couldn't improve on perfection! Much of my description of the "experts" educations are very similar to Dr. Chez's

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-81063465857047252222008-11-20T13:49:00.000-08:002008-11-20T13:53:57.856-08:00

I first posted this on November 4, 2007, on my other blog. I saw Emily's Dubya's artwork and thought I'd repost this. A was 6 years old when he drew this. A's Art? What do you think? November 4, 2007 at 9:51 PM A has been in OT for over 4 years now, as well as years of PT. He has always been in the first percentile, extremely delayed for

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-34050265613326172092008-11-19T06:27:00.000-08:002008-11-19T06:44:54.197-08:00

I received this email yesterday. Alex has been using The Transporters for 1.5 years now, and on top of being fun, it has taught him about emotions. Hello from The Transporters team.(Thank you for previously signing up for this occasionalnewsletter. To unsubscribe, see below)We're delighted to tell you that, after more than threeyears work, the North American English version ofThe

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-9859043618185600302008-11-15T19:18:00.000-08:002008-11-16T06:08:35.683-08:00

I was quickly brushing A's teeth yesterday so we could get to the bus on time, when I slipped and the toothbrush hit his nose. He laughed and said, "Mom, it is toothpaste, not nosepaste!"

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-3686853633512383442008-11-07T15:29:00.000-08:002008-11-08T03:03:03.441-08:00

I cannot find the name of the original author of this post. I first read it several years ago. Whoever the author is, they are spot on."What is a Troll? An Internet "troll" is a person who delights in sowing discord on the Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset people. Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their bizarre game. For

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-15334141807959882762008-11-02T17:00:00.000-08:002008-11-02T17:06:26.683-08:00

Wow, I just watched the new video "Something About Us". You have to watch it...

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-8756074126601175722008-10-31T21:20:00.000-07:002008-10-31T21:32:02.992-07:00

I just can't get nictitating membranes out of my mind. When I first took biology well over 20 years ago, one of the cool things, to me, was the "third eyelid" that some animals have. Just the words "nictitating membranes" flow so pleasurably, these are some of the words I like the sound of, like a melody in my mind.Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of seeing up close a two toed sloth for the

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-54195314405287910172008-10-30T07:34:00.000-07:002008-10-30T07:36:14.814-07:00

The Today show interviewed Dr. Paul Offit about his new book "Autism's False Prophets". They did a very nice job and finally the truth that the scientific community knows is getting out to the public. Quoting Dr. Nancy Snyderman, "There is no controversy!"I highly recommend Dr. Offit's book. He provides a history of the MMR and thimerosal hysteria, the trash science behind the supposed "

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-25569426928096905822008-10-11T07:32:00.000-07:002008-10-11T07:37:23.498-07:00

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-910391365167249002008-10-11T07:29:00.000-07:002008-10-11T07:31:11.837-07:00

Last night when Alex went to bed, I asked him if he had another joke for me. He told me this one, with perfect timing!"Why don't dogs like boats?The water might be "rough"!"HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's my boy! I'm bringing out the giant rolling pea for that one!

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-52331363532411365082008-10-11T07:27:00.000-07:002008-10-11T07:28:51.454-07:00

I am remembering back to almost 6 years ago when we diagnosed Alex (7.5 years old) with autism. We were told a lot of dire predictions, many of which have been disproved. One was that he would never have a sense of humor or understand jokes.So my husband told me that Alex told him a joke in the bathtub last week. It goes like this...What do you get when you give a dinosaur a pogo stick?A big

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-66770056333838260732008-09-19T19:10:00.000-07:002008-09-19T19:11:51.664-07:00

The last 2 weeks have been pretty crappy. Alex has had homework that takes him up to 2 hours to finish, and I don't see any modifications on the homework, and as all the notes home except for yesterday's (a substitute aide) have given no useful information as to how his day is going and what help he needed and what interactions he had...I've been pretty depressed. I can't get anyone to answer

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-44978827994389941142008-08-20T06:42:00.000-07:002008-08-20T06:45:19.910-07:00

I took the boys out yesterday, visited a railway museum, a coastal botanical garden, and a small aquarium. The boys like a little Cafe overlooking a river, we have been going there for years. The last time we went, my husband was treated rudely by the hostess. He said he would never go there again. Since the boys like it, and most of the time they have been really great with us, I thought

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-42086574531341385192008-08-20T04:59:00.000-07:002008-08-20T05:01:59.338-07:00

Here is an organization that helps developmentally challenged students with college! STRIVE U provides post-secondary education and training to young adults with developmental disabilities in the realms of residential, employment, and community

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-70337323734841891812008-08-20T04:55:00.000-07:002008-08-20T04:57:09.288-07:00

Here is a great article on an organization AHEADD that helps ASD students with college!Autistic students get help navigating college lifeWhen Dan Hackett started college, he didn't make the grades he knew he could. Hackett, who has Asperger's syndrome, found at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh that some of his symptoms were holding him back. He had difficulty organizing his

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-38080956679914234502008-08-14T15:34:00.000-07:002008-08-15T04:44:27.910-07:00

This is a Graduation Speech given by a High School Senior, Soeren Palumbo, one of the most eloquent I have ever read."I want to tell you a quick story before I start. I was walking through hallways, not minding my own business, listening to the conversations around me. As I passed the front door on my way to my English classroom, I heard the dialogue between two friends nearby. For reasons of

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-39865887148317501542008-08-14T13:46:00.000-07:002008-08-14T14:39:11.838-07:00

This is a public reply on a public post on Cafemom to which I am responding: by on Aug. 14, 2008 at 11:56 AM I'm new to this group, so 'hello.' I have 3 kids, a son with ASD (on the severe end), a college girl with ADHD and a NT teen girl.I am a film story analyst and I actually worked on TROPIC THUNDER. I analyzed many drafts of the script over

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-86928173995872927492008-08-08T17:29:00.000-07:002008-08-08T17:51:18.542-07:00

I have been alternately crying and grinning like crazy all day today! Today was the last day of my son's summer day camp. Four weeks have gone by too fast! Because it is a regular day camp, I don't get the regular feedback like in school, so I haven't really known what was going on, just a few reports here and there. It made me nervous, I'm so used to the daily reports coming home so I know

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-23360615457389036602008-07-30T05:46:00.000-07:002008-07-30T05:48:06.820-07:00

Parker Chipman graduated cum laude from high school in Maine last month. He set three state records in track and field while in high school. He doesn't find Asperger's Syndrome to be a problem! He is going on to University of Southern Maine in the fall. For more on this very inspiring young man, click here.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-66437161929516413892008-07-05T12:13:00.000-07:002008-07-05T12:31:21.627-07:00

Here is a great story about a young man who just graduated from college with an Associate Degree. He has autism and his mother went to college with him! It is inspiring! What I love is that all the dire predictions his mother was given when he was a child have not come true! He keeps learning and achieving more every day! He is still autistic, he did not receive "biomedical interventions",

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-65287448754035362462008-07-05T10:24:00.000-07:002008-07-05T12:10:34.201-07:00

Yet another young, 3 year old, autistic boy has drowned. You can read about it here. I wonder what the statistics are on autistics drowning? I haven't been able to find any. It just seems like I keep hearing about more drownings among the autistic population. My heart goes out to his family.

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-39231603953650771282008-07-03T03:52:00.000-07:002008-07-05T06:52:10.237-07:00

I am shocked and saddened to wake up to news this morning that a Massachusetts mother denied her 8 year old autistic son the treatment he needed for his cancer. How could a parent literally slowly kill their child for the last year, watching the cancer take over his body, decreasing his chances of survival from approximately 85% to now less than 10%? She has been arrested, and I hope they will

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-85084738228303651132008-06-04T02:55:00.000-07:002008-06-04T03:15:21.486-07:00

Kristina Chew has a post on How Invisible is Autism in Women? It got me to thinking...My Mother's Day "present" from my mother was a conversation about me growing up. She apparently read Tony Attwood's book "Asperger's in Girls". She said she wished she had had that book when I was growing up, that I had everything on the diagnostic list as he described it. She said it explained all the

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-39699430801947756752008-05-19T08:27:00.000-07:002008-07-17T05:48:28.655-07:00

I am so sad, devastated really. I received a call this morning shortly after 7 am from Alex' s autism teacher. A little girl he eats lunch with and sees in the autism classroom died last evening. She drowned in a pool when she wandered off during a party. Her mom and I have talked over the last year. Her daughter, Ashley, was 6 years old, and a "bolter", like Alex used to be. She went to

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-36362511493989957182008-05-04T06:19:00.000-07:002008-05-04T06:22:08.581-07:00

There is a sensory perceptual disorder called synaesthesia, where the sense can be mixed up, like you "feel" a color, or "taste" a color. Some autistics have written about this and a book I have by Olga Bogdashina, "Sensory Perceptual Issues in Autism and Asperger Syndrome" talks about all the differences in the senses. She identifies it as "the stimulation of one sensory modality triggers a

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-77221870992765801172008-04-27T12:40:00.000-07:002008-04-27T12:54:04.739-07:00

Autism Quackery Every DayI have just read through the latest post on Kathleen Seidel's neurodiversity weblog on the plan to use a veterinary "chelator" for their children! I thought I had heard it all, but this takes the cake! You can read about it here.Ten years ago drug addicts were breaking into veterinary offices for Ketamine, or "special K" as it was called then on the streets. Now are we

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-87773563194284301382008-04-21T05:38:00.000-07:002008-04-21T05:40:37.607-07:00

How to Make an Anatomically Correct Brain Cakefrom wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can EditIf ever you're in the mood, or in the company of neuroscientists with something to celebrate, you may need to create an anatomically correct brain cake. Steps Choose an illustration as your pattern. Look for something without a lot of detail, but enough to create the major brain areas. Google

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-50911613128728005262008-04-21T05:32:00.000-07:002008-04-21T05:33:48.748-07:00

I have yet another migraine this morning, and I was changing Nick's diaper, trying not to gag too much, when he said something about Alex putting our cat, Abby, down the laundry chute this morning. We have a laundry chute from our closet on the second floor to the first floor near the laundry room. The bottom is hard tile. Thankfully there were about 2 feet of clothes in there. Alex walked in,

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-70200217773631460492008-04-19T05:42:00.000-07:002008-04-19T12:56:02.097-07:00

Autism and It's Medical Management: A Guide for Parents and Professionals is a newly published book by Dr. Michael Chez, a pediatric neurologist, publisher is Jessica Kingsley. It is the ONLY book I have read that gets the medical management correctly with up to the date and state of the art advice completely based on the scientific literature. It is the best guide and explanations of medical

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-707470612641077872008-04-16T15:57:00.001-07:002008-04-16T16:09:59.743-07:00

I first posted this March 24, 2007 on Cafemom.I was kind of shocked by Temple Grandin's suggestion that I had Asperger's in June 2005 (see my previous post on meeting Temple Grandin). So I have been thinking about it ever since. I have remembered things, a lot not pleasant, because I was absolutely tortured in school. I even had to change schools after 6th grade because the kids were so vicious (

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-82207926899669019562008-04-16T15:48:00.000-07:002008-04-16T16:05:31.642-07:00

I first posted this March 23, 2007 on Cafemom. Much of my view of autism has changed since then. I no longer fight autism, I embrace it.In April of 2004 I attended my first autism advocacy meeting in DC. I was fighting the good fight against autism, had quit my job less than a year before as a very busy OB/GYN to help recover my son. It was the first time I was ever away from my son, who had

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-10643149725702174512008-04-15T03:27:00.000-07:002008-04-15T03:28:34.248-07:00

I got a message from the ICDL about a new Magazine they put together with poems, stories and photos from autistics. It is really beautiful! You can download it here: GLIMPSE is a new publication from ICDL that showcases the unique perspective contained in the writings and artwork of individuals with a

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-80192823271580306192008-04-06T16:10:00.000-07:002008-04-08T17:50:44.410-07:00

I first posted this on March 24, 2007 on another blog.The first time I met Temple was at a meeting she lectured at in the Boston area in 2003. I briefly spoke to her about her latest book, she signed it for me. I was in awe. I mean, wow, she is the most famous autistic in the world! I was so intimidated. The second time I met Temple was at a LADDERS meeting in Boston in October 2004. My father

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-17812251418938948062008-04-06T15:57:00.000-07:002008-04-08T17:51:36.060-07:00

I first posted this on July 8, 2007 on another blog.My son sees Dr. Tim Buie, a pedi GI from LADDERS, Mass Gen Hosp, Boston, who is one of the countries leading doctors in this area and he is doing a lot of studies for our kids to see why they have the GI issues, what the differences are between the kids, and what works for the kids. It is interesting in that there are several types of problems

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-76698331983170465912008-04-06T15:41:00.000-07:002008-04-06T15:41:00.625-07:00

momologue: parenting, open adoption, autism, aspergers, cooking and writing!: Join Me in Blogging for Autism Awareness this April

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8695934157095433305.post-35580057484596885642008-04-06T14:19:00.000-07:002008-04-08T17:52:32.563-07:00

Throughout the years I have been asked "Why don't you become a DAN doctor?" Well, the reason is that I have investigated the DAN protocol and found it to be riddled with inaccuracies, suppositions, and false claims, i.e. Quackery. There are some proven therapies, such as probiotics and medications for colitis, supplements for children on a very limited diet, gluten free diet for specific

storkdokhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01843343195713542984noreply@blogger.com1