October 2012~snagglebox

How To Help a Selective Eater

If you have autistic kids you probably know the location of every McDonalds within a twenty mile radius of your house.

Maybe you’re an expert at making a meal out of only white foods or your pantry is stocked high with a particular type of cracker. You’re tired of throwing away uneaten meals, and if you see one more article about how many serves of vegetables your kids need in a day you’re going to scream.

I'm not an American, so the closest I've ever been to celebrating Thanksgiving was the time I almost ran over a dude dressed as a turkey. But right now I'm feeling especially thankful. It's been a tough week for my husband's family, the kind of week to make you stop and think about the people you love and (if you're super lucky like I am) love you back.

A rare sighting of the spontaneous hug

Parenting kids with special needs can be tough.
There are good days, bad days and just-can’t-make-it-another-day days.

But while you may not have a whole lotta control over which kind of day you’re going to have, you do have control over how you remember it.

Afraid to try.
Afraid of making mistakes.
Meltdowns after getting it wrong.
Obsessed about fixing errors.
Incredibly high standards.
Perfectionist.

Does this sound like anyone you know?

What does it mean to think literally,
and why is it common in autism?

When we moved house a couple of months ago, I came across a folder that the school had given us when I pulled the kids out to homeschool. It was full of notes and progress reports, only some of which I'd seen before.

On the last day of school I had shoved it into a box in the garage because I was so completely traumatized by anything with the word 'school' on it, and the garage is where things go to be forgotten.

It's a good thing I did, because putting some distance between us and the school meant that reading through the file this week only made my heckles go up to 3 instead of 11.