Aspierations - Come as you are... Let your light shine!

DSM-V Revisions for Autism Spectrum Disorders & Asperger's Need to Remember that we are the 1 in 1

2012-01-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

Article here, news flash there, passionate debate raging everywhere! If you have a connection to the autism / Asperger’s community, you have probably come across writings and stories in the past couple weeks related to the proposed 2013 changes to the DSM-V manual.

What is the DSM-V? It is the 5th Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders due to be published in May 2013. (On a side note, anyone know why it isn’t called the DSMMD-V? This isn’t a trick question. It just bugs me.) This big book of standards published by the American Psychiatric Association will be the go-to guide in diagnostic criteria for mental health professionals in the USA. It will also be referred to around the world.

The last time one of these manuals was published was 1994. For those playing at home, that is eighteen years ago. Seems kind of bizarre to me that it has taken so long for a revision but then again, this isn’t the software / hardware industry we’re talking about... (How many times have I upgraded Windows?)

It was in the DSM-IV that Asperger’s Syndrome first appeared. I personally was not familiar with AS as a diagnosis until 2008 shortly after my youngest son was diagnosed with autism at age 2 and my oldest son was diagnosed with Asperger’s at age 9. Women and girls often present quite differently than men and boys so I didn’t put all the connections together immediately but it wasn’t too long afterwards that I realized and accepted my own place on the autism spectrum. Once I did, it really was so obvious and explained so much about many of my childhood and early adult challenges. Of course it would take quite some time after that to go through all the medical hoops and loops to get my own official Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis. I’ll save THAT entertaining back-story for another day.

Relieved that I finally had a name and some details for what I was going through, I wrote a couple popular blogs in early 2010: Before I Knew I Was An Aspie, My Puzzle Piece Didn’t Fit and The Outing of A Girl With Asperger’s Syndrome - What Did I Do?

Although my diagnosis on the autism spectrum did not define me as a person nor did it define my sons, it was a relief to finally be able to embrace the knowledge that I was not alone, that there was a reason for many of the sensory, social and physical challenges I had been having since childhood and that there was a whole community of others out there that were experiencing similar challenges as adults, teens, children, men and women. Better yet, there were people I could connect with online who shared strategies, challenges and showed support. They were from all ethnicities, all socio-economic backgrounds, all religions. Although autism spectrum disorder is more prevalent in males in diagnosis, there are many women out there as adults that are undiagnosed. In fact, a lot of adults end up being diagnosed after they have children or grandchildren on the spectrum. It wasn’t that it didn’t exist before 1994... it’s just that no-one had been successful until then in trying to define it and have it recognized in the DSM by the medical community.

So now that you know that Asperger's Syndrome was first officially recognized by the APA in their DSM-IV, here is the shocker. That Asperger’s Syndrome diagnosis is likely to go away if the DSM-V proposed changes are to take effect. Autism spectrum sub-categories such as AS and Pervasive Developmental Disorders Not Otherwise Specified (PDD / NOS) are proposed to disappear and instead there will be one umbrella diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

HOWEVER, it isn’t as simple as that. In order to qualify for this diagnosis (which will presumably impact one’s ability for themselves or their children to qualify for educational, medical or other services), a narrowing of the criteria takes place. Not everyone "fits".

It has not been made clear whether those previously diagnosed will have to spend extra money and time to requalify or if they will be “grandfathered” into the new Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis however I am assuming that for certain services, a reclassification or rediagnosis will be requested or required by the schools and/or insurance companies.

Here is the proposed diagnostic criteria for the “new” Autism Spectrum Disorder. Please note that a lot of these criteria will be very subjective and as the disorder must have initially displayed during childhood, adults or older children going in for a diagnosis are going to have to think back and use their best judgment in filling out the accompanying questionnaires.

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Must meet criteria A, B, C and D:

A.    Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following:
1.     Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction,
2.     Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated- verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body-language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.
3.     Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and in making friends to an apparent absence of interest in people

B.    Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of the following:
1.     Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects; (such as simple motor stereotypies, echolalia, repetitive use of objects, or idiosyncratic phrases).
2.     Excessive adherence to routines, ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior, or excessive resistance to change; (such as motoric rituals, insistence on same route or food, repetitive questioning or extreme distress at small changes).
3.     Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus; (such as strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).
4.     Hyper-or hypo-reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment; (such as apparent indifference to pain/heat/cold, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, fascination with lights or spinning objects).
C.    Symptoms must be present in early childhood (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities)
D.         Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.

source: http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=94#

Additionally a severity level is added:

Severity Level for ASD	Social Communication	Restricted interests & repetitive behaviors
Level 3 ‘Requiring very substantial support’	Severe deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills cause severe impairments in functioning; very limited initiation of social interactions and minimal response to social overtures from others.	Preoccupations, fixated rituals and/or repetitive behaviors markedly interfere with functioning in all spheres. Marked distress when rituals or routines are interrupted; very difficult to redirect from fixated interest or returns to it quickly.
Level 2 ‘Requiring substantial support’	Marked deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills; social impairments apparent even with supports in place; limited initiation of social interactions and reduced or abnormal response to social overtures from others.	RRBs and/or preoccupations or fixated interests appear frequently enough to be obvious to the casual observer and interfere with functioning in a variety of contexts. Distress or frustration is apparent when RRB’s are interrupted; difficult to redirect from fixated interest.
Level 1 ‘Requiring support’	Without supports in place, deficits in social communication cause noticeable impairments. Has difficulty initiating social interactions and demonstrates clear examples of atypical or unsuccessful responses to social overtures of others. May appear to have decreased interest in social interactions.	Rituals and repetitive behaviors (RRB’s) cause significant interference with functioning in one or more contexts. Resists attempts by others to interrupt RRB’s or to be redirected from fixated interest.

source: http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=94#

What that severity level translates into in terms of service and support for the future is not for me to say but I sure would like to know for my two sons, myself and everyone out there in the autism / Asperger’s community. I’m not alone. I’m not the only one confused and concerned. For every individual in the community, there is a voice deserving to be heard.

Although the changes in diagnostic criteria have been in discussion for awhile, a January 19th article in The New York Times and a January 20th article and video segment from ABC news brought these proposed changes directly into the spotlight and fueled a fire among many in and outside the autism community. Part of what ignited the recent concern were ominous sounding titles like “New Definition of Autism Will Exclude Many, Study Says” and “Changes to the Autism Spectrum could leave some without health coverage.” These are the kind of titles that trend on Twitter, get shared on Facebook and make it into the mainstream media. Quite frankly, they’re the kinds of titles that put a fire under the rear and piss people off.

Various autism organizations responded to the articles in the media. Some sounded like they were coming out in favor of waiting to see how the changes go and others vehemently opposed, encouraging daily calls and emails to the APA.

What do I think? Where does our non-profit, Autism Empowerment stand?

Good question... Can I be frank with you? I think at this point the whole thing stinks and will further fracture a community of already divided individuals. If what some studies are saying is true, that the new definitions of autism will exclude many then who exactly will that benefit? How can disenfranchising a portion of the autism community be good for promoting autism acceptance and awareness?

Right now it all looks lose-lose to me and judging by some autism forums, there is dissent all around. There are some on the severe end of the spectrum that don’t want the Asperger’s population in with their group because of fear that there won’t be enough funding for their services. There are some in the Asperger’s group that don’t want a new “label” of autistic or autism spectrum disorder for fear of stigma. Where is the acceptance for all of us for who we are, where we are on the spectrum at this point in our lives? Where is the compassion? Where is the logic? Why can’t we be BOTH neurologically diverse and accepting that there are many of us on the autism spectrum that want an accurate diagnosis so that our children and ourselves as adults can have services available to them if needed?

Back in my early sales and marketing days, I was taught that when presenting a new product or service to an individual or group to make sure to answer WIFFM (pronounced wiffum) or What’s In It For Me early in the presentation. It was applied psychology. How can my service benefit YOU? Because quite frankly... it doesn’t matter how special you think you or your product is, if a customer doesn’t see a personal benefit, they’re not likely to buy what you’re selling.

So I ask all of the professionals on the DSM-V diagnostic committee, presuming you have the best interests in mind of all of those on the autism spectrum, what is in it for me with this new diagnostic criteria? And just out of curiousity, what is in it for you?

Will my son with autism who is 5 who has made great progress through early intervention and is now in a mainstream Kindergarten with pull-out supports for social, speech and OT still qualify for the same services he has now with the new diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder? Academically he’s quite bright. Socially, he’s quite young. Sensory-wise, he is all over the map. Some would probably call him “high-functioning” but high-functioning does not mean not having a ton of problems on the back-end. By back-end, I also mean his back-end... but that’s another story...

Will my technologically gifted but socially naive son with Asperger’s who is 12 but is finding middle school challenging find his SCIP (Social Communication Integration Program) program and the aid he’s been receiving with organization and life skills at school to suddenly disappear?

Will I, a 44 year old woman with Asperger’s with a combination of sensory and social issues now fall into the abyss? Will I have to pay another exorbitant amount of money to be reassessed? Is it worth it? I mean after all... who knows when the next revision might change things all again.

Truth be told, except for the school services, we’ve pretty much had to pay out of pocket for most of the other services we’ve received. Those health deductibles are pretty high for us self-employed types... which by the way, tends to fit many Aspies who are employed.

In my immediate family, we are just three on the spectrum affected by these new DSM-V changes. You’ve probably read the CDC statistic that approximately 1 in 110 children in the USA have some sort of Autism Spectrum Disorder. If we apply that statistic to the United States population as a whole, there are likely millions in the United States with an autism spectrum disorder. Yeah... that’s a lot.

Earlier in this blog, I asked, what do I personally think about the proposed changes? Where does our non-profit, Autism Empowerment stand?

Here is my answer...

Whatever the powers that be on the APA diagnostic committee decide regarding the final revisions to the definition and sub-categories of “Autism Spectrum Disorder” will not change the fact that...

1) When I wake up the day after their decision, my sons and I will still be traveling the road less traveled on the autism spectrum.

2) We’ll still have challenges related to our neurological / medical conditions and those challenges will not disappear because of a diagnostic definition change. We'll still need strategies to assist and want people to support and understand us. Perhaps what will disappear is money from our wallets as we jump through hoops and loops again to get rediagnosed / reclassified. The APA isn't volunteering to pay for that, are they?

3) Although some would prefer looking at us in the autism community as statistics or an epidemic, we are individuals and deserve to be treated by the medical community, autism community and world community as such. Our medical services should be individualized. We should not be disenfranchised.

We are not 1 in 110, 1 in 70, 1 in 150 or 1 in whatever number some incredibly expensive research study decides is next.

4) We are the 1 in 1. Treat us based on THAT ratio. For you see, no matter what the “prevalence rate” is, in our lives for those of us who are on the spectrum, autism is 1:1. We live with it every day.

Autism poses lifelong challenges. Individuals with autism deserve the opportunity for lifelong support.

I’ll be honest, the new proposed definitions frighten me and sadden me. On the positive side, they reinforce in my mind that I made the right decision in getting involved co-founding Autism Empowerment last year. Autism Empowerment is a 501(c)(3) public charity that aims to provide nationwide and worldwide support to individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders and related co-conditions. We serve all ages, all stages of life.

The four foundational pillars of our organization are Accept, Enrich, Inspire, Empower. We are dedicated to creating programs and services that provide help in the here and now... and when we need it most.

Accept - We strongly promote the unconditional acceptance of those on the autism spectrum and with related disorders. This includes self-acceptance and social acceptance. By accepting each spectrum traveler for who they are, where they are in the present moment, we are promoting both autism acceptance and autism awareness.

Enrich - Our goal is to provide educational resources, programs and tools to improve and enhance life skills for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families, caregivers, therapists and teachers. We aspire to make life more meaningful and rewarding.

Inspire - We dedicate ourselves to be a positive and uplifting organization that encourages. promotes and celebrates success in all individuals. We believe each person on the autism spectrum has the opportunity to make a positive difference in this world.

Empower - We strive to empower those on the autism spectrum to achieve their highest quality of life academically, emotionally, financially, socially and spiritually.

We are about bringing people together, respecting both our individual talents and the wide range of the autism spectrum and providing support, encouragement and enrichment. We have a vision and although we’re in start-up stages, we will make our vision happen. If you’re interested in joining us, we could use your support.

I didn't mean for that last part to sound like a "plug" but Autism Empowerment truly is my passion and calling and I hope for the organization's name to be known so that we may develop programs to help all those who desire it.

Thank you for staying with me while I shared some of my thoughts about the recent proposed DSM-V changes. I've been wanting to write about this for over a week but it take me awhile to compose my thoughts and transfer them from my head to my fingers. I truly don’t want to take a "wait and see" what happens attitude as some propose. I’m not afraid for my opinion to be known whether it be seen as popular or unpopular.

I personally think being proactive and advocating with respect will have a better chance of positively affecting you and your loved ones than sitting back, waiting for something to happen and then being reactive.

Remember, the only statistic that will never change in this debate is that when a loved one is on the spectrum he/she is the 1 in 1. If you are on the spectrum, YOU are the ONE in ONE. You deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, with kindness and accepting, with support and encouragement. Advocate for yourself. Advocate for your children. Advocate for those on the spectrum who have trouble sharing their voices. Do it positively. Do it passionately. Do it professionally.

If you’d like to contact the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to let them know your opinion on the proposed diagnostic changes, you can do so at dsm5@psych.org or apa@psych.org. You can also call at (703) 907-7300.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! Please feel free to share with your social networks, the media, colleagues... and onward! Let your voices be heard! We all deserve the opportunity to be accepted as we are and to let our lights shine. We ARE the 1 in 1.

Karen Krejcha, Mom to 2 on the spectrum, Aspie

and Executive Director
Autism Empowerment
http://www.autismempowerment.org

Autism Empowerment Updates - Why Autism Empowerment, Why Now?

2012-01-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Aspierations Friends,

Tonight I wanted to share with you a blog that I wrote for Autism Empowerment. Although I don't plan to regularly cross-post Autism Empowerment blogs at Aspierations - Come As You Are Let Your Light Shine, I thought this was an important one.

I've been having a bit of a challenge lately being able to translate detailed imagery and visions in my head into words that I think will make sense to others. This isn't new to me...

Tonight I hope I was able to convey a little of what I am thinking about in relations to our new non-profit, Autism Empowerment. I am so excited about the progress we are making but I sure wish it would be faster. I wish we had the money to implement our programs now. I am an idea person and I need an execution master. Actually, I could use a team of execution masters, especially if they had a forest of money trees ripe for the picking!

HERE WAS MY BLOG from Autism Empowerment copied and pasted in entirety. Your comments are welcome!

Let me just jump right in here and say that I am so excited about what is happening with Autism Empowerment in 2012. We just participated in our first health fair, we joined the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and we're a proud member of the Nonprofit Network of Southwest Washington. We recently submitted a grant inquiry for our Autism Empowerment Support Network and we're interviewing next week in consideration for a grant for our Autism Empowerment Access to the Arts program.

Although I've been involved with and have founded start-ups before, this is my first start-up experience with a nonprofit. It has been an amazing process so far. Admittedly there is a learning curve especially when it comes to legalities and paperwork but I'm used to taking the winding road less traveled. Bring it on!

Why Autism Empowerment? Why now? Does the autism community need another 501(c)(3) nonprofit? Why, yes it does! As you get to know me and our organization's vision better over the upcoming months, I hope you'll begin to get why. I don't expect it to be overnight, although frankly I wish I had a magic switch that could make that so. Serving the autism, Asperger's and ASD community with services people can jump in and use immediately is what I feel I've been called to do. It's my passion. It's something I want to do in the present and in the future. I don't say those words lightly. I walk my talk.

Autism is a huge part of my personal life although I don't let it define me. I have two sons on the autism spectrum. My oldest son is 12 and has been diagnosed with Asperger's. My youngest son is 5 and was diagnosed with autism shortly after he turned 2 and had gone through a developmental regression. About a year after my sons were diagnosed in 2008, I came to the realization (or should I say, I came to acceptance) of my own place on the autism spectrum. After a much more lengthy process than necessary navigating the hoops, loops and alphabet soups of the medical system, I was also officially diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Additionally, the three of us also have a wide range of sensory processing issues (SPD) and co-conditions. I won't go into that here but suffice it to say that we're building some pretty thick medical and educational files.

My husband John is the only one of the four in our immediate family not on the autism spectrum. It makes for an interesting dynamic and explains why for the first 16 or so years of our marriage, he thought I might have come down to earth from another planet. (A nice planet, mind you... but a different one nonetheless. Now I'm not sure if he came up with the idea himself or if I implanted... err.. planted it into his head but the way I feel sometimes in trying to communicate, real life and science fiction don't always seem that far apart.)

John had his own challenges growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia and knows what a relief it can be to finally put a name to something he had been puzzling about. John is also incredibly passionate and driven to build Autism Empowerment into an accepting, enriching, inspiring and empowering organization for those on the autism spectrum and the families and providers that support them. I couldn't have a better partner in start-up and in marriage.

Right now we're both volunteering with Autism Empowerment while we run an online retail business at home from the side. We try to put in as many hours as we can when not with the kids, working or partaking in other life routines. It is our goal at some point during this year (sooner rather than later) to be able to transition to Autism Empowerment full-time.

Of course we haven't yet found a way for the bills to pay themselves so for now, we're doing both. As such, the growth at Autism Empowerment hasn't come as quickly since inception (June 2011) as I had hoped but I am a patient gal and truly believe that this is our year to let our light shine and connect with individuals, families, partners and visionaries who share our common interests. Patience, perseverance and passion... we have it and we hope our supporters will too.

There are other worthy organizations that are dedicated to medical research and providing services for those in the autism community. We're not a medical research non-profit so one might ask, what do you have to offer and why does the world need Autism Empowerment? Why now?

All of our programs are being developed based on the four foundational pillars of our organization, Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower. Call it a motto, call it a philosophy, call it what you like but we are working hard to make sure these four concepts tied together will help define who we are and what we believe. Because these concepts are so important to us and not just buzz words that sound good, I will be writing about them in depth separately. I have a little blurb about each one on the Autism Empowerment homepage and in our downloadable community letter in case you want to check those out.

Each concept truly deserves its own blog but knowing my writing style, it's more likely to be a dissertation. I don't suppose anyone has a flash drive they can use to download what's in my head into their brain?

I'd like you to think about other non-profit organizations that you believe in and support. What sets them apart? Is it the cause? The mission? The leadership? The programs? The research that they do? The reputation? The style? The advertising and marketing? What makes you support them versus another nonprofit that helps the same cause?

I can't speak for other organizations nor would I try to. We are not looking to compete with other autism support organizations. In fact we hope to have the opportunity to partner with those who share a similar vision and passion.

We believe in sharing our programs and support services with the world and plan to create programs that can and will be duplicated in order to reach the greatest number of people possible. Because we believe in giving back to the community we live in, many of our programs will have pilot runs in the Vancouver, WA / Portland, OR metro area. Other programs such as an upcoming radio show, online support network and educational webinars will be open to the world online.

We don't want to hide information, we want to freely share it with other individuals & families who are walking similar paths. We don't want to wait years to provide those in the autism community with help and strategies that work. As parents of kids on the spectrum and as an adult on the spectrum myself, we know that when we have a challenge at home or out in the world, we seek strategies that we can put in place to help us in the present.

We don't need uneducated critical judgment. We need acceptance and compassion. We don't need endless hoop jumping and having to run up great debt to try and get services. Although we appreciate research and participate in it ourselves from time to time, we want tools and resources we can turn to today while other strategies are being developed. We want to make a difference today and we believe that Autism Empowerment can and will do just that. We live in the present. Each day is a gift and we want to make the most of it. We like being inspired and motivated when we're feeling down and we strive to provide stories of inspiration to others as well. There are days we can all use a boost and we believe each one of us has a special story to offer. We may have challenges but it is also healthy to celebrate our successes.

I wish I could take you on a journey inside my head because I know unequivocally that if I could share with you my detailed vision for Autism Empowerment and have the world see it the way I see it, so many would come on board with us and know that what we plan on developing is so worth the investment.

That being said, as a woman with Asperger's, it's difficult to translate the big picture vision and full-length feature movies going on inside my head into succinct words that make sense for others who think differently from me to understand. As my oldest son who is a huge tech wiz would say, "you need a special interface and an updated processor with more memory and a better graphics card would probably help too..."

So true... and I wouldn't be surprised if he were the one to one day design it for me!

I will continue to work on my interface. Truth be disclosed, I am an idea person. If you're an execution master and interface genius, we could bring about positive change to the 1 in 1 affected by autism spectrum disorders. Oh yes, I know the statistic quoted by the CDC is currently about 1 in 110 but if you're the person that is being impacted, you are the 1 in 1... and doesn't the 1 in 1 deserve 100% effort? I am the 1 in 1. Are you?

In future blogs, I will be sharing my visions for the programs we are developing and plan to create. We aim to develop and provide services and programs that can be utilized in the present for those in all ages and stages of life and in all areas of the autism spectrum.

I hope you'll consider supporting us! Thank you for taking the time to read the Autism Empowerment blog today. I welcome your feedback and comments and appreciate you forwarding this along to your social network. If what I have written as touched you and you'd like to be a part of Autism Empowerment or have ideas that could help us take our programs to the next level, please drop me a line. If you know of anyone who might be interested in helping us invest in our vision and make the move to Autism Empowerment full-time, we'd appreciate the assistance. I'll admit that asking for money from individuals is a skill I was much better at when I was a little kid selling Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies but I'll be humble here and say that Autism Empowerment would greatly appreciate your help or the help of those you know who would believe in what we do. In giving, we receive...

Before I go, I wanted to say one more thing about our four foundational pillars:

Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower

When you come to a place where you are at peace and accept yourself for who you are, where you are, you have a stronger ability to let your light shine and inspire others. When you feel self-acceptance and social acceptance, you are often more willing to further enrich your life, thus providing you with new tools and strategies for empowerment.

Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower tie together. It's not just a "motto"... it's my way of life and it's our organization's way of life.

Thank you!

Karen Krejcha, Executive Director

Aspie at a Health Fair - First time presenting for Autism Empowerment

2012-01-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

Do you mind if I share some exciting news with you?

Well, even if you do, I'm going to share it anyway!

Today my husband John and I were exhibitors at the Firstenburg Annual Health & Wellness Fair in Vancouver, Washington. We represented Autism Empowerment, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit we founded last year. This was the first time that as an organization, we participated in a health fair and provided information and outreach to the public about autism spectrum disorders and often related co-conditions such as Sensory Processing Disorder, OCD and ADHD. We also introduced the public to our organization and shared about the programs and services we are developing and working to fund. We promoted the four foundational pillars of our organization: Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower.

It was invigorating, exciting, empowering, insightful and reinforced that all the work we've put in over the past few months preparing ourselves for events like these were well worth it. Last night John and I were burning the midnight oil preparing.

It was also scary. To be honest, I wasn't sure how well I would do in a small space with lots of unfamiliar people, conflicting noises from different booths and trying to participate in multiple conversations at the same time. Being on the autism spectrum myself with Asperger Syndrome, I have challenges in social situations. I can do a pretty decent job speaking in front of others when I have a script in my head to use but sudden unexpected questions where I feel unprepared can really rattle me.

I had to do it though. This is such a passion for me. It's hard to explain. I have a real desire to let people in this world know that those on the autism spectrum are amazing people that deserve acceptance and respect. They each have an inner voice and something special to contribute to the world. They also have challenges that can often be assisted with strategies tailored to them.

Today I saw firsthand how accepting and how clueless the general public could be. Some could even be quite rude. I am reminded of a woman probably in her 60's who was looking at our table. I smiled and greeted her and introduced our non-profit and she replied something along the lines of "oh, thank GOODNESS I don't have to deal with people like THAT. Autistic people scare me. I leave whenever I see one of THEM come into the room."

Lady, you scared me. I may be an Aspie, but you're assinine...

For a millisecond, I contemplated sharing with her that I was one of "those" people and perhaps she should be leaving the health fair pronto but it occurred to me that what she needed was information, education and probably a few prayers too so I smiled and was kind and gave her as positive an impression as I could. Maybe I made a difference, maybe not. There was no way I was not going to positively advocate for my fellow brothers and sisters in the autism community.

Although there were others that passed by our table that made some comments which I'm glad my kids weren't around to hear, I made it my goal to be a positive advocate for those on the autism spectrum who could speak and for those who couldn't. Granted, I am just one voice among many but we all deserve to be accepted and treated with respect and kindness.

I disclosed my Asperger's to many today and I also talked about being the mom to two sons on the spectrum. Wearing the mom hat, I could talk with and relate to other parents who were experiencing challenges and questions about their kiddos but weren't sure what the next step was. Wearing the Aspie hat, it opened the door for conversations with a few adults who were interested in possibly getting diagnosed or finding answers and resources for challenges they were facing.

I am not ashamed of who I am. I realize that for many that there is a stigma attached to autism but I'd like to be a part of changing that impression. There were a few that upon my disclosure looked freaked out that they might have said something that offended me but I'm a big girl and would rather have these conversations face-to-face where I can respond than behind my back where I can't.

The comments that always amuse, confuse and sadden me simultaneously are along the lines of... "Really? But you seem so normal..." or "well, if you can communicate like this, it really can't be that bad for you." I try to make the assumption that most people are well-meaning when they say stuff like that but seriously... how do you respond to comments like these? I "seem" so normal.. but...??? Minimalizing my challenges after just a few moments spent with me?

Well to be honest, I often thought I was from another planet growing up or at least another plane of existence, so the thought that I might not be considered "normal" (whatever THAT is) doesn't really phase me anymore. Although I suppose these comments are intended by some as a compliment, they really come off as back-handed insults so people, please be mindful of what you're saying!

That being said, I've put my foot in my mouth before more times than I can count so I try and give people the benefit of the doubt until they prove that wrong. If I wasted my energy being adversarial with everyone that said something negative or rude, I'd live a very unhappy life. In my opinion, it's much better to show a positive example but still an honest one. Just because I may be able to write or articulate myself, doesn't mean it's a cake walk. It is very hard work and will always be a work in progress.

There is something else interesting about the health fair today that I wanted to share. Our table was located next to a father and daughter who were exhibiting something completely unrelated to autism (I won't disclose it here out of respect for their privacy) but in getting to know our table neighbors, they disclosed to us that both of them were also on the autism spectrum, the father with Asperger's and the daughter with autistic disorder or more "classic" autism. At the table on the other side of us, there was a mother who struck up a conversation with us because her school-age son has Asperger's.

What are the odds of Autism Empowerment being placed between these two families? I don't know whether you believe in God but I do and I believe we were placed there for a reason and an opportunity to connect.

Today was an amazing day. We made connections with other service providers in the community that we're going to hopefully partner with in upcoming events. We gained information from some local health care providers that we're going to add as resources on the Autism Empowerment website. We handed out a number of packets, added some to our new mailing list and had some heartfelt conversations with individuals who wanted to know more about autism spectrum disorders.

I might have had my heart racing and I might have looked to some like a deer caught in the headlights in trying to respond to certain questions but in every instance, I did my very best. Thank goodness my husband John was by my side. As the only "neurotypical" in the family, we sometimes joke at home that he's the odd man out. Well today, every time that I stumbled or paused to process information and gather my thoughts, John was there. Sometimes all it took was a reassuring hand on my shoulder, a little extra grounding sensory input, a safe zone... He is an incredible advocate for the autism community and I wish all fathers of children on the spectrum were as interested and involved as he is.

I am also thankful to my parents who without their unconditional support and love, this would not have been possible. They know my passion and fully support our vision for providing positive accepting, educational and inspirational resources and support to the autism community right now. So many times we hear of studies that are researching this or that and although we have participated in some of these studies ourselves and know they may very well have a benefit down the road, what we have heard from so many families is that people are looking for resources and support that can help them right now. They are looking for emotional, strategic, financial, physical and spiritual support. They are looking for the best way to help their loved one with autism reach his or her highest potential. That is what we aim to provide... and we are excited about developing an Autism Empowerment Support Network built on excellence, built on the experience of individuals and families living with ASDs and built with passion, acceptance, love, a thirst for knowledge and an unstoppable desire to continually seek resources to better one's life.

Now that we have our first health fair under our belt, we are excited and looking forward to the next. After four hours of conversation with strangers, I needed decompression time when I got home. Admittedly, I went straight to the computer and started researching websites of providers we had met but then it occurred to me that I was physically exhausted and needed time to be able to come down and process everything that had just happened. After a rare and well-needed nap, I came back, did some work for our business that pays the bills (Count Your Beans), posted a few blurbs here and there on Facebook and came to Asperiations, Come As You Are, Let Your Light Shine to blog.

I have decided that it is important to share more of my personal journey along the spectrum... the successes, the challenges, the trials and tribulations, the meltdowns, the accomplishments, the humor, the advocacy... it all needs to be out there to give a more complete picture of life on the spectrum.

Should you be at an event in the future and come across Autism Empowerment, please feel free to come over, say hi and share your story. In fact, you can say hi now at our Facebook page. It's relatively new and growing but we look forward to getting the word out to those in the autism community that it is a positive place to congregate for support, inspiration, acceptance and enrichment. As mentioned above, the four foundational pillars of Autism Empowerment are Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower and that is what we intend to provide with each program and service we develop.... not just today but tomorrow and every day in the future. People on the autism spectrum need to have a venue to let their light shine. Quite frankly, everyone needs that venue. If you're experienced in fund-raising, work for a company that supports causes such as ours, have an involvement in the media and/or are interested in our mission, we could use your help.

Won't you join us?

Here is my Aspierations Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aspierations-Come-As-You-Are-Let-Your-Light-Shine/243000695711263

Here is the Autism Empowerment Facebook page: - http://www.facebook.com/autismempowerment

Here is the Autism and Scouting Facebook page (a program of Autism Empowerment): http://www.facebook.com/autismandscouting

Here is our Autism Empowerment website:
http://www.autismempowerment.org

Here are PDFs of a few of the sheets we handed out today:

Autism Empowerment Community Welcome Letter

Autism Empowerment Programs and Services

How You Can Help Autism Empowerment

Thank you so much for reading my blog today! I welcome your feedback and support! Starting a non-profit 501(c)(3) has been quite an adventure thus far. I have learned there are areas where I shine (coming up with ideas for programs, internet research, exuberance and passion, creative and organizational writing,sending professional emails....) and there are areas where I have a lot of room to grow (asking for money, securing corporate partnerships, time-management, overcoming initial writer's block when taking on tasks, initiating phone calls, reading social cues in person and not talking too fast or too much when I'm nervous.)

Please feel free to share this blog as I look forward to sharing my journey, the journey of my family and the growth of Autism Empowerment with you!

Best wishes in your own journey!
Letting my Light Shine today and always,
Karen Krejcha

High Aspierations for the New Year & a plug for Autism Empowerment

2012-01-02T23:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Aspierations Friends!

I am so excited to be in 2012. Not that 2011 was bad. In fact, a lot of meaningful accomplishments happened in my life during 2011.

It was probably one of the busiest years of my life and I've had many. It was definitely one of the most spiritual. But more on that later...

For those who have followed my blogging for any length of time, you may know that my husband John and I own an online retail business called Count Your Beans. We sell dolls and bears online through our website, eBay and Amazon. The period from right before Thanksgiving until a couple days before Christmas is just crazy. Shoppers on steroids... and it's not that they're buying so much more, it is that there are so many customer service questions and everything includes a real big sense of urgency. Instead of the regular collectors we have buying from us throughout the year, we have a lot of people coming to us for the first time looking for gifts for their loved ones. We've been doing this over 12 years and we can always guarantee the last minute "gotta have it overnight Express" orders from men. The 3rd week of December tends to have more males shopping with us than any other week in the year! Love you, guys!

I'll admit, I'm ELATED to be out of the Christmas rush. The holidays provide a lot of sensory overload for me and my boys. Having the kids off school for two weeks for "Winter Break" was anything but a break for Mom and Dad. Love the kids... don't love going way off-routine during one of our busiest weeks of the year. Arrrgh.... I know of two parents in this household who will be celebrating when the boys go back to school tomorrow. Our hearts go out to the teachers!

One thing I wish I had more time to do during "Winter Break" is actually take more time to relax and enjoy the holidays. We enjoyed drives and walks to see the Christmas lights, spent some time playing family games and tried to keep the boys entertained while dozens of to-do items swirled around in our heads but it certainly wasn't rest and relaxation.

Do you have resolutions for the New Year? I am so excited about Autism Empowerment, the 501(c)(3) public charity that John and I co-founded over the summer. We haven't had as much time to work on it as we hoped but we are making it a priority for 2012. In fact, it is so much of a priority that by the end of the year, John and I hope to be doing Count Your Beans very part-time and Autism Empowerment very full-time. We'll still take care of our customers and will still offer product for pre-order and sale, however we are putting our faith and focus into the foundation and funding of programs for Autism Empowerment.

I look forward to sharing some of those projects with you very soon. We have an interview for grant funding for one of our projects later this month. I'll share that shortly.

I am so jazzed to be blogging again. I missed writing to you very much! I am not making many New Year's Resolutions but one is to schedule time to blog at Aspierations - Come As You Are, Let Your Light Shine at least twice a week. I will also be blogging for Autism Empowerment and will be writing features and articles for programs we are developing.

Have you seen our Autism Empowerment website yet? Please feel free to check us out:
http://www.autismempowerment.org

I love our new logo!

We have a very special project we are currently working on and that has come together in just the last few weeks. John is the Unit Commissioner and I am the Committee Chair for the first ever Sensory Friendly Cub Scout Pack in Vancouver, Washington. We have an excellent Cubmaster, Deanna Pehrson and are all working hard to put together a terrific team!

If you know of boys in the area in the 1st - 5th grades with sensory issues, autism, Asperger's, SPD, PDD / NOS, ADD, ADHD, cerebral palsy, Down's Syndrome or any other special need, Cub Scout Pack 2 is dedicated to being an inclusive accepting, enriching, inspiring and empowering place where Scouts can Do Their Best!

Although Autism Empowerment is not affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, John has been a volunteer for many years and I've helped out here and there as well. As part of Autism Empowerment's "Autism and Scouting" program, we have provided some seed money to the Pack and we are also volunteering our time and will be providing youth and adults with sensory training and support resources. The Pack also plans to have a support group for adults.

Although Ryan is too young to join now, we are very excited to have our youngest son join this Pack as a Tiger Scout after he completes Kindergarten this school year.

Here is the Cub Scout Pack 2 website and Facebook page for more details. Our son Justin who has achieved the rank of Star in Boy Scouts designed it for us. He was thrilled to use his special interest for good and we think he did a VERY good job, especially considering he is 12!

https://sites.google.com/site/pack2vancouver/home - Cub Scout Pack 2 Website

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cub-Scout-Pack-2/203883336362366 - Cub Scout Pack 2 Facebook

Here is a blog that I recently did at Autism Empowerment looking for volunteers:
http://www.autismempowerment.org/blog/entry/2655093/volunteers-adult-cub-scouting-mentors-needed-in-vancouver-wa

If you'd like to hear the story about how this Sensory Friendly Pack has come about in a 3 week period (one of our busiest personal times of the year), check out John Krejcha's Autism and Scouting blog, "Three Weeks in December - The formation of a Sensory Friendly Pack"

http://www.autismandscouting.blogspot.com/2012/01/three-weeks-in-december-formation-of.html

Okay, then!

Before I end my blogging for the night, I wanted to share with you that I look forward to sharing my personal experiences as a mom on the autism spectrum with two sons traveling the journey. These past few months I haven't been blogging much but I have been storing up content and I believe I have gone through a lot of growth spiritually and emotionally. I am so passionate about sharing my vision for Autism Empowerment with you. I hope you'll enjoy the journey with me!

Happy New Year!
Karen

Mixed thoughts - Death of a Grandma, Empathy and Visual Memory

2011-12-02T23:07:00.000-08:00

Today was a day of mixed thoughts and emotions in the Krejcha household.

This morning John received an email from his uncle letting him know that his paternal Grandma had passed away in her sleep the night before. Shortly thereafter John had the chance to speak with his Dad on the phone and interact with other family via Facebook. John hasn't decided yet whether he will be flying back for the funeral but I will be there for him with love even if I struggle to find the words I want to express prior to that time.

John's Grandma Peg was the matriarch of a rather large Krejcha family and from the stories and anecdotes I've heard, she will certainly be missed by many. I only had the opportunity to meet her once but she appeared to be a spunky and well-loved woman. Here is a picture of our trip to Wisconsin back in 2009.

4 Generations of Krejchas - Front: Our son Justin and Grandma Margaret Krejcha Lyscio

Back: John, our son Ryan and John's Dad, Larry

When we drove back from Washington to Wisconsin a couple years ago, the trip initially started out being a desire to attend our first Autism Society of America conference in Lake Charles, IL. Ryan and Justin had been diagnosed with autism and Asperger's Syndrome the year before. At that point I had yet to be diagnosed with Asperger's but it was during that trip that I came to the realization and acceptance that I too was a traveler on the autism spectrum.

Since the conference was not too far away from Wisconsin and John hadn't seen many of his family members in years, we decided to drive from Washington to Wisconsin first and spend a few days there including our 17th wedding anniversary. During that time we had the opportunity to see a large group of relatives on John's maternal and paternal side, many of whom the kids and I were meeting for the first time. It was an intense but positive experience.

Hearing about John's Grandma passing and then viewing the picture above brings back vivid visual memories of that trip. Tons of details. You see, when I look at pictures that I have taken or were taken at an event I attended, I can recall sights, smells, emotions and probably more details of specific conversations than anyone around me would find it socially acceptable to recite. Since I have learned over the years that this is not common, it can be quite overwhelming and difficult for others to wrap their heads around so usually I don't even try to explain and just chalk it up to one of my charming quirks.

If you've seen the TV show now on air, "Unforgettable", you might wonder if it is a little like hyperthymesia. My memory is strong but it's not like that although there are some similarities. The short movies that go on in my head are more like full-blown sensory events. They look, feel, smell and taste as real as if I were participating in the original event.

The inability to box and lock many of these intense visual recall experiences are part of the reason I still have occasional issues with PTSD and depression about past events from my youth and early adulthood. If I choose to do so and often even if I try to choose NOT to do so, I can go back in time to a memory and replay it on the movie screen going on in my head and physically feel like I am there... tastes, smells, textures... etc. If it's a fond memory, awesome. If it is horrific... well, not so good...

So when something significant and unexpected happens, unless I can refocus my mind on something else, my mind gets stuck in memory recall, association and replay mode. Even though I only met John's grandma on one trip to Wisconsin, many memories associated with that trip have been replaying in my mind over and over today.

The reason I am writing this here is because I want to be able to go to John later this evening or when he is ready and be fully present for him and not caught up in my own thoughts and feelings. I taught myself a long time ago that if I am struggling to refocus because old bad memories are coming back, I just write out what I am thinking and pretend that it is part of a script of a movie, watch the movie and then move on until I'm ready to revisit that film again. By temporarily fictionalizing what I visualize I can let it go and relieve some of the emotional intensity. Does anyone reading this blog do that too or know someone who does? If so, please let me know!

I didn't mean to go off on a tangent about myself or my visual thought processes but since I did, thanks for sticking through it with me.

I want to be there for my husband while he processes his thoughts and feelings about the loss of his grandma but the truth is right now, I'm feeling more sympathetic than empathetic because I haven't quite yet got a read on what he is feeling. If I can relate to his feelings, empathy will follow. If I can't, then I will still be as compassionate and true to myself as I can and will listen to his needs and respond from there. Having lost his other grandmother just a little over a year ago, I know that today he is thinking about them both and also thinking about family relationships.

As I crave soulful conversation and can be quite emotionally intense (only a very special man like John would be able to put up with me 24/7), I have a desire to go to him and say something of substance. The truth is that I cannot say anything that will change the circumstances of what happened. The logical "Temperance Brennan-esque" (Bones) side of me is afraid I'm going to blurt out something well-meaning but somehow inappropriate. Oh my, do I have Temperance Brennan tendencies!!! Perhaps that's partially why many women don't get me.

Earlier I just hugged John and told him I'd be there for him when he needed me. John's thought processes are quite different than mine and I often joke that we live on different planes of existence. I've memorized enough social scripting throughout my life that I know the "expected" things to say to show empathy but they never feel real to me. "My condolences" and "I'm sorry for your loss", although well-intended and accurate still don't seem genuine to what I feel inside or want to express. They don't seem like ENOUGH. Can't we just do a mind meld so you know what I'm thinking?

There are many out there that say people on the autism spectrum lack empathy and feeling. I have always taken issue with that. Naturally I can't speak for others but for as for me, I have very INTENSE feelings and am constantly trying to rein them in so as to not overpower others in conversation coming across like a bull in a china shop. Writing this, there is no back and forth and unspoken social curriculum to follow so I can just let thoughts flow and hopefully not feel compelled to edit them 29 times later.

Empathy is the ability to recognize and share the feelings that are experienced by another human being. I get the cognitive component most of the time but it's my reaction to that which sometimes is called to question. For example, growing up I had a tendency to laugh inappropriately at non-humorous situations and my sons are like this too. Embarrassingly enough, I STILL sometimes do this and my husband will sometimes feign injury just to see if I'll laugh. Nice, huh?

If it's sadness, anger, joy, excitement, passion, I can get that. I think I do pretty well sensing the correct emotions in men but I'm still terrible at accurately assessing other women's feelings, opinions and reactions in conversation. As a result, I struggle developing meaningful relationships with women and I still ask myself, what did I do or say wrong? I thought that person liked me or the very least was neutral but.... ?????

For example, I can usually pick up on if someone doesn't relate to me nor me to them and the conversation we're having doesn't go beyond chit chat, however sensing emotional jealousy or participating in "gossip" with many women is something that I struggle to pick up on or process correctly. I'd just prefer not to be a part of it. I have read about it and understand it conceptually but when facing a situation where I have later heard that someone was jealous about something I had accomplished, I just couldn't get why nor did I want to be the "cause" of someone's feelings of sadness, anger or insecurity for just being myself.

Yikes... I just looked at the clock and it's time to put the kids to bed. What was going to be a short blog as a tribute to my husband's grandma and Ryan & Justin's great-grandma turned more into revelations about me. Ugh... that sure feels selfish. It certainly wasn't my intent but I'll leave my writing up in case someone out there might be able to relate to it. I was hoping to be able to work through some thoughts and feelings in writing and end with something meaningful that would express what I feel for my husband and his family but have not yet found the appropriate words to express.

God bless you, Grandma Margaret (Peg) Krejcha Lyscio. You meant so much to so many in my husband's extended family. May you be at peace in heaven free of pain and filled with joy. May your family here on earth take comfort in the special memories they shared with you. May your death remind them of joyous days filled with passionate living and loving. May they remember your spunk and still feel your spirit.

** Added 12/3 - For family members who may have linked in through a search engine, I found a link to Peg's obituary below. The funeral service will be Monday, December 5th.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/postcrescent/obituary.aspx?n=margaret-a-krejcha-lyscio&pid=154855235&refsvce=facebook#.Ttr5LpK1YY0.facebook

Blessings and love,

Karen

Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving (in an Autism / Asperger Friendly House)

2011-11-23T20:34:00.000-08:00

Twas the night before Thanksgiving,

And all through the house,

There was cooking and cleaning

ME??? It was my spouse!

We were preparing for guests

on Thanksgiving Day,

We don't usually entertain,

Anxiety was on display...

Our Thanksgivings are normally peaceful

But there was sure to be noise...

With football, two gals,

And six charming boys...

Preventing meltdowns was on my mind,

Since we were changing our tradition,

How would our boys react

To an unpredictable position?

Would our guests find it odd,

If our youngest took off his clothes?

Would they have a sense of humor

Listening to endless Sprout shows?

Would the meltdowns tonight

be a sign of tomorrow

or would happiness and peace

replace frustration and sorrow?

As I looked around the room,

My youngest son flew in

Wearing an Angry Birds costume

He was happy again within...

My oldest was playing chess

Making moves like a winner

He was excited for next day's friends

and promised to eat something at dinner.

I said a little prayer

Asking for strength and grace

Acceptance, a sense of humor

A safe Thanksgiving place...

I had so much to appreciate,

A spectrum family to love,

Acceptance from true friends,

Blessings from above...

Even though I was nervous

Wasn't good at chit-chat,

I knew Thanksgiving would be memorable

Something special to look back at!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Krejcha family to yours!

This will be our first time EVER when our family has had guests in our home and entertained on Thanksgiving. Should be an adventure!

My Thanksgiving wish for you...

May you feel accepted and enriched.

May you receive through the act of giving.

May you inspire others with your actions.

May you let your light shine!

Love,

Karen

Let me know your Thanksgiving plans below!

Like this blog? Come "Like" Aspierations on Facebook and while you're there, give a "Like" for Autism Empowerment too!

Aspierations Blog now has a Facebook page

2011-11-17T15:25:00.000-08:00

Hi Aspierations blog friends!

The writing bug is hitting me again, folks. If you check the dates of my blog postings, you'll see I come and go in streaks. I might post 20 blogs in one month and then go another two or three months with just a few.

Of course at this time of year, it's hard to find the amount of time to write that I'd like to. To pay the bills, my husband and I own an online retail business named Count Your Beans Dolls, Bears & Collectibles. From now until about the 20th of December is when we work crazy hours to try and make enough income to help carry us through during slower times. We sell a lot at eBay and Amazon and through our website as well. We work long hours most days but during the holiday period, it gets incredibly nuts. I'm not complaining, it's just the nature of the industry.

So here is where I have a daily dilemma in how to manage my time. John and I started up a 501(c)(3) public charity earlier this year called Autism Empowerment. This is where John and I eventually envision ourselves working full-time and if I had the financial resources, I'd be doing it full-time now.

I think about it every day and try to spend at least an hour working toward that goal. Right now we're happily unpaid volunteers but there will come a point sometime in 2012 when I believe we'll be able to start and transition. I'll be writing lots of grant proposals along the way and figuring out creative ways to fundraise, develop connections and try and partner with other organizations that have similar missions and ideals. Of course some angel donors would help as well but I have faith that will come in time as we build our reputation and prove our credibility and integrity.

Please feel free to check out our website with the understanding that at this point, it is very bare basics, a vision in the making. As I've mentioned previously, the four foundational pillars of Autism Empowerment are Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower. We will be developing and building our programs and resources upon that strong foundation.

I will be writing a separate blog for Autism Empowerment and am trying to figure out the best venue for that. For now, it's at the website but I may have it hosted at Blogger or WordPress in the future. Regarding Aspierations - Come As You Are, Let Your Light Shine, I will be continuing to blog here. Although I expect some overlap in content, I will keep Aspierations separate because I still want a personal place to come and share whatever I feel like sharing at the moment.

Today in addition to playing around a bit with the backgrounds and design of the Aspierations blog, I set up a Facebook page for Aspierations - Come As You Are, Let Your Light Shine. The purpose of the Facebook page is to post little blurbs, thoughts or links during those times when I have something I want to share but don't have time to write an entire blog.

I invite you to come check it out. It's new as of 11/17 so there aren't many "likes" yet but I hope you'll come by occasionally and if you like what you read, give me a "like".

Since I'm already requesting plugs, I just recently added a new badge to Aspierations as well. By clicking on the badge and then clicking on the BN button at the page you're taken to, you'll help the Aspierations blog move up in ranking and we'll be able to spread autism awareness, acceptance, enrichment, inspiration and empowerment to more people! Please help us in our mission!

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Happy World Kindness Day - Pay It Forward through the Autism Community and the World

2011-11-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hello Aspierations Blog Visitors,

I hope you're having a pleasant day today wherever you are in the world. Today is November 13th, 2011 also known as World Kindness Day. Were you aware? Would you like to be? Well if you read this blog, you're going to be, so enjoy the ride!

The Mission…
The mission of the World Kindness Movement (WKM) is to inspire individuals towards greater kindness and connect nations to create a kinder world. The WKM encourages individuals of all nations to set up their own kindness movements. It is also actively seeking kindness movements to join the WKM. Currently, membership stands at 18 kindness organizations with representation from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Dubai, England, India, Italy, Japan, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and the USA.

http://www.worldkindness.org.sg/

In my opinion, the world can certainly use more kindness... and acceptance... and tolerance. It starts at home. It starts with me. It starts with you. Today and tomorrow may we look beyond ourselves and beyond the boundaries of our city, state and country. May we look beyond our culture, our race and our religion and realize that we are citizens of the world, beautiful people from the inside out. We are able and meant to do good works.

Spreading love through random acts of kindness really can make a difference in people's lives. You may find that as you set out to do a kind act (perhaps anonymously) for another without looking for recognition or glory that a couple things will happen. One... you'll be making a positive difference in someone else's life and give that person confidence and faith that there are kind people in this world. Two... you'll feel a special joy inside, one that is much richer than any tangible reward.

Something funny happened today. Shortly after I was reading about World Kindness Day and trying to think of a way that our new non-profit Autism Empowerment could participate in the coming years ahead, my youngest son yelled from downstairs asking everyone to "come quickly and take a look out the window!!"

There in our front yard and also in yards throughout our neighborhood, we saw teenagers raking and cleaning the leaves and yards of the neighborhood residents. At this time in Washington, that is a lot of wet leaves! In fact our boys were just playing in them yesterday!

What a kind and thoughtful turn! Seeing what those kids were doing made me smile. It also made me stop and think what I could do to make a positive difference in someone else's life today, tomorrow and the day after that.

To start, I want to share a couple links with you in case you or your family would like to get involved with the World Kindness movement. I think it's a terrific opportunity for kids and adults on and off the autism spectrum to show that each one of us has the power to create positive exchanges and events in the lives of those we love as well as in the lives of complete strangers.

No matter what your ability, each one of us has the power to do something positive

Personally, I enjoy performing acts of kindness anonymously and a few years ago I picked up some free Smile cards from HelpOthers.org. The boys and I have had lots of fun finding ways to give them out.

Maybe you'd like to give it a try?

http://www.helpothers.org/

There is also an organization in Australia doing something similar with Ripple Kindness cards.

DID YOU KNOW: It is said that if you perform two acts of kindness a day, and the recipients of that kindness go on to perform two acts of their own, more than a thousand acts of kindness can been shared in just 10 days. But if each of those same people shared five acts instead of two, more than 19 million acts of kindness could be shared in just 10 days!

http://www.rippleeffects.com.au/RippleCards.html

Do you need some ideas to inspire you? Do you want to read stories of other's acts of kindness? Believe me, if you go and read those stories on a day when all it seems we hear on the news is negativity, it will truly lift your spirits. Try making a daily choice to put yourself in a positive atmosphere and live your life with kindness, integrity and accountability. It will rub off on others and it will be a great example to those around you.

Over 41,000 people "Like" the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation at Facebook. Their foundation inspires people to practice kindness and pass it along to others.

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/

If you've never seen the movie "Pay It Forward" with Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment, I also recommend checking it out as it was the inspiration for a number of kindness movements.

We are all capable of doing kind deeds and good works. It often starts just with a smile. Never underestimate the power of a genuine smile or a kind hello to a stranger to help lift his or her mood. There have been many times in my life when I was feeling down or lonely and someone else's kindness helped me get out of my funk and lift my spirits.

We all have hard and challenging days and events happen in our lives. It's part of the human experience. I have found that one way to help me get out of my place of challenge is to keep the faith and turn the adversity around by trying to make a positive difference somewhere else. Oftentimes when we can take the focus off ourselves and work on positive projects, uplifting tasks and empowering others, we find in the end that we are inspired and empowered too. The four foundational pillars of Autism Empowerment are Accept, Enrich, Inspire, Empower but the value system and philosophy we embody can be applied to anyone's life.

So if you're feeling in the mood or even if you're not, make sure to bookmark some of these links and check them out:

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/Resources/Kindness-Links/

Also, we designed this logo earlier in the week but as I was looking at it today, I realized the Autism Empowerment logo actually fits in quite nicely with World Kindness Day so I'm sharing it here below:

We're spreading "Accept, Enrich, Inspire, Empower" to the four corners of the world. Come join us!

Thanks for stopping by. By visiting this blog today, you actually paid a special kindness to me... so thank you! I will do my best to pay it forward!

Karen

Autism Empowerment's Autism and Scouting Training

2011-11-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Hello Aspierations Friends,

Yesterday was a big day for Autism Empowerment. My husband John Krejcha who blogs at Life and Times of John Krejcha and Autism and Scouting successfully offered his first two training classes: A Grab Bag of Tricks: Support Scouts with Autism, Attention and Sensory Issues" at the Cascade Pacific Council Boy Scouts of America Program and Training Conference in Beaverton, OR on Saturday, November 5th, 2011. He was expecting about 40 people in both classes and ended up with about 60. Additionally, approximately 400 - 500 people received a copy of his presentation on CD. As this information makes its way back to various packs and troops throughout Oregon and SW Washington, we hope it will raise acceptance and awareness. We hope leaders will feel enriched and inspired. We hope they will use the tools and tips to help empower themselves and the scouts in their organizations.

In speaking with John afterwards, he believed and emotionally felt that both training sessions were a total success. He's already been invited back for next year and now that he has these first two sessions under his belt (a visual which doesn't make logical sense to me as an Aspie but I still know what the idiom means), he is ready for more. I am SO VERY PROUD of him as his wife, his friend, the mother of his children and as a representative of Autism Empowerment.

John had been practicing his presentation for about a month and had been writing it well before that. In addition to helping leaders understand some of the social and sensory challenges that many on the autism spectrum or with ADHD have and to get across the point that ASD presents differently from individual to individual, one of the main goals was to give attendees a variety of take home tips that scout leaders could use to help successfully lead and empower scouts in their troop or pack who were on the autism spectrum. John had 45 slides to present. Quite frankly, it could have been an all day seminar!

One good thing was that attendees knew that the slides shown would be on a take-home CD so they could focus on listening and take notes if they wanted. There was a lot of content that needed to be condensed into a 50 minute presentation (40 technically plus 10 minutes for questions) and unless you're used to this kind of thing and teach or train on a regular basis, it takes practice to work out the timing, the cadence and be prepared for questions along the way.

I still remember John's first time presenting to me in our living room. As I sat back in the recliner relaxed with my journal and pen ready for note-taking, I knew that my presence that first time made him extremely nervous. It's not that I'm a particularly intimidating individual (ha!) but he had not had a lot of lengthy public speaking experience in front of adults and I know he wanted to do a amazing job. He also knew how important it was for him to positively represent the Autism and Scouting program of Autism Empowerment. By doing so, he was also promoting the four foundational pillars of the non-profit organization: Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower.

This past week he totally upped his game. I supported him in any way I could. Playing the part of a pretend audience as I listened to him give his training, I would interrupt him with questions during his presentation, sometimes on topic, sometimes completely random, sometimes supportive, sometimes a tad obnoxious. I am sure at first he wasn't as amused at this impromptu "skills training" as I was but by the Friday afternoon before the presentation, he was nailing my questions left and right and was probably glad for the practice. Be Prepared, I told him... and he certainly was.

In his last trial run before the big day, John emulated a sense of confidence and sense of peace that I had not previously seen. We had been praying for him to have strength, tenacity, humor and wisdom as he gave his presentation. As I watched him share each Powerpoint slide with passion, humility, charm, humor and wisdom, I knew his prayers were answered and that his training sessions the following day would be a success.

Unfortunately I was not able to attending the training because I needed to be on hand to watch the boys. John was gone from about 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. and the longest we've ever had a sitter here is about 2 1/2 hours. He did call in after each presentation and I was beaming with pride over his excitement and accomplishment in reaching so many that day. We hope they will take back the information shared to their local packs / troops and share it among their leadership.

I know John is looking forward to more training in the near future. We realize this is something he could quite regularly throughout the country. As we get the word out about Autism Empowerment, earn some grants and gain public support, we look forward to the day when we can work for Autism Empowerment full-time. We are currently brainstorming on additional ways to reach more people and although I have submitted our first grant proposal, I will be writing more over the next few months. There is a lot to learn when founding and starting up a non-profit but the rewards of reaching out and helping others is totally worth it and as I've mentioned on my blog here before, it is not just my passion but my calling and John feels it is his as well. We don't say that lightly but we do say it with passion, faith and hope for the future.

If you have a connection to scouting (former or past scout or leader) or are interested in the possibilities of scouting for a son or daughter who is on the autism spectrum (Autism, Asperger's, PDD/NOS included), I invite you to check out the following resources. I haven't gone into the meat of John's presentation here at Aspierations but will be doing so more in-depth on the Autism Empowerment website. (Aspierations is still my personal blog, although I know there will be overlap in content and I do plan on an Aspierations Inspirational program within Autism Empowerment in the future.)

For those who didn't attend John's presentation, we have uploaded 22 Scout Leader tips for helping scouts with autism, Asperger's or other autism spectrum disorders. You can read, print or download the guide here: Autism and Scouting Tips (PDF) File. Feel free to share them!

In the future, John wants to get his presentation on podcast and perhaps have an upload of the slides for others to view and use in their own presentations. We need to work out the particulars but it is in the plans for the future.

In the interim, John currently continues to head up Autism Empowerment's Autism and Scouting program which includes support and resources in a variety of forms with more coming!

The most active online group currently is Autism Empowerment's Autism and Scouting Facebook page.

The goal is a dynamic and supportive group where parents, scouts (male and female, former and current), leaders and those investigating scouting for their children can learn the features and benefits of the Scouting experience. You are encouraged to "like" us at Facebook and share with your friends. Our numbers are growing and we're happy to have scouters from all around the world represented.

http://www.facebook.com/autismandscouting

While there, don't forget to join our Autism Empowerment Facebook Page:

http://www.facebook.com/autismempowerment

We're also at Twitter through Autism Empowerment: @autismscouting and @autismempowermt. If interested, I'm on Twitter personally at @aspierations.

John will be blogging about his training experience soon and I will either repost it here or you can find it at his Autism and Scouting blog.

Thanks for stopping by! It sure feels good to be blogging again! Two days in a row! I'm on a roll and I'm not even a sandwich! (Badda bing, badda boom... or badda boo if that wasn't particularly amusing to you.)

I've missed you guys and I look forward to writing again soon. If there are any topics you'd like me to cover, just let me know!

Best wishes for a great week ahead!

Karen

Aspierations welcomes Autism Empowerment

2011-11-05T16:13:00.000-07:00

Hello Aspierations Blog Friends,

Wow, it has been awhile since I've posted at this blog. In the interim it seems like Blogger made some changes so I need to spend a little time figuring those out.

I have some fantastic news to share that has been a long time in the making!

In June of 2011, my husband John and I filed paperwork Washington to found a nonprofit corporation named Autism Empowerment. In July we mailed in our 501(c)(3) paperwork to the IRS and in September we received our 501(c)(3) public charity / tax-exempt status determination letter from the IRS.

Our non-profit is now on the map! Now of course when I saw "our", it does not belong to me and John, although coming in as an entrepreneur from a for-profit industry, I'll have to admit that there are a lot of things that are different in the nonprofit world.

Below I have include a little about Autism Empowerment taken from the Welcome page on the Autism Empowerment website. We invite you to check us out!

I will still be writing personal blogs here at Aspierations as time permits. I will also blog at Autism Empowerment. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Please come like us at Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/autismempowerment
Please come follow us at Twitter: @autismempowermt
Please visit our website and Get Involved! http://www.autismempowerment.org

We are in start-up stages so if you believe in what we aspire to offer, we greatly appreciate your support!

Thanks!
Karen Krejcha

Autism Empowerment is an educational and charitable non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity serving those in the autism community. We are dedicated to enriching and empowering the lives of individuals and families affected by Autism, Asperger Syndrome, PDD / NOS and related autism spectrum disorders and co-conditions.

Founded in 2011 in Vancouver, Washington by a family with 3 out of 4 traveling daily along on the autism spectrum, we are excited and honored to have the opportunity to service the local, national and international autism community. Come join us on our journey! We welcome and appreciate your support and generosity!

By developing and providing programs, projects, support and resources to individuals, families, caregivers and educators that promote acceptance, improve life skills and encourage self-advocacy and empowerment, we seek to support and inspire those on the autism spectrum to reach their highest potential.

The four foundational pillars of Autism Empowerment are Accept, Enrich, Inspire and Empower.

Accept - We strongly promote the unconditional acceptance of those on the autism spectrum and with related disorders. By accepting each spectrum traveler for who they are, where they are, we are promoting both autism acceptance and autism awareness.

Enrich - Our goal is to provide educational resources, programs and tools to improve and enhance life skills for those on the autism spectrum as well as their families, caregivers, therapists and teachers. We aspire to make life more meaningful and rewarding.

Inspire - We dedicate ourselves to be a positive, uplifting organization that encourages and celebrates success in all individuals. We believe each person on the autism spectrum has the opportunity to make a positive difference in this world.

Empower - We strive to empower those on the autism spectrum to achieve a higher quality of life academically, emotionally, financially, socially and spiritually.

We are a publicly funded non-profit corporation depending on the generosity of the public to fund our programs. We offer a number ways to give and get involved! Thank you for your generosity and support. We have big goals and big dreams!

Thank you for visiting! We look forward to having you back again in the future!

Labor Day Ponderings - High temperature, not temper

2011-09-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Today is Labor Day and I promised myself when I woke up that I would not work all day. For many people, this would be easy. I tend to take the road less traveled!

I promised myself that I would take some time with the family and then at some point, I would blog. I feel bummed that I haven't written much over the past few months but now that the boys are back in school (YIPPEE!), I know I'll be blogging more often.

I love my boys SO MUCH but this has been quite a busy and exhausting summer! Justin started 7th grade last Wednesday and Ryan started Kindergarten on Friday. Adventure!! Tomorrow they'll both be back in school again. Ryan started on Friday with just 8 kids but tomorrow there will be 26 in his class. YIKES!

I do already have stories to share about our sons' first days. That will likely be coming in my next blog. In the interim, to catch up on Krejcha family news, check out my husband John's September 4th blog:

This was a week of New Starts

1st day of 7th grade!

Ryan heads off to his 1st day of Kindergarten!

John has been much better at keeping up to date on his blog with the happenings in our household. I'm really proud of him and grateful that he is doing that. If you want to find out what we did over the summer, just check out:

http://www.johnkrejcha.blogspot.com

Today when I woke up, I thought I might blog right away but I have a tendency to want to answer my email first. Unfortunately that tends to mean I get caught up in work for a number of hours.

I noticed throughout the day that I was doing very well at laboring on Labor Day but not so well at relaxing. This is a regular struggle for me but I am aware of it.

As I was working in our home office, I realized that the 90+ degree temperature outside was soon going to feel like 100+ in our office. Some people enjoy the heat. They lay out in the sun. They go hang out at the beach. They actually enjoy temperatures above 90 degrees.

Our family does not fall into the above category. We get grouchy when it is hot. Humidity causes us to lose our humility. We melt down. We would do well to hang out in a cold shower on days like today. In fact, one of the reasons we moved to Washington state four years ago was because our family functions better mentally, physically and emotionally in cooler temperatures.

We've had a pretty mild summer here in Washington. Compared to the rest of the country, we have been very fortunate. When hot days like today come up, I try and take them in stride and make sure that our family doesn't try to have many heavy, deep and real conversations. It's already heated in temperature, it doesn't need to be heated in temperament!

Part of the reason that I have not blogged much lately is aside from the fact that it's a bit challenging to write with gusto with the kids in the same room for much of the time in the evenings, John and I are really trying to focus hard on moving inventory at our dolls & bears business, Count Your Beans. It has been a very slow year and although we always try and stay optimistic, when we go through financial challenges, I feel like I have to spend even more time on work. I try and turn over my burdens to God but I feel so much personal responsibility and accountability for the financial stability and happiness of our family that even though I trust God, those workaholic tendencies still come into play. At least I am aware of it! I embrace my challenges.

That being said, John and I really look forward to when we will hear back from the IRS regarding the determination of the 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt status for our newly founded non profit corporation, Autism Empowerment. I am confident we will be approved, however it's the waiting period that makes me feel like I'm in limbo. We have a lot of amazing programs in development we want to share with our Aspierations friends. We also need to start raising funds for Autism Empowerment, to develop our website and I need to make time to write grants. I feel Autism Empowerment is my calling and although I know it will all come together, I can't help but feel really anxious to get the ball rolling a bit faster! We see the need for so many services and really want to help make a difference in our community, nationwide and worldwide.

If I could figure a way to get all the ideas in my head automatically transferred to paper... well, there'd probably be a paper shortage!

I look forward to blogging again soon! If any of my former Aspierations readers are still hanging around, I wish you the very best and hope your families are doing well! Thanks for being patient with me! It will be worth it, I promise...

Best wishes,

Karen

Happy Birthday to My Husband - The Catch of My Life

2011-08-20T00:00:00.003-07:00

Today I am thrilled to celebrate my husband's birthday with him and the boys once again! Seems like we just did this last year!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JOHN!!!

Dedicated to his sons,

Dedicated to his wife,

Dedicated to God,

Dedicated to life...

My amazing husband is now 43!

The only one in the family who is considered NT

With three others on the spectrum,

sharing the same domain,

Our life is filled with spice,

Except the food that is plain...

My rock, my confidante, my amazing best friend,

You empower me...

You inspire me...

You appreciate I'm off-trend...

May your 43rd birthday be memorable and fun...

May the year ahead,

be an incredible one!

Let's fill it with laughs, accomplishments and inspiration...

Remembering each day together is cause for celebration!

Happy Birthday, John!

I Love You!

Karen

Sensory Friendly / Autism Awareness Hour at Clark County Fair covered by The Columbian

2011-08-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Aspierations Friends,

I have some positive autism awareness and acceptance news to share tonight!

John and I took Justin and Ryan to the Clark County Fair on August 9th. Going to the Clark County Fair became our family's first Pacific Northwest tradition after we moved from California to Washington state in July of 2007.

This was our fifth year in attendance, however this time there was a positive twist. The Autism Society of SW Washington and the ARC of Clark County collaborated with Butler Amusements and The Clark County Fair to offer a sensory friendly hour in the rides section. From noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, right after the children's rides opened, a variety of rides operated with reduced speeds, dimmed lights and lower music volume.

Although the changes were probably not too noticeable to most unless it was pointed out to them, for a child or adult with sensory processing difficulties, making small sensory-related changes in rides certainly has the chance to make a positive impact in helping to keep a child regulated and not get overly excited or frightened. More regulated children = happier children = relieved parents! Now granted, each child is different. Slight changes in rides may not make a difference with every child in every situation on every day, however the fact that this event was put together with the intent to help children with special sensory challenges have a better experience gives families an opportunity to try and give their children an entertainment experience that they might have been fearful to try otherwise.

For the first time this was offered, I don't think it could have happened on a better day for our family. Lines were short, the weather was a bit overcast and the combination of these things together with positive attitudes made for an incredible experience for our sons who have sensory processing challenges and are on the autism spectrum with Asperger's Syndrome and autism respectively.

Admittedly, our youngest son is a big thrill seeker soooo.... lots of spinning and stimulation would be right up his alley. Although he might have preferred that his ride speeds been accelerated, he had no complaints. He made sure to get in enough sensory stimulation by going down the big slide over a dozen times in a row. The only thing that slowed him down was the big climb up the stairs!

It was during one of Ryan's rounds going up the stairs and down the slide with Justin that we caught the eye of Marissa Harshman, a staff reporter from Clark County's local newspaper, The Columbian.

She was doing a story about the sensory-friendly event at the fair and had a few questions for us. (How did we hear about the event? What did we notice that was different? How did altering speed, volume and sound on carnival rides make a difference in the boys' experience?) It was a pleasure to talk with Marissa and share a few thoughts even if I felt like I fumbled, stumbled and tumbled a bit. The Aspie in me would have preferred preparation time and a written interview. I wonder what she would have thought if I asked for that? (I did not mention during the interview that I was also on the autism spectrum. It isn't that I was ashamed, I just didn't find it relevant for her article.)

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a photographer snapping photos of Ryan on the slide. Ryan was having a great time. At the time I thought how cool it would be if a picture of Ryan ended up in The Columbian. When we were subsequently asked Ryan's name and age, I thought there was a very good chance since he's such a cutie pie and yes, as his Mommy I'm biased but it's still true!

After the interview ended, the boys tried out some different rides and Justin shared with us his thoughts of the differences between last year's experience and this year's. We both appreciated the volume on the carousel being down. Everyone in the family appeared more regulated and in a positive mood. In years past we still had a good time but there were a few meltdowns and areas where we could sense agitation from loud noise, long lines and higher temperatures. When there is lots of noise around and lots of people, kids and adults with sensory issues can become easily overwhelmed. Many may not verbalize this or perhaps even realize it but it will often show up in their behavior.

The fact that Butler Amusements thought enough of children with special sensory challenges to do something like this for them is very impressive and gives me a warm feeling inside. We hope they will do it again next year and we hope that the idea catches on and spreads to other county fairs throughout the country.

We will advocate in the future through our newly founded non-profit organization, Autism Empowerment as well as through our personal relationships with various autism support groups for this to be the case. It means a great deal to families with children on the autism spectrum and/or with sensory processing challenges.

I suppose if I were to make one suggestion for the future, it would be that during an event like this that children be given a priority pass or wristband for waiting in line after the initial hour of the sensory event is over so that if they wanted to experience rides later in the day, they'd have the option to do so with a reduced wait time in line if say the line was over a certain number of people.

In our experience on Tuesday at the fair, the lines weren't bad for most of the rides until it started to get a bit more crowded in the mid afternoon but should this event be advertised more widely in the future and should the weather be much hotter, it would be helpful to have this option available especially since I would expect attendance for this event to increase in the future given the positive publicity it received with The Columbian.

What a treat it was on Wednesday afternoon to be looking at The Columbian newspaper and seeing our son's picture on the FRONT PAGE! Of course being proud parents we had to go down to the three nearest gas stations and drug stores to purchase multiple copies. Granted the picture and story is online too but there's something about having the paper in hand and seeing your kiddo on the front page that makes the whole experience more exciting. John, Justin and I were mentioned in the article and despite me not articulating my thoughts quite the way I wanted to, we were quoted as well and that was a positive experience as well.

If you'd like to check it out, you can see Ryan's picture here:

http://www.columbian.com/photos/2011/aug/09/27720/

August 9, 2011

Logan Westom/The Columbian

Ryan Krejcha, 5, enjoys the giant slide at the Butler Amusements carnival. His parents brought him specifically for the sensory-friendly day at the fair when some rides operated at reduced sound, speed and lighting for one hour.

You can read the article in its entirety here:

http://www.columbian.com/news/2011/aug/09/enjoying-a-quiet-day-at-the-fair-sensory-friendly/

You can even share it in different newsgroups and through Facebook. We thought it was pretty cool that the national Autism Society posted it in their Facebook group. Ryan is famous! (Proud mama and her cub!)

Should you have a copy of the newspaper, Ryan has agreed to sign autographs in orange. Although he doesn't claim favoritism, should you be a girl between the ages of 1 month and 16 32 100 years, you very well may get VIP treatment.

Here are a few pictures from our family's day at the fair that didn't make the paper. Gee, it's not all about us!!! Hope you enjoy!

We received positive random comments about these Angry Birds t-shirts ALL DAY LONG! People of all ages and backgrounds love them. We calculated if Kohls.com paid us a commission for as many times as we were asked where we got the shirts, we'd be doing pretty well right now!

Our whole family had a WONDERFUL day at the fair! Thanks to the Columbian for covering this, to Butler Amusements / Clark County Fair for offering the event, to the Autism Society of Washington and the ARC of Clark County for collaborating and to all the amazing families who attended and showed their love and support!.

In other Krejcha family news, I have something else exciting to share since it's been awhile since my last blog. We also had some other neat news this week. John was interviewed for a story that Scouting Magazine is doing on the Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge for Boy Scouts. Because of John's work with Autism and Scouting through his blog and Autism and Scouting Facebook group and also because of John's personal experience as a Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge Counselor with Justin's local Boy Scout Troop, the writer thought John would be able to provide an interesting perspective and valuable insight for the article he was writing. We're not sure when that will be out but I'll be sure to post about it. I'm so proud of John!

Speaking of scouting, while Justin was at Boy Scout camp last week with John, he was able to earn 5 new merit badges and advance in rank from First Class to Star. All this and he's going into 7th grade and not yet 12! Incidentally, we're not pushing him! At this point, he did express that he would like to slow down a bit and enjoy the rank of Star for a couple years and get some more leadership experience under his belt. We are behind him all the way!

I'll be blogging again soon! We received a letter the other day from the IRS confirming receipt of our 1023 application. We are now eagerly awaiting our determination letter from the IRS so that we can be granted 501 (c)(3) tax exempt status for our newly founded non profit organization, Autism Empowerment. We will be in start-up stages for awhile, especially since we're both still running Count Your Beans Dolls & Bears and have a doll show with Marie Osmond coming up later this month.

While we await our letter from the IRS and eagerly prepare to fundraise and apply for grants, we're developing the framework for a variety of innovative and empowering programs that will serve individuals and families affected by autism spectrum disorders throughout our region and nationwide. I will describe our plans to you in a future blog! Remember our name, Autism Empowerment!

Life has been extremely busy at the Krejcha family house this summer and although it may seem a bit inactive if you're reading my blog, lots of stuff is going on behind the scenes and I look forward to sharing more with you again soon!

Best wishes for an awesome weekend!

Karen

The chances of you having Strep Throat are really minimal...

2011-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Aspierations Friends,

Judging by my blog title, I don't think it will take Nancy Drew to solve the mystery of tonight's topic!

If you checked out my last blog post, Memories Made at the Melting Pot - Happy 19th Anniversary, you already know that John and I had a fun-do time eating fondue on our anniversary evening date.

What I didn't mention was that last Monday on that special anniversary morning, I woke up with a really sore throat. Having just had iron infusions for anemia the previous Wednesday (my ferritin level was at a 2...), I had been dealing with a variety of side effects over the weekend but there was no way, NO WAY with a childsitter already scheduled for the boys on Monday that I was going to let anything ruin my anniversary night date with my husband.

I noticed pretty quickly that it hurt to swallow as well. Uh-oh... Warning bells went off in my head. On average of once or twice a year during my childhood and teen years, I would get strep throat. It was during this period that I learned I was allergic to pencillin, ampicillin and amoxicillin. I learned the hard way... fun times! I'm not sure how common strep is with other autism spectrum kiddos and adults. So far, neither of my sons has had strep but my oldest gets 1 or 2 ear infections a year and my youngest seems to be developing allergies. If you or a member in your family is on the spectrum and you had strep regularly as well, either as a kid or adult, please post in the comments section.

For awhile when I was a kid, I fantasized about having a tonsillectomy to take care of the recurring strep throat issue. This of course was motivated by the thought that I would then get to eat an unlimited amount of ice cream afterwards. As I got older, having the tonsillectomy seemed less appealing but eating lots of ice cream continued to be enticing!

Strep did follow me as an unwelcome guest into my college years and occasionally in my 20s and early 30s but it seemed to go away after that. I can't say that I missed the experience.

Having had strep so frequently, I certainly could recognize the signs. REALLY sore throat, difficulty swallowing, swollen glands, slight fever... Every time I went in for a strep throat culture unequivocally it was positive so I didn't need a license to practice medicine to figure this one out.

Yet on Monday night, anniversary night, I ignored all of that because as I said before... there was NO way I was missing this date with John... and because I was able to do so, I even thought that maybe, just maybe I was wrong and that I didn't have strep at all, just some sore throat side effect of the iron infusions.

So... Tuesday morning rolls around and OUCH... not looking good. Not a convenient time to be sick with John or the boys...(like ANY time is convenient!!).

No time to be sick because I had so much work to do but I knew... just knew things were not looking good. I slept in during the morning and that helped somewhat. The kids both had day camp for part of the day and then swim lessons later and since it was their last lesson, I promised Ryan that I would be there. I did not want to have a very sad and disappointed 5 year old that had been talking animatedly the past couple days about his Mommy coming to watch him swim.

I told myself, don't touch anyone, be as anti-social with strangers as possible, don't get anyone else sick! I did a really good job on the anti-social and not touching people part... Surprised??? (A little Aspie humor for you... emphasis on little...) Hopefully no-one near me got sick.

The kids both seemed fine and John, who has not had the best year cold and flu-wise also seemed healthy, although he recently had a bit of minor neck surgery so he wasn't particularly gleeful. Just one more day and then if I didn't feel good Wednesday, I would go to the doctor's.

Wednesday rolled around and it was not pretty. I resigned myself at this point to the fact that I had strep. I allowed myself a 30 minute pity party in bed where I tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep. I then decided that I needed to get antibiotics, something which I dreaded intensely since I seem to be allergic to so many. (There are others on the list above, but I won't get into that now.) Still, I didn't want to risk my family getting sick and should I dare go out in public, to infect a stranger.

John took me in the late afternoon to our local Kaiser where I was seen for a rapid strep test. The man who saw me and administered the test was not at all convinced I had strep. He was certainly a nice enough fellow and I wasn't arrogant enough to tell him that I knew that he was wrong so I sat quietly and listened while he rattled off statistics such as only 1 adult in 10 that has the throat culture actually has strep. (Yeah, I know about those 1 in XXX statistics... hmm... Autism? Asperger's? rare allergies to medicine?)

He then went on to share again that it is really rare for adults to get strep (uh-huh, go on, what was this about a rapid strep test), my temperature was only 99.8 (which for me is high since I generally run below "normal", go figure) and well... my story to him about thinking I caught strep from an older gentleman standing in front of me in line at Kaiser the day I had my iron infusions just seemed way far-fetched.

The way he looked at me made me think that he thought I was a hypochondriac. The way I looked at him was polite but skeptical. Another reason I really dislike going to the doctor's office is because even if I explain my symptoms very logically (with pages of notes and research to back it up... that might be the part that freaks them out), even if I make a supposition that I might have so-and-so (and be right), there seems to be this "look" I get back that gives me the feeling that because I didn't go through umpteen years of med school, I must be certifiably nuts.

Not nuts... (well, maybe a little nuts... macadamia if I had to choose) but with all due respect, I've had more years experience living with MY body than you have, Mr / Ms. Doctor / Nurse and there are some things it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out. For example, if I TELL you I'm allergic to a certain kind of medicine, you don't give me the generic equivalent and tell me it's okay. (Been there...)

I see I'm well on my way down tangent lane so let me get back to my original anecdote. This is the part where I'm sitting and waiting for Dr. "The Chances of you having Strep Throat are really MINIMAL" to finish pontificating and just stick the darn throat culture thingamabob down my throat.

When he did, I of course was totally unprepared (the part where he said, "say AHHH" should have been a clue) and reflexively gagged. I think I almost punched him as well but that may have been a hallucination. The second time he stuck the swab thingy in my throat, he was successful and I was well on my way to what I was sure was a POSITIVE test result. But before I could go and take my culture to the lab for "rapid processing", I needed to hear a few more minutes about what I could do at home to take care of myself when the results indubitably came back negative.

I listened kindly in return and then asked him to make sure that on that slip of paper where the results come back, that there was a note that I was allergic to penicillin and amoxicillin, two of the most popular antibiotics given for strep. With a "haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying, you nincompoop" look and a polite smile, he acknowledged my request and sent me on my way to the lab.

After my "rapid processing" at the lab, the results person came out with my pretty pink piece of paper and stamped on it in 48 font was "POSITIVE".

The last time I saw a POSITIVE result so big, I was pregnant with Ryan!

It was off to the pharmacy to pick up my medicine that I would hopefully not be allergic to (Cephalexin) and then home to rest. I resisted the grade-school urge to go back to the nurse's station and say, "I told you so!!!!!!" but I did not resist the grade-school urge to think it!

Now a few days later, no longer contagious but still with a week's worth of medicine to go, I'm starting to feel better. I'm having a little rash and some side effects but nothing major. I'm still exhausted but that could easily be the anemia or a combination of the anemia and strep. It could also be the fact we've had a couple hot days here in Washington after a very mild and cool summer.

I'm looking forward to a positive week but not one in 48 font that is strep-based! Justin is heading to an adventure day camp and Ryan has his adventure day camp where he had Camp Kiddo last year so tomorrow during the day, I should be able to catch up on work again!

I did want to blog here because I almost always miss writing when I don't do it and I wanted to give a bit of an explanation why I had gone incognito again after my last post.

Thanks to all who commented so nicely on my last blog. I responded to you separately in the comments section. Thank you also to the special people who recently contacted me individually. If I have not written back yet, I will quite soon!

Best wishes for a healthy and happy week ahead!
Karen

Memories Made at The Melting Pot - Happy 19th Anniversary!

2011-07-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Today John and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary with a very special date night at The Melting Pot fondue restaurant in Portland, Oregon.

Now this is a way to start out a day!

It was AWESOME!! The company was marvelous, the fondue was delicious, the ambience was romantic and having a 3 hour date with my husband was a true delight!

This was our first trip to The Melting Pot and after our amazing experience there, I would highly recommend this place to other couples for a great date night, especially if you're having a special occasion like an anniversary or birthday. It is in downtown Portland but there is a parking garage right across the street where you can get validated and even though I'm not a big city kinda gal, this Monday night outing went quite well.

One neat thing is that you enter the restaurant from the street level by descending a circular flight of stairs. So in essence you're dining underground but it really doesn't feel that way once you're inside.

John surprised me by having long-stemmed roses in a vase and a bouquet of balloons ready for me when we were there. He definitely scored points in the romance department! Before we sat down, the hostess took a picture of us. She took one on the restaurant's digital camera and then at the end, we were presented the photo in a nice black folder with "The Melting Pot" embossed in the frame area. Definitely a keepsake... and good marketing too. We'll definitely be back in the future. They made us feel special from the beginning until the end. It's so nice to have such a wonderful date night like that, especially when you're not used to getting out in the evenings!

There's a bit of a glare from the scan but this gives you an idea....

We sat in a table in sort of a secluded area. If you've never been to a fondue restaurant like this before (conceptually, it's similar to La Fondue in Los Gatos, CA), your food is prepared directly at your table. We had a four course dinner which consisted of cheese fondue, a Caesar salad, a tray of meat and seafood (steak, chicken, salmon, shrimp and teriyaki beef) and dark chocolate fondue with a platter of goodies to dip!

The waiter cooks the cheese fondue and chocolate fondue and we were responsible for cooking the meat.... or should I say JOHN was responsible for cooking the meat! I did cook some salmon and shrimp and if you know my level of culinary expertise, you will know that this was not my normal fare but it was fun to do and delicious too!

For the cheese fondue, we dipped bread and apples. I passed on the broccoli... as did John... For the chocolate fondue, we dipped a whole delicious array of goodies including Rice Krispie treats, marshmallows covered with Oreo sprinkles, pound cake, bananas, strawberries. Everything was quite tasty!

The waiter and all the staff were especially nice. The manager, April came over to greet us. I was impressed with all the personal service. Oh... speaking of which, they had a card for us with our names on it, handwritten wishing us a Happy 19th AND when the dessert plate came out, a separate plate with Happy 19th Anniversary, John and Karen was written in chocolate! How cool was that!! Classy and fun!

The best part of all was the man I was with. John and I have had lots of twists and turns in our journey. We've climbed up many hills, found peaks and valleys but throughout all the seasons of our marriage, we have found that no matter what the weather, we love each other and we're dedicated to making our marriage last.

To that extent, we also did something else special today. John and I sent in our application to the IRS to receive 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status for Autism Empowerment. We founded and incorporated Autism Empowerment in Washington state in early June, held our first board meeting in late June and after about 60 pages of 1023 application forms and attachments, we are well on our way to being recognized as a publicly supported tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) non-profit.

You will be hearing a lot more about this in upcoming blogs. I didn't want to mention too much about it until we had our paperwork turned in but soon John and I will both be blogging about our programs, mission and goals!

But for now, it's back to our anniversary date! I know for some 2 1/2 hours alone in a restaurant might not seem like much of a big deal but for us, it definitely was! Last year we weren't able to get a sitter for our 18th anniversary on the 18th so this year, John made the call rounds WELL in advance... and fortunately the sitter we got is a neighbor and great with the kids! I love it when a plan comes together! (Quick... name the 80s TV show reference... I'll give you an "A" if you get it!!!)

Well, it's time for our oldest to go to bed. Justin was so sweet! In our family it is a tradition at midnight to go into the bedroom of the family member who is having a birthday and sing happy birthday to him or her, even if that person is asleep. At midnight last night, Justin had his alarm set and came in to wish John and I a Happy Anniversary. It was selfless and sweet and one of the reasons I love him so much! Ryan was also amazing today. He initially did NOT want a BABYsitter because after all, he is NOT a baby, he's going into Kindergarten so after discussion that he was going to have a big boy sitter, he was copasetic with the idea and all went well. Great behavior from both... a fantastic gift for them to give to us... as stress-free nights are not always the norm!

John and I are going to head to bed soon as well. We're watching Nero Wolfe on DVD... fun series if you like mysteries and John got me Bones for our Anniversary so we'll try that one out next. We cherish our late night TV show time right before snoozing.

I cherish my Aspierations friends as well! Thanks for being patient with me and my sporadic blogging. I should have more time for this quite soon!

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!

And John... HAPPY 19th ANNIVERSARY, sweetheart! I love you! Here is to another amazing celebration for our 20th and many decades of celebration thereafter!

Best wishes and happiness to all,

Karen

Spaghetti Saturday & Some Family Catch-up!

2011-07-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

With each passing day that I don't blog, I feel like I'm getting further and further behind. Good intentions? Yes! Busy schedule? Yes! Some health issues thrown in the mix? Yes!

I've decided that I'm going to cut myself some slack for not recently achieving my blogging goals. I've noticed that my husband, John at Life and Times of John Krejcha has fallen behind with his blogs as well but is currently in a power catch-up mode.

Since many of his blogs talk about family life at the Krejcha household, I'm going to refer you over to his blog in case you're interested in finding out about family events over the past month or so.

http://www.johnkrejcha.blogspot.com

I feel a bit guilty giving the link as it seems I'm riding his blogging coattails but sometimes in life you just can't get to everything you want to do in a timely manner. I try to take each day as it comes, make the most of it and then take advantage of the next day, all the while making sure to appreciate and enjoy the memories of days from the past.

Today is John's Mom's 70th birthday! If you happen to come across this blog, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAN! We hope you're enjoying your time visiting with family in Wisconsin and we hope that your 70th year will be filled with promise and fulfillment!

Tonight John is cooking spaghetti and meatballs for dinner... my favorite! God bless him! I have not been feeling so well lately (severe anemia) and my appetite has been a bit off. Smelling the great cooking coming from downstairs, I can sense that appetite coming back. Looking forward to a delicious dinner with John, Justin and Ryan!

On Monday, John and I celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. Last year we had trouble lining up a sitter so this year, John wanted to make sure we'd get our "date out" and so he lined up a sitter from down the street over two weeks ago. Big points scored! We're going to go to The Melting Pot in Portland. We've never been there before and have been wanting to go ever since our last anniversary!

If you're not familiar with The Melting Pot, their specialty is FONDUE! It's a four course meal with cheese fondue, salad course, main entree course and then chocolate fondue course. I think my favorites will be the first and the last! Better save up room in my tummy!

This week has been filled with trips to Kaiser. John had minor surgery on his neck on Monday to remove a cyst. Ouch! He's recovering well but still sore. He gets his stitches out in about 5 days. Ryan met with his doctor on Friday for us to discuss allergies. I got a shot the same day... literally a pain in the rear!

On Wednesday, I spent the morning and early afternoon going through my first round of iron dextran infusions. I'd been trying to increase my iron through daily pills but they just weren't absorbing. I had gotten to the point where my ferritin levels were so low (a 2 if you understand the numbers... 11 - 300+ is normal) that it was adversely affecting my quality of living to the point where I needed to take more serious measures. I still have LOTS of things left I want to do in this life and so taking care of my health really needs to be a priority.

Admittedly I was a bit concerned I'd have an allergic reaction to the infusion since I've had allergic reactions to quite a few medicines but fortunately everything went relatively smoothly after 6 attempts for the RN to find my veins. Seriously...

John is giving me and the boys the "5 minute warning" for dinner so I will wrap up this little weekend update and write again later!

Hope life is going well in your part of the world!
Best wishes,
Karen

Summer is Here! Happy Independence Day Weekend!

2011-07-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and it's almost Independence Day! Hooray!

The kids have only been out of school a couple of weeks and already our summer has been action-packed! After school got out, we traveled "home" to California to celebrate Father's Day with my Mom & Dad, show them how much the boys have grown and to spend a few days enjoying the Bay Area. We usually visit California in August but this year we decided to make it an early trip for a variety of reasons. It was great to see my parents again! I wish I had a chance to say hi to some of my Cali friends but it was a short trip this time around. Hopefully next year will be much different!

Since returning home, the boys have had two swimming lessons, one session of TOPS Soccer and our family made a day trip to Olympia, WA to visit the Capitol and to file some important paperwork to found a very special non-profit corporation which I will be talking about in the near future!

I am so jazzed to be writing again at the Aspierations blog. These past couple months have provided a whirlwind of activity but I've got lots of exciting news to share over the next couple of blog entries.

For now, it's time to put the kiddos to bed but I'll be blogging again soon! I have lots to share!

If you'd like to see some pictures of our recent adventure, please feel free to visit this public link at Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150248399568815.345091.589538814&l=d3e475f4de

You can click on the thumbnails to make the pictures larger and see the captions.

Happy Independence Day weekend!
Karen

Recent Catch Up from Ryan's Birthday Weekend

2011-06-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

As I look around the home office / upstairs playroom right now, I see my husband sitting at his computer with headphones on with his shirt off, I see my oldest son sitting at his computer with his headphones on and shirt off, I see my youngest sitting next to his brother with most of his clothes off and then there is me... (I'm dressed... just in case you were wondering!)

We're not the biggest social bunch... at least not at this moment.

It's hot... something different here in Washington that we haven't experienced much of in 2011. As such, this new change in temperature has also led to a change of temperament in the family. It's not one for the better... Hot grouchy people of German descent make for some sour Krauts!

Part of the reason we moved to the Northwest is that our family appreciates cooler weather. Like most people, we function a lot better when we're feeling physically comfortable and rising temperature really affects our family. We enjoy walking outside together as a family during clear days in the 50's and 60's. We're usually okay with the rain too as long as we're not out driving while it's heavy.

Two days ago on June 2nd we went outside to help exercise with Justin and help him improve his time in his walk / run fit test. We felt a couple drops of rain as we started the first lap around our block. No big deal... a walk in light rain can be a lot of fun. Unfortunately every ten seconds or so the rain fell harder. The progressive increase in the strength of the rain in such a short period of time was quite unusual. Rather than complete the 3 laps we had intended, by the time we were done with our first, we were all completely soaked and thus, the fit test was put off for another day.

As I sit here and type, Ryan is actively trying to get someone's attention to play hide and go seek with him. (I am usually the house "someone" or "somebody"... as in "SOMEBODY please get me juice!", however in this case, Ryan is interested in engaging his brother.) Hide and Seek has recently taken over Goofball in popularity (for shame) but hasn't quite taken over the top spot of our nightly before bedtime game of Scooby Snacks. (In case you're wondering how to play Scooby Snacks, it's really very simple. One person is hungry for eating Scooby snacks and the rest of the game playing members are "the snacks". If they get caught by "Scooby", they get eaten. We also sing a variation of the Scooby Doo theme song as we play the game... or at least Ryan and I do.

Unless someone has been sick, there has not been a Scooby Snacks or Hide and Seek game free day for over a month...

Of course our family doesn't play the "traditional" game of hide and go seek. As with any of our family games there are special silly rules that make it our own. For example, how many games of hide and go seek have you played where the hider tells you before the game starts where he is going to be hiding? Kind of changes strategy around a bit, doesn't it? (Strategy???)

Ryan wanting us to play has been going on most of the afternoon and evening and has led to a variety of hide and seek games, video game time, some imaginative make it up as you go along games and Ryan's new favorite board game, Chutes and Ladders.

The #1 gift from Ryan's 5th birthday!

Fortunately, now that I have placated Ryan with a glass of juice, he is playing nicely on the floor with his number one special interest, CARS! Did you know that CARS 2 the movie is coming on June 24th? We're going to try and find a sensory friendly showing in the movie theater because this is one movie that Ryan does not want to miss!

When I wrote my blog yesterday, I mentioned I had a bit of catch up to do about things going on in our personal and business lives. In closing tonight's blog, I wanted to share a few pictures below from Ryan's recent birthday weekend. I enjoy sharing glimpses of our lives with others and should any family members, friends or people we know happen in here, we hope you enjoy the opportunity to share in some of our fun moments as well.

Children's Museum in the play grocery store with John, Grandma and the boys

That will be $232.81!

Not afraid to get a little egg on my face! I think the tiger shirt gives it away though.

Mom, what kind of phone is this?

The water play area is always a hit!

Sharing a little drama for their mama!

3D photo frame!

We were MOOved by the adventure!

I may not be a big fan of warmer temperatures but I sure do love my family!!

For who they are...

where they are...

Letting their lights shine!!!

Until next time,

Karen

Happy June - It's almost Summer Break!

2011-06-03T23:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just looked at the date of my last blog and it's already been a couple of weeks since my last post. I have lots to talk about and will be doing updates over the weekend.

May was one of those months where we had LOTS of stuff going on. There were IEP meetings, Kindergarten Orientation, Ryan's birthday, a house guest, support groups, Boy Scouts and camping for Justin and John, the normal Count Your Beans work stuff and of course, the challenge in trying to plan activities for upcoming summer break so the boys can have fun in various day camp activities and we can have fun with them while still being able to work. The boys aren't out of school for another week and a half but they're both looking forward to plenty of time to play and relax over the summer.

Our youngest son Ryan had an amazing 5th birthday! His Grandma Jan from Florida was in town for the weekend and it was a real treat for both Justin and Ryan to spend time with her. We went to the Portland Children's Museum the day before his birthday and Chuck E. Cheese (of course) on his special day. I will share more about that weekend adventure in the near future...

For now, I'm just checking in to say hi and let you know that I'm still here and I'm definitely thinking of my Aspierations friends. In fact, I have some special news about Aspierations - Come As You Are... Let Your Light Shine that I plan to share in about a week or so.

John and I took a big step tonight. We are both very excited and have been working on this in our spare time over the past couple months. The news is BIG so stay tuned!

Best wishes for a great weekend!
Karen

Quick Update & Happy 20th Engagement Anniversary to John

2011-05-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

It has been another very busy week around here but before the evening ends, I wanted to post a very quick blog update!

On Tuesday night, we all went to an Autism Support Group meeting at the Early Childhood Center in Vancouver. It is SO nice that they provide childcare during these events as otherwise, it would be very difficult for us to attend. We like going to meetings together and so far, we always get some valuable information and benefit from attending, whether there are just a few in attendance or a whole bunch.

On Wednesday afternoon, it was Ryan's Kindergarten Orientation! Woo hoo! Justin had a half day at school and wanted to come along with us. We were proud of him taking an interest in his little brother's schooling and it was kind of fun for Justin to go back and see his former elementary school.

Although Ryan's future SCIP teacher wasn't in attendance, he got to meet a couple of the Kindergarten teachers. While the adults were in the gymnasium listening and watching a presentation, the kids got a chance to take a tour of a couple Kindergarten classrooms and also have a recess. Recess is always a big hit around this household! After the kids came back and rejoined us, one of the Kindergarten teachers who John and I happen to have a personal connection with came over to us and let us know that Ryan did great and lined up very nicely. That was super news to hear!

Today was the day we were to have the carpets in our house cleaned. With John's Mom coming into town tomorrow night, we wanted to have the place looking guest-friendly. Granted, there are juice stains on the carpet that will likely never come out but we have determined that they add character and besides, John's Mom is not here to visit our carpet, it's to see her grandsons and us as well.

Ryan's 5th birthday is on Sunday so it's going to be a fun-filled weekend as I mentioned in my earlier blog, Kindergarten Open House Right Around The Corner. I'll write more again probably early to mid next week.

Before I go, I wanted to make special note to today being the 20th Anniversary of the day that John and I got engaged. Yes, on May 19th, 1991 at the Whale & Dolphin show at Marine World, Africa USA, John got down on bended knee and proposed. I said yes and approximately 18 months later we were married. (John and I had only known each other a little over a month at the time he proposed so I did ask for a little engagement time so that we could plan and save up for the wedding and honeymoon!)

Engagement photo... Wow, we've aged so much they used Black & White back then!

At midnight last night, John posted a special engagement anniversary blog dedicated to that special and certainly memorable day 20 years ago. Not everything went as planned that day but I can truly say 20 years later that I'm so happy that you asked me to marry you, John! It's been an amazing journey with lots of happy memories and two fantastic kiddos! I'm looking forward to our 19th wedding anniversary this year and our 20th next year. I look forward to moving along the road less traveled into the next chapter of our lives. We know it will be a transition, but we'll be making it together. I love you!

And on that note...

I'm exhausted and am going to try and finish up on emails and get to bed early. Sleep is calling my name and I'm listening!

Best wishes for a super weekend!
Karen

Kindergarten Open House Right Around the Corner

2011-05-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is going to be an exciting week for Ryan. On Monday and Tuesday he goes to preschool which is always fun but on Wednesday, it's a very special day!

KINDERGARTEN OPEN HOUSE!!!

Ryan is REALLY looking forward to this! Last Wednesday, John, Ryan and I walked over to the school and turned in his "official" Kindergarten registration paperwork. Ryan's been in preschool for the past couple years and a birth-to-three program at our home the school year before that. Even with all this "school" experience, there's something extra special about our "baby" starting Kindergarten and getting to be in a school with lots of big kids. He has come so far in the past few years and John and I are incredibly proud and excited for him. I'm already looking forward to seeing the excitement in his eyes on the very first day.

To the best of my knowledge, we never had a Kindergarten Open House at Justin's elementary school in CA. If there was one that happened before the school year, we missed it. I do know there was a Back To School night which is a pretty typical thing in elementary school. That was where Justin's Kindergarten teacher asked me if Justin had a photographic memory because of the way he was able to recall exact wording in the books she would read aloud in class.

Ryan has an amazing memory for remembering geographical locations that we've been to and being able to trace on the iPad through Google Maps how to get there from our home. He can also tell you in extensive detail about the makes, models and colors of his Hot Wheels cars and trucks as well as the vehicles in our neighborhood. Now that he'll be advancing from preschool to Kindergarten, it will be interesting to hear what Ryan's future teachers have to say about his abilities.

The Kindergarten Open House is not just for parents but for the kids to get acclimated with the school. Fortunately we live within walking distance and we've had playtime at the playground there a couple hundred times over the past few years we've been living here in Washington. Since Justin went to the same school, Ryan has been there for Bingo nights, school carnivals and other events so he is already quite familiar with the layout.

We had a successful IEP meeting with Ryan's teacher and support staff at his preschool last month and learned that his future SCIP teacher has already met with Ryan's preschool teacher. How nice to have that interaction take place so early on. Although his mainstream classroom teacher has not been assigned yet, we're looking forward to meeting with her/him. It will be a big transition and it isn't without worries but we are doing our best to proactively plan for a successful transition and when something spontaneously happens that throws us all off, well, we'll deal with that too.

I will write a blog later on in the week, probably Wednesday or Thursday to let you know how the Open House went.

The end of the week will be busy too because John's Mom is flying into town to help celebrate Ryan's 5th birthday on Sunday. It's been about 2 1/2 years or so since she's been at our home and the last time she saw the boys was in the summer of 2009 when we drove back to Wisconsin and then followed that up with an Autism Society of America conference in St. Charles, IL. I'm sure she'll see big changes in both boys.

Justin has an overnight campout with the Scouts on Friday night and we're sure to be busy throughout the weekend so I'm not sure how much blogging time I will have. I can guarantee you, I will have anecdotes and pictures when I return!

Since I'll soon be having some new birthday pictures to post of Ryan's 5th birthday, here are a few favorites of my fast growing guy from his 4th birthday.

We'll be seeing you again REALLY soon Chuck E. Cheese!

Ryan and Justin sharing brotherly love and bouncing at JJJump

Note the orange? Ryan's favorite color carries on!

Best wishes for a great rest of the weekend and super week ahead!
Karen

The 12 Days Til Ryan's Birthday - Lyrics Included

2011-05-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Aspierations Friends!

Our youngest son is INCREDIBLY excited about his fifth birthday coming up. He can do high FIVES saying he is five and he just loves being able to hold up a full hand to show his upcoming age.

As has been tradition in our family for the past couple years with both boys, we celebrate at our local Chuck E. Cheese. It's kind of funny because I hear lots of adult pizza connoisseurs say that they don't like the taste of the pizza there but for our selective eating kiddos, it's delicious. Delicious is WINNING in our family when it comes to food choice and we will enjoy all the wins we can get!

Here are a couple of photos from our visit back in March.

This picture was after a LOT of running around! At night he fell asleep early!

Teaching Justin how to play pinball was a ton of fun!

Of course our family is on the Chuck E. Cheese mailing list and wouldn't you know it, about a week ago, they sent a special coupon surprise to my husband suggesting that Chuck E. Cheese would be a fun place to take the family for Mother's Day! We both had a good laugh with that one imagining moms around the country forgoing spa treatments, pampering, elaborate brunches and days of relaxation to spend time hanging out with Chuck.

Also a funny note about Chuck E. Cheese (if you please), we attended a fundraiser there for Ryan's school back in March and as we were entering, we noticed a sign that we had apparently missed on our previous journeys.

Was it a picture of Chuck E. Cheese? No.... A picture of happy, smiling kids? No.....

Of course, I had to take a photo...

No Firearms Allowed. Violators will be treated as trespassers.

Seriously!!! I would really hope that this would go without saying in an establishment that caters to the 13 and under crowd. Now a picture saying something like, "No Mousetraps Allowed" or "No Cutting the Chuck E. Cheese", I could sort of understand...

Fortunately none of us were frisked. If we had been, I think a contraband cheeto or two (no outside food allowed) might have labeled us as trespassers!

Well, as I mentioned at the beginning of the blog, Ryan is super duper excited about his upcoming special day and personally requested that in my nightly lullaby / silly song singing that we PLEASE do a take off on "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and sing instead, "The Twelve Days 'Til Ryan's Birthday" song.

We started out yesterday, continued today and will be singing all the way up until his special day. It's a lot of fun doing this kind of stuff and it brings him such joy.

In case I forget the lyrics in my later years, I figured I'd include it in my blog tonight. Perhaps you'd like to sing along? I won't keep repeating the previous verses but you'll get the point below.

On the first day 'til Ryan's birthday, his girlfriend gave to him...

A smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

On the second day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Two gigantic hugs and a smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

On the third day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Three big kissies, two gigantic hugs and a smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

On the fourth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Four Scooby Snacks, three big kissies, two gigantic hugs and a smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

On the fifth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Five slices of PIZZA... four Scooby snacks, three big kissies, two gigantic hugs and a smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

On the sixth day 'til Ryan's birthsday, his family gave to him...

Six games of GOOFBALL, (see above)

On the seventh day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Seven Cornballs, (see above)

On the eighth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Eight Hot Wheels cars, (see above)

On the ninth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Nine Ghirardelli chocolates, (see above)

On the tenth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Ten Angry Birds, (see above)

On the eleventh day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Eleven games of hide and seek, (see above)

On the twelfth day 'til Ryan's birthday, his family gave to him...

Twelve pieces of cake, eleven games of hide and seek, ten Angry Birds, nine Ghirardelli chocolates, eight Hot Wheels cars, seven cornballs, six games of Goofball, five slices of PIZZA... four Scooby Snacks, three big kissies, two gigantic hugs and a smile from Sweet Baby Bridgette!

Do you have any fun family traditions you do for birthdays in your family? If so, please feel free to share in the comments section below.

Of course if you have any cheesy experiences to share, that's fine too! We love those!

Until next time,

Karen

Is there a shortage of flowers in the USA?

2011-05-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Aspierations Friends,

To all those Moms, Grandmas and mommy's to be, I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day on Sunday!

I will be spending the day with my boys. We didn't have anything particular planned as an outing so I suggested this evening that maybe Sunday afternoon after we get home from church that we can watch a movie or two downstairs in the living room and break out the popcorn. The boys (two small and one husband-sized) seemed agreeable with this. I've asked for a gift that they all do their best to get along and each give me a big hug.

We did have a fun Saturday experience today at the Columbia Springs Fish Hatchery. Please see John's blog "To Fish or Not To Fish, That is the Question" for anecdotes and pictures. It was a short visit but totally worth it.

When we got home, I knew I had a lot of work to do because I am hoping to take Sunday off.

I was trying to keep my spirits high after a successful fishing venture for the boys but I'll admit, I was bummed in the later part of the afternoon. Having run an online retail business at Count Your Beans Dolls & Bears for over 12 years, I have always prided myself on excellent customer service and quick turnaround. On the rare chance there is an issue such as a lost package or broken item, we provide quick and friendly customer-oriented problem resolution. I try to live by the adage of treating others the way you wish to be treated.

Okay... now that I've said that, can I just say that my luck with purchasing gifts and flowers online for family and friends just sucks? Non-deliveries, broken items, missing items, wrong items, late shipments after the occasion... the number of times it has happened with gift items is CRAZY. Seriously...

That being said, I know people and businesses make mistakes and I am a very understanding and forgiving individual. In my opinion, the way a business handles their problem resolution is a barometer for how much they really care about their customers. I apparently have a knack for choosing companies whose customer service (at least when it comes to servicing my order) just stinks.

For example... this year for Mother's Day, I ordered 3 bouquets of flowers for my mom, birthmom and mother-in-law. I ordered from two different nationally known companies. I ordered early just in case there would be a problem. Well, my mom's bouquet arrived on Friday via Fed-Ex and the vase was shattered.

My mom had other vases so it wasn't a big deal to her. Originally she didn't want to tell me because she didn't want me to think she was disappointed but she thought I should know so that I could let the floral company know. I did and they were excellent about the whole situation, responded via email within an hour and offered to refund my order in full. (I had only asked for a refund of their shipping / handling fee so this was a pleasant surprise. Hooray for ProFlowers as you now have my business again.)

The other two bouquets I ordered through TeleFlora via Haute Look with a guaranteed personal delivery of Saturday, May 7th. As I did not hear from my birthmother or mother-in-law saying anything had arrived, I went online to look up my order and found the order #s but no confirmation of delivery. In fact, the May 7th delivery date was rescheduled to May 12th for both orders. Not May 8th (Mother's Day), not even the day after (which is not cool in my book) but May TWELFTH! Seriously? Are there no more flowers in the Orlando, Florida and the Sacramento area of CA?

So I went to my email and noticed an "update" on my order that came in at almost 3:00 p.m. I received an email saying that my order (no order number, no reference name to which order...) could not be delivered because they could not find a florist to fulfill my order and that it was cancelled and a refund would be issued to my card. Hmm... nothing like waiting until mid-afternoon on the day the order is to be delivered to let me know... Why not the day before? Better yet, don't LURE customers in with GUARANTEED delivery dates for what is obviously a special holiday occasion and then leave them hanging at the last second.

I am not sure now whether one or both orders were cancelled because of the major flower shortage that must be taking place in Florida and California but of course I immediately responded and unfortunately have heard nothing back as of yet. Ugh... Sorry to the Moms... we really did want you to have a special bouquet! I take full responsibility and hope you will forgive us! We do love you!

Speaking of bad floral experiences, for Valentine's Day this year I wanted to surprise John with a fun bouquet. It was to have balloons, a chocolate bar, a monkey and a rose. It was supposed to be delivered the day before on Sunday, February 13th. This order was placed with FromYouFlowers.com. The order didn't end up being delivered until Wednesday night, February 16th... despite promises of delivery on the 13th, 14th and even the 15th. Seriously... They also promised a partial refund which never occurred.

Well darn, this blog wasn't supposed to be me ranting about my bad floral buying experiences. Sorry about that! I'm just sad because even though I tried to create fun and special surprises for those I love for special occasions, something happened beyond my control and the loved ones didn't get their surprise as it should have been. I'm sorry for the disappointment.

Have you had any similar experiences?

Still, I do love to shop online and will continue to do so. I know that most vendors out there are reputable and do a good job! I think though for the next "holiday" occasion I want to send flowers, I'll pick them myself and drive them directly to the recipient's location. Better yet, I'll have the kids hand make some with pipe cleaners and tissue paper. They'll be cuter and they'll last longer!

Hope you have a great rest of the weekend! I'm looking forward to a hopefully relaxing day tomorrow, lots of fun time with the kids and a delicious spaghetti dinner cooked by John. If I'm REALLY lucky, I'll get to sleep in and not have to do work emails until the kids are in bed.

Thanks for stopping by!
Karen

Evil in the World - Protecting our children from harm

2011-05-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

I've taken a break from blogging for the past couple of days, although there certainly has been plenty to blog about, especially if I wanted to comment on world events.

In USA and world news, the biggest story is the death of al Quaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the NAVY Seals operation which resulted in his death. Questions abound left and right about the operation, the intelligence, the timing, the subsequent burial of his body at sea and what specific details (such as pictures or DNA evidence) that the government is going to release to the public. Already there has been conflicting information put out there regarding the timeline of the raid, who was involved, who was killed, etc. This bothers me. I'd rather have them come out with facts later than sooner and have them be accurate than to rush out with news for the sake of a sound bite and then have the information turn out to be significantly different. We are a nation that prides ourselves on strength, intelligence and a progressive use of technology.

I believe it's important for our government to show our citizens and allies as a responsible world power that when information is shared in a press conference about an operation that was quite awhile in the making that the dissemination of that information that is chosen as safe to be shared is well thought out, carefully worded and factually correct. Anything less and I personally believe it brings rise to doubt, conspiracy theories and reactions that could then cause our nation more harm than good.

I look at my oldest son who wasn't even two when the horrific events of 9/11/2001 took place. Being his mom, it's natural to want to protect my son and not have him see such terrible things, especially at such a young age. We teach our children by example to be trusting, honest and open and so often when one is a child, his or her viewpoint is more idealistic then realistic because they still have a childlike innocence that hasn't been tainted by knowledge of some of the atrocities in this world.

Now that my oldest son is in middle school, I wonder what he will hear about recent world events and how it will shape his view of the world. I have told him if he has any questions about what he hears to feel free to come talk with me about it. Wanting to protect him, I sort of just hope this flies over his head for the time being. I certainly don't want him to be ignorant of world events, I just don't want to see him get really emotionally wrapped up in them at this age as he is very visual and pictures events very graphically. I don't want his nighttime thoughts to be caught up in gruesome imagery. Let him be a child while he is a child...

I remember when I was young that I was aware of bad people (people who hurt kids or adults, killers, people who went to jail for doing wrong things) but I didn't remotely process the significance of how much evil one could perpetrate until I experienced it personally and even then, it has taken me years to still try and work through the logic, emotion and understanding behind what happened to me, why I couldn't predict it would happen and why I couldn't stop it.

Today was a hard day for me emotionally because even though I see great progress that my sons are making, sometimes the things they do scare me or make me wonder if they are regressing. We have been working SO hard the past couple of years with our youngest to make sure that he will walk with us and not bolt away. He has made tremendous strides and most days he does an excellent job following the safety rules. But it only takes one day, one time to impulsively bolt and run and there to be an oncoming car or other danger and then our little boy will be hurt or much worse...

Today, Ryan bolted. He knew when we asked him afterwards that he should have stayed with us. He knew that was the rule. But his impulsive need or feeling that he needed to leave the group and run fast and far ahead superseded "rules" and the deterrent of getting in trouble and losing a privilege didn't register. The deterrent of possibly getting hurt didn't register. Ryan bolting or one day just deciding to wander off is something that keeps me up at night...

The other thing I noticed with my other son is that he seems to be stimming more and in a louder and more noticeable way as he is getting older. Although so far, he still seems to be accepted among his peers and scouts and will always be accepted here at home, I do worry that people who do not know him and see some of this behavior may try to embarrass or bully him. I just don't want to see that happen. I know our sons require their sensory breaks and each has their own things that they do to help self-regulate. When we're in certain inclusive settings such as a special needs event and other parents see our kids stim and we see their kids stim, there are likely to be knowing glances exchanged but with love, acceptance and understanding.

When people who are not used to being around a child with autism or Asperger's suddenly sees what "looks" to them to be a typical kiddo suddenly start spinning or flicking his fingers and making humming or loud video game type noises, it's pretty natural to assume they're going to look out of curiosity and wonder what might be motivating that kid or teen to be doing what he/she is doing.

When stimming gets disruptive in a public situation, we try to use redirection by suddenly asking our son a question about something we know he is interested in, distracting him or using some sort of other self-regulation tool in exchange.

Well, I started out talking about world news and I ended up with personal sharing and reflection. I think if I were to tie the thoughts together I would say that I have been thinking a lot lately about how to protect my children from the danger and evil in the world while letting them enjoy life, pursue their passions, be safe and be protected and not be too naive so that they put themselves into harm's way.

I will reflect upon this some more. If you have any thoughts on protecting your children both physically and emotionally from danger and harm, please feel free to share! What do your children know about world events today? Do you discuss them as a family? I'm curious!

Thanks for stopping by,
Karen

Autism Awareness Month comes to a close but Acceptance never ends

2011-04-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Aspierations Friends,

Another Autism Awareness Month in the USA has come to a close but that certainly doesn't mean that acceptance or advocacy ends here at Aspierations or for many different proactive individuals, families and organizations.

At the beginning of this month, I pledged to write and post a new blog at Aspierations - Come as you are... Let your light shine... for every day in the month of April. This is something I also did in 2010 and since I have now successfully completed two years of April blogging, I guess I'm going to make it a tradition.

For this last blog of the month, I was going to go ahead and do a summary and provide links to other blogs I wrote throughout this month but plans have a changed a bit.

Justin and John are away camping at Boy Scout Camporee and so I am here with Ryan tonight. His schedule is a bit off and we've been spending a lot of time together this afternoon and evening.

We played fun games like Goofball and Wii Party, shared a nice dinner of macaroni & cheese, tortilla chips and snickerdoodles (I really know how to put out a spread... domestic diva that I am....) and I hung out using the iPad while Ryan enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath. It was a special treat because I let him take a bath in our bathroom with bubbles, jets and rubber duckies and we played a Knock Knock, Who's There game where one of us had to guess who was at "the door." (Visitors included Scooby Doo, grandparents, teachers, friends from school, bus drivers and even Angry Birds.)

Ryan and I miss Justin and John but understand how these camping trips they go on with the Boy Scouts bring a lot of benefits for both. Justin builds life skills, social skills and great outdoors skills. John gets experience as a leader and a mentor and gets bonus bonding time with Justin.

John and I have been doing a lot of talking this month about what we can personally do to help empower, encourage and enrich the lives of those on the autism spectrum as well as the families, caregivers and friends who love them. Each of us has our own ideas of how we want to help.

John's main project ideas revolve around Autism, Scouting and Disabilities Awareness. He now has Autism and Scouting on Facebook, the Autism and Scouting blog and yesterday, he signed up for Twitter @AutismScouting. He started working on a book around the beginning of the year and although finding time to write can be a challenge, he has made a fantastic start.

I have ideas of my own... including building Aspierations into an awareness and empowerment website, writing a couple books of my own, including a children's book and working on special projects that can benefit those in our direct community as well as those throughout the nation and the world. I am in the process of researching, finding funding and allocating the time to make this happen because I want to do it right and my husband and I want to create resources that our children will benefit from and be proud of.

A lot of things happened in the past month that have convinced me that we are heading on the right path now. Our children mean the world to us. Helping them and others on the autism spectrum be successful and happy with their lives is something I feel in my heart that I have been called to do.

I look forward to continuing the journey with my Aspierations friends. We are all a work in progress...

Wishing you happiness and joy, acceptance and peace,

Karen