Mommy of 6 kids

A Day in the Atypical boys life

2013-08-23T20:05:00.000-06:00

Well I thought I would share a typical day in my 5 year old sons life:

Well my son stays up late like most boys on the spectrum he does not sleep well this has been hard on the hubby and I but mostly me as my husband could sleep through a tornado!

So this said he is generally up by 10-11am, now I know I should wake him earlier we have tried that for a couple weeks straight but all that happens is I get even less sleep as he still stays up late.

He generally does not like to eat first thing but he does like to turn on the tv and watch rescue bots on netflix. I usually just bring him a bowl of dry cereal and he will eat on it then if he is in the mood he will come get milk. After one episode I have him go change his pull up and get dressed. He then finishes eating rarely will he just sit and eat he is constantly getting up. Then he watches another episode well he really does not watch it all he by now is awake enough to play with his cars with the movie running in the background.

If I do not keep my eye on him and have to do something I will walk in to find a box of cereal or crackers scattered on the floor and him mashing it with his cars his favorite activity since he was 18 months. I have tried everything short of buying locking cupboards to keep him out of the cereal it just was not worth it when I found him climbing over the counter and stretching to reach the top of the fridge just to get the cereal down. I have decided now that I am more familiar with autistic behaviors this is probably one of his stims he finds comfort in it. So now I deliberately leave a smaller portion of cereal around so maybe he wont use a whole box.

I have learned if nothing else from being the mom to children on the spectrum you have to pick your battles when possible. If I spend all the time trying to get them to conform to the same expectations for neuro typical children I would have a whole day and night of meltdowns and I am sorry but my sanity is important too. So I do expect certain things from my children mainly the really yucky things are unacceptable and sure to set me off lol like playing with your poop YUCK! Luckily I have not had much problem in this department till I got the youngest girl she does not like poopy diapers so she will play in them if you dont change them right away UGH!

Well back to the boy he as been pretty good in this department and thank goodness finally got trained to at least poop in the toilet. It has been two months since I had to change his poopy pants YEAH!!! He is still working on the urinating in toilet I really feel he just can not tell when he as to pee.

So after he plays with cars he generally wants to play in the sand box with cars even more so out he goes, usually with baby sister in tow, it kinda sucks in winter as I have no place to let him go play while I do some cleaning. I go check on him tons as it does not take him long to get into something I usually will go fold some laundry outside or sit on the deck and read. Usually after an hour or so he wants a drink or something and gets distracted with something inside. I usually have him do ABC Mouse while I make him some lunch and less he wants to help me cook it.

Then he usually turns on another movie like bob the builder and plays with cars again I try to get him to do a puzzle or something new sometimes he will sometimes he wont depends on his mood. We usually end up back outside I try to get him to notice something new in nature daily trying to get him interested in his surroundings not just those cars.

I usually go get the girls about this time and then my life gets to crazy to do much with him and he will usually watch a movie while I try to get the girls to do their chores and homework while I start dinner.

The kids usually play a game together including the boy or watch a movie then they get ready for bed have a story and go to bed except for the boy. He generally is up playing the only way we can get him to go to sleep is to hold him while we watch a movie and it has to be something boring. You can read to him and put him to bed and guarantee he is up playing with cars or doing whatever. I have put him to bed thought he was out go to bed myself only to be awakened by him getting into the fridge. Generally he is up till around 2am when you can finally bore him to death with music to get him to sleep.

Aspergirls

2013-08-20T00:27:00.001-06:00

Well shortly after my sons testing the special ed teacher for my second daughter approached me she is 12 and asked if I had her behavior tested. I said for what exactly as she had been tested and they told me the same thing they have told me since she was 5 years old SHE IS FINE! Your just worried because she is normal and your oldest is gifted. Sign! I should have been more forceful I knew from a young age she had some problems but hey live and learn.

Well the special ed lady says well she does not make eye contact I said so she has always been that way that is just her. She gave me this look like I should know better which really I should as I do work with special needs kids but they are really profound so a mild case like my daughter is harder to spot. Then she says well when I try to get her to discuss what problems she is having with math she seems to ignore me for a couple minutes then she might respond or she might not. I said well yeah she has always done that she just takes a bit to gather her thoughts. She asked if I would be ok if they tested her for behavior issues I said fine. So she sends me to go get the screenings she wants to try and WOW big surprise she has me pick up ASQ and GARS and a couple others. I had never filled either of these questionnaires out before. As I am filling them out I realize they are for Autism or Atypical behaviors and OMG!

My second daughter had not smiled before like age 5 much and even then usually her expressions do not match the situation. If I could have used one word to describe my daughter 2 it would be grumpy even from a super young age. She had and still does have weird OCD things she at the age of 2 had played with her belly button so much she could pull it off her stomach. She then moved to biting she was always biting her sister and nothing seemed to help stop her. She sucked her clothes till they were misshapen and sucked her hair. She at the age of about 6 became obsessed with hugs she constantly wanted to hug which she never had really wanted before and frequently shoved people away when they wanted one. It reached the point where I had to limit her to 2 hugs per person per day and only if she asked for one, if someone else instigated it that did not count. Then she moved to chewing her fingernails which was ok till about 11 years old when she chewed the whole nail off down to the cuticle it was bad surprised it did not bleed.

I realized as I filled these out that there was a high probability that I now had another child on the spectrum. I also realized my oldest daughter fit alot of the asperger signs I was shocked she is 15 how could I have missed that I guess I always assumed erroneously that they were like rainman. I approached the special ed department and asked to have my oldest tested as well. Well the Psychologist on retainer for the school observed my daughters and went over the questionnaires she then had me read a couple books before our meeting she said they might help me decide if I think these really describe my daughters. I was amazed at how two girls who seemed very different could really have the same condition.

After reading the books I was convinced that after years of searching we might have discovered why my oldest with an almost genius IQ struggled to pass english mostly due to reading, she does not picture what she reads. My second I finally knew what she needed and why she seems fine one minute and looses it the next. They were probably both aspergirls I was in shock. Well we met with the psychologist and she agreed that they most likely are aspies in the 90% probability range. Why does it take 15 and 12 years to get a diagnoses or even be pointed in the right direction? I had my daughters tested multiple times and yet no one ever mentioned they might have a condition. I guess it happens but I had hoped we had come farther in the last 30 years.

A boy with Atypical behaviors

2013-08-17T20:51:00.004-06:00

Earlier this year while talking with my sons preschool teacher asking her how he was doing she said "he seems to not hear us have you had that problem she asked"? I told her I have had his hearing checked multiple times and he always came back normal. She then asked if I had noticed he was obsessed with red I said sure he has liked it for at least 3 years since he discovered Cars. She then asked if I had any other concerns so I told her about his lack of interest in potty training (he is almost 5) and that he did not seem to really interact with others just played by them. She then asked if he had been tested for any learning disabilities I told her he had been in an early intervention program but had tested out of it fine almost 2 years earlier at age 3 he had been tested at the school district. I asked her if I should worry she said if she was me she would seriously consider having him tested again at the school district. I said ok I will set the appointment and I did. He was tested at the school district and as we are sitting there he did his typical behaviors ie talking loudly, hanging all over the tester getting in her space, struggling to say his letters and numbers in order and generally being hyper.
The psychologist was observing all this interaction toward the end he brought in the results. There was some question as his atypical behaviors were just borderline according to the tests done so far plus he had regressed in his learning things he had passed at age 3 he had lost at almost age 5. The psychologist asked if I had time for some more in depth questioning I said yes. After this questioning was done he excused himself for a few and came back with those results my son was even higher in the atypical range I had no idea what this meant. They brought me an paper on autism and told me I should look into having him screened further by a pediatrician. I walked out of there in a daze I had wondered about the autism for my son but after his first screening at age 3 I had dismissed it since they told me he was normal functioning. I asked my pediatrician about it he said well if he tested atypical at school district and after looking over the results and watching him he said he is probably autistic. WOW what do you do? Well they admitted him to special ed preschool to work with him and he got an IEP. He made good progress in the special ed preschool and in his transition meeting it was determined he could just be in regular kindergarten with pull out services. I hope this works out for him and he continues to progress.

The challenges of Speech problems

2011-03-22T22:45:00.005-06:00

Well I meant to write this a while ago but alas I have been rather busy. My 5th child had ear infections for almost a year straight he was constantly sick. Now I know I have 5 children and possibly should have figured out that I needed to insist they do something more for him but as none of my other children had ear infections I found myself very ill prepared. Well after the year he got tubes put in but alas his speech has been drastically affected and he gets frustrated fast because we cannot understand what he wants.

What I learned from this is never let doctors put you off if your kid has ear infections regularly get an expert involved like an ear, nose and throat doctor. By regularly I mean you give them an antibiotic they finish it and a week later have another ear infection or your child has 4 or more in 7 months or so. Signs of an ear infection can be found here http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infection/ear-infections-symptoms remember your child may not have all the symptoms or may not tug at ear some kids just seem to always be sick so just use your best judgement. After all hearing and speech are very important to a child so they can communicate with you and others.

We got a local program to help its like an early intervention program they come out to the house and work with you and your child to pick up sounds first then other skills. They help you learn how to step by step guide your child to where they need to be. Ours is Kids on the move and can be found here http://www.kotm.org/ it is better not to wait till they are in school to get them the help they need to be where they already should have been if they could hear. If you are unable to find a program your pediatric doctor should know who to put you in touch with.

Our monthly special for March

2011-03-22T21:44:00.006-06:00

On Sale This Month

Easter Sets

3107 Crucifixion & Resurrection
uncut $11.99, precut $14.99 Save $3
The Crucifixion and Ressurection of Christ scripture set includes: figures, sequencing and coloring pages, and story.

3231 Tale of Three Trees
uncut $9.99, precut $11.99 Save $2
Three trees want to grow up to do wonderful things in this popular American folk tale. Their prideful dreams are not what is best or what God has in store for them. This is a great story to tell of Christ's birth, ministry and sacrifice for us all. The set includes 16 figures and story.

6234 Bugs Save St. Patrick’s Day
uncut $9.99, precut $11.99 Save $2
These whimsical bugs cavort hrough the months learning proper behavior in various situations as they celebrate the holidays and seasons. In this set find out how they save St. Patrick's Day. The set includes 12 figures and story.

Super Savers!

6030 Bug Book
uncut $19.99, precut $30.99 Save $9
Your children will go buggy over the many creepy, crawly creatures. Hiding underground, in the garden, behind flowers, in the pond or on the front porch. Book includes five pages, and 43 figures.

79067 Three Little Kittens
uncut $20.99, precut $24.99 Save $9
Children will enjoy helping these adorable kittens find their mittens. Set includes 15 figures and a 12" x 17" mounted background.

IF YOU are interested in ordering any of these items at this price just post a comment with your email in this format so programs cant steal it

jadealyn at hotmail.com and I will get back to you. I take paypal only and less your local in utah county, Thanks tons!

Daily Deal Sites

2011-03-22T21:26:00.004-06:00

So I discovered daily deal sites and giveaways. I mostly shop for diapers but you never know what creative interesting thing you are going to find. I bought some cloth diapers this way and saved me some money thank goodness. Money is so tight right now and just bound to get tighter. I also have been reading so many sites on the pros and cons of disposable diapers. One really worried me about Dioxin that they put in disposables that has been outlawed in other countries. I will have to find it and link it. If you use cloth diapers rockin green laundry soap is great to make them look new and it also works well on your whites to help them not look gray.

Oh Katy - Reusable Diaper - Froggy

2011-02-23T20:28:00.001-07:00

Oh Katy - Reusable Diaper - Froggy

WOW CLOTH Diapers on sale for 2 days at www.motherofadeal.com for just $11.99 plus order has a flat $10 shipping. I love these diapers and have used the previous versions on two of my children they come in nine stunning colors and are so easy to use. I clean them in the washer with rocking green soap http://rockingreensoap.com/ check out all the details on these wonderful diapers on http://www.ohkaty.com/

Give away for subscribing to my blog

2009-09-19T22:01:00.006-06:00

Thanks to for checking out my blog!

Subscribe to my blog and get an entry into my drawing for a Christmas Tree Advent Calendar.

Count the days to Christmas as you place an ornament on the tree, a decoration in the home, or a present under the tree. When the picture is fully decorated it will be Christmas Day! Set includes Velcro on a 11" x 14" background, 25 figures, and literature explaining each symbol of Christmas.

Get an additional entry by ordering a product or by replying to one of my posts or by emailing me to learn about selling felt products or by posting a message that tells me things you would be interested in learning about with special needs. Please email me with your email and let me know you entered or posted at nite5hade@yahoo.com.

Also if you would like to subscribe to our monthly newsletter this will get you another entry just email me and say add me to your monthly newsletter. This email lists ideas for various things and our monthly specials along with my personal specials, it is very educational for parents from all walks of life.

Drawing will take place October 19th winner will be notified by email. Check back after that for more chances to win next months drawing.

September Specials

2009-09-19T18:54:00.014-06:00

September Specials

Email me to take advantage of these prices* I will send you a paypal invoice

*prices do not include shipping or tax if you live in utah

Dolls Are on Sale!
This is the month to order your Christmas Just Like Me Dolls! All our doll and clothes sets are on sale in September! THESE DOLLS AND CLOTHES ARE WASHABLE! Also made of high quality felt that lasts for years.

SAVE $5 On all Just Like Me Dolls
Imagine the joy and delight your child will experience when they have a doll that looks just like them! All we need is a photo of your child (school photo preferred) and we’ll do the rest.
80411 Just Like Me Girl $19.99
80402 Just Like Me Boy $19.99
80422 Just like Me Twin Boy $19.99
80421 Just Like Me Twin Boy $19.99

Purchase two Dolls and pay less!

All of our dolls (girl, boy and twins) can be purchased for $5.99 or purchase any two for only $9.99!

SAVE $3 on these Doll Clothes Sets
Color My Own Clothes
Your child can create beautiful designs and patterns on these Color My Own Clothes Sets. When their masterpiece is finished, sent to us and we’ll print them on felt for a lasting treasure. Set includes duffle bag too!
80091 Color My Own Girl Clothes, uncut $9.99, pre-cut $12.99
80095 Color My Own Fashion Clothes, uncut $9.99, pre-cut $12.99
80094 Color My Own Twins Clothes, uncut $9.99, pre-cut $12.99
80092 Color My Own Boy Clothes, uncut $9.99, pre-cut $12.99

Example of Color My Own Girl Clothes

8008 International Costumes
Uncut $12.99, Pre-cut $16.99
Fifteen international costumes that will fit the girl doll are included in this set. It also includes a duffle bag for storage and extensive paperwork with games, recipes, and information about each country.

80029 Girl Clothes
Uncut $13.99, Pre-cut $19.99
All kinds of fun will be had with all of these clothes to pla y with. Set also includes a duffle bag for storage.

80039 Boy Clothes
Uncut $13.99, Pre-cut $19.99
This set has everyday clothes as well as clothes for play and dress-up, nineteen figures in all. Set also includes a duffle bag for storage.

SAVE $2 on these clothes sets for the girl doll!
8011 Vintage Clothes
Uncut $9.99, Pre-cut $12.99
Twelve outfits plus accessories is ideal for playing dress-ups. There is literature explaining the time period of each outfit. Set includes a duffle bag for storage.

8012 Career Clothes
Uncut $7.99, Pre-cut $9.99
This set has eight different outfits that are worn on the job. Your little one may choose to be a doctor or a chocolatier! Set includes a duffle bag for storage.

Also on sale is our Fashion Dolls!
8007 Fashion Dolls
Uncut $14.99, Pre-cut $19.99 a $3 savings!
This set is a bit different in that the dolls are not on the ¼” felt and there are 4 dolls and the clothes in the set. They are like paper dolls of old. Set includes a duffle bag for storage.

Facebook & Pneumonia

2009-08-15T22:49:00.004-06:00

Well I got sick in June the doctor thinks it was swine flu but I did not take care of myself and got Pneumonia. I did not go see my doctor till the middle of July due to a stubborn streak. Unfortunately instead of updating my blog I discovered Facebook and their numerous games. I guess I needed something mindless to occupy my waking hours when all I could do was push some buttons. Therefore this site was sadly lacking in posts and updates I am currently updating it now thank you for your patience :) On the bright side my son has learned to walk some he however is going to need tubes for his ears as he as had none stop ear infections since January. Hopefully this will improve his disposition some and help him to talk.

Teaching Styles and Special Needs

2009-05-12T12:15:00.013-06:00

Student with special needs require a more specialized teaching style then other students. These students will not thrive in a classroom where they are expected to sit quiet as mice and never speak out of turn. These students thrive better in classrooms that are more upbeat and allow some spontaneous discussion or input. The more senses you can use in your lessons the more your students will learn. You also have more students who understand the material being taught which leads to better test scores.
For example when teaching about chemical reactions make ice cream in a bag or goo students really love this stuff and will have a great time making it. While they are making ice cream or goo help them see what the different components do to react to each other. Then follow up with a worksheet with questions they need to answer about what they think happened. Another really great lesson I like to use for matter or compounds is to give a cooking lesson. I make cookies or a stir fry something that mixes ingredients to make something else. Before making the items I go over the measuring tools and how to convert different amounts if I am missing the specific size measuring tool this brings in a math lesson. I also have the students write or tell what they think the different ingredients do when combined. The students really get into this as they help put in or mix the ingredients, the smells and interactions really help them remember things you say to them or explain while doing the lesson.
Small focused group work is a great tool with students with special needs as long as the teacher spends time with each group or the most focused need group. Centers are a great way to implement this or you could do whole group instruction and get the main set of students going. Then bring a small group of students who need more individualized instruction back to a table to work with the teacher or aide.

april products

2009-04-09T13:08:00.029-06:00

April products
Table top town $46.99 for uncut and 57.99 for cut and assembled plus shipping and tax.

Finger Play with CD $33.99 Uncut, 39.99 Precut

Little League Line Up 9.99 Uncut & 11.99 Precut

You can verify I am a consultant at this link: http://www.storytimefelts.com/hostess/consultantdetail.php?uid=126

You may also look at our other products and order online using my name as the consultant at

http://www.storytimefelts.com/catalog/index.php

ADHD

2009-03-18T18:11:00.010-06:00

ADHD can be very trying to parents and children. A lot of children with ADHD can be helped by use of caffeine, I know this sounds crazy but I am here to tell you it can make a huge difference. Of course it does not work the same for all children as everyone is different. However it has improved my daughter tremendously and I do not have to deal with all the nasty side affects of most ADHD medicines. I started doing this right before Christmas break as my daughter was driving her teacher crazy. She just takes 2 oz of mountain dew in the morning right before she goes to school this helps her not get so hyper later in the day. From what I have observed it tends to even her out for most of the day. However some days at around 3pm she gets a little cranky so we give her just a bit more so her mood stays even all day. The time might vary for each child so just be aware of how they are doing.
I like the caffeine because I can control how much she gets and when as she does not need the caffeine when she is home as it does not bother me that she is hyper. I do not want her drinking mountain dew all the time and could choose another drink with caffeine but I like to also use vojo mints. She only has to take 2-3 of these and they act just like the mountain dew they come in citrus, berry sour, and peppermint. She likes citrus the best but some other kids might like the others you get them at 7-elevens and other stores you can look them up online under vojo extreme.
I am not completely sure of why the caffeine works but from my research it changes the way the blood flows to the brain or something to that effect so when in most people it makes them hyper it makes most children with ADHD mellow.

Gifted Students

2009-03-05T21:02:00.009-07:00

For this post I wanted to discuss various ways to help students who are gifted but may also have a learning disability. My oldest is gifted mostly in math however she does ok in the other areas except comprehension she does not seem to understand what she is reading. This can cause some problems since she can read on a 9th grade level when she is only a 6th grader. I finally got her to tell me that when she reads she does not picture what the story is about in her mind. They finally tested her and discovered that she does not sequence very well when you give her a list of directions out of order. I found this very frustrating as I have tried to get the schools to test her since she was in 2nd grade. Well at least she is not a high school student so we hopefully can help her with this problem.

When looking for any signs I may have missed that would have told me this was a problem. The only thing I could come up with was she had a severe lack of imagination from a young age. She never liked to play dolls or dress up. She only liked books with pictures and when she got to old for picture books she did not like to read anymore. I think if I had tried to get her to play house more or discussed what was happening during reading time, she might have been better at sequencing. I did discover something a few months ago that might have helped her and kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner. It seems so simple and that is felt stories they use pictures but you have to act out what you are hearing with movable figures so they are really hands on. I thought gosh I could have used paper figures for that matter but they are not as durable. I started using them with my other children and the kids loved them. I also discovered from a teacher at my daughters school that I could have done and am now doing this picture with a sentence game. You have a short phrase that is very descriptive and have the student draw what they think it should look like. This has helped some as now she has to think about what the sentence is saying and we can see what she is really getting out of her reading.
Her math is a different problem all of its own. She can do math like a twenty year old so most math for her age bores her senseless. I have struggled to get the schools to challenge her on a higher level but not had much success.