Care4autism

                                   Growing old and how? Do I watch out for those tell-tale signs of ageing? The first grey hair, the odd wrinkle, ……. Are these telling me that I am growing old?   No, not really, in a roundabout way it is Ramam letting me know, Amma, you are growing old. As I see mothers of the younger ones discussing the initial diagnosis, seeking advice on potty training, quite unwittingly have I fallen in to the senior bracket! His needs to attend to nature‘s call in public place is another way of me knowing that he is a big boy and me no young either. He now uses only the gents’ toilet. Gone are the days when he would accompany me to the ladies toilet. And the big, big giveaway, is my receding hairline and my son beginning to sport the first minute traces of facial hair on his upper lip. It would be ridiculous to call it a moustache, but yes it is very much there for a pair...

This is an earnest request to all of you readers, especially parents, serving the autistic community to go online and sign the petition which says not to repeal the National Trust act. We must not lose sight of the basic character, nomenclature, and objectives of this act. The National Trust act serves to take care of the interest of our children. The thought that is uppermost on every parent’s mind is what after us?   To take action, please click on the link below http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/parents_of_persons_withspecialneeds/                           Also visiting their website http://www.thenationaltrust.co.in/   also gives you an insight as o the services, insurance schemes, respite care schemes that are made available to our children. At least somebody in the ministry has put some thought and effort in anticipating the requirement of this specia...

                                Leaving in a society, in an apartment complex, one cannot do away with your neighbours. When I say neighbors, I mean it in a very general manner of speaking, my next door neighbor, to my neighbors on my floor, to neighbors in my block to all of them in our housing society. Fortunately the first two categories of our neighbors have been very good to us, maybe even fantastic but  the 20% living in our complex have been giving me those minor pin pricks and probably some amusement when I recall these events. This is so with other parents, living in apartment complexes who also say the 80% are generally fine.                                  Recalling these events, one of my “neighbors” in the adjacent block, apolo...

Here are some of the recipes I tried this month  Guava smoothie: 1 Guava 1 Banana 1 cup orange juice 1tsp lemon juice 1Tbsp honey  2 Handful of ice.                                 Peel and slice the fruits in bite size chunks, add the juices and honey, put them in a blender and blend. Protein mix:                             Tried my hand at making a homemade protein mix for Ramam. I used finger millet, (500g approx), 50g ground nuts,   whole green gram, groundnuts, chick peas, roasted gram, 2-3 tablespoons of   horse gram ,black gram , boiled rice (250 g),3-4 small cardamom pods. I did not add almonds, as it may reduce the shelf life of the powder. Fry all ...

The ALFAA (Assisted Living for Autistic Adults) and the autism society of India together organized a day of fun and frolic for the autistic children at the ASHA (army) centre for developmental disabilities, commemorating the children’s day celebrations. More importantly, an update on the disability act, (RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 2010 – INCLUSION AND FULL PARTICIPATION) and census were also taken up and discussed at length. A new law for disabled persons is being chalked out and is likely to be formalized sometime early next year. A lot of thought has gone in to drafting the recommendations that have been sent forward to the Centre at Delhi. The purpose of today’s agenda was twofold, one primarily to educate the parents on the far reaching consequences of the law once it comes into effect; and secondly to encourage active participation of parents at least at the state level.                  ...

Back in my school days a simple question to a friend, “Why is there no class today” would be answered with a glib, prompt reply “because the sky is so high”. Now, what kind of answer would be that? I would have loved to wipe the smirk on my friend’s face that accompanies this rejoinder. It was considered cool then. So then, I must say my tryst with the “why” questions began quite early in life. It continues to bother me even now in the form of language building exercises for Ramam.                                The therapist would shoot off a question, how comfortable is he with the “WH” questions. I would give a vague answer, he is ok with what questions, not so ok with the where questions and an absolute no-no with the why questions. By now, I almost apologetic for the state that he is in. Recently a therapist asked me the mother of all...

                                    ASHA conducted it’s annual sports meet on the 23 rd of this month, on a Saturday afternoon. The canvas was large as usual. Be it the Ramayana for the annual day, or the sports day, the arrangements are elaborate. From the invocation, to one of the students inviting the gathering, to a ceremonial oath taking, to declaring the games open, to the March fast, drills, yoga demonstration……the works! I had a sense of déjà vu, as the events unfolded for the day. At no point did one feel this is an event organized for special kids. All the students wore a blue t-shirt with the ASHA logo printed on it. The staff also wore kurtis designed by the self help wing of ASHA . The motifs on the kurtis have been designed and block printed by the children.                     ...

                                             Autism charities in more than 40 countries are joining forces to launch a global campaign challenging the world’s 4.5 billion social media users to shutdown their networks just for one day on 1 November 2010.The million dollar question is can you get on for a day without being on twitter or face book. It is an initiative launched to raise funds and awareness for autism. You can make a donation to receive a CHAPP that signals your shutdown across the social networking sites.                                         In the words of Rachael Harris, a counselor and supporter “Electing to shutdown social communication mirrors autistic silence. ...

For those of you on the GFCF diet, millets are definitely a healthier way to go. Especially the health conscious, senior citizens vouch for the goodness of millets. It is a healthier option compared to rice and wheat. Some of them are Finger millet (ragi), little millet (sama in Kannada, koda bagar in Hindi),  jowar (sorghum), pearl millet (sajje in kannada, Bajra in hindi, kambu in Tamil), foxtail millet (tenai in Tamil, Navene in Kannada). The only so called hitch is all these flours is ,they  need to be mixed with hot water, as they do not have gluten as a binding agent. So, here some of the blogs that I came across while looking for millet recipes  http://millets.wordpress.com/  .                                This blog  http://thisissucksman.blogspot.com/2009/03/bajra-roti-simple-and-easy.html   shows you the way to make bajra rotis. Well illustrated with...

                                               These are two restaurants that hold  some promise for a GFCF menu when eating out. They are both as diverse as chalk and cheese. One is Suggi that offers malnad cuisine and have their branches at Malleswaram and New BEL extension. The ambience is good. The service is average. They have some interesting items on the menu as the Suggi basket - Kadabu, neer dosa, shavige, all served in a dimsum basket (how mangalorean is that). Anyway it has to be had with the curries available in the main course. The food again is average. A meal for  a family can be anywhere between 700-1000.                       The other one is Kamath @kamth yatri nivas. This one is on the same road as Sapna book stall. It is more like ...

After a long time baked these cookies.They feel  soft at the centre and crisp on the sides.I have adapted this recipe form the joy of baking. I have used white sugar instead of brown for the simple reason I didn't have it in my pantry. 2 cups (260 grams) GFCF flour                          1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon salt   2 large eggs, room temperature 1 1/4 cups (260 grams) light brown sugar 1/2 cup (120 ml) canola oil or corn oil 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup (215) grams pumpkin puree                               Preheat oven to 165.c. In ...

         The S amvaad institute of speech and hearing at Hebbal,  provides treatment for all communication disorders. The Director, Radhika Poovayya,  is a speech language pathologist with 23 years of experience. She is presently training to be a board certified behavior analyst. Under her guidance ABA services are being provided for children with autism at the institute in Hebbal.                                ABA services are now available for children at Hebbal from the 6 th   of Sept 2010.Daily sessions of  1 /2/3/4 hours are available. Individual sessions will be given to all early learners and once the child’s skills improve  child will be introduced to small groups of 2 and 3. All programs will be monitored and supervised by Radhika Poovayya. To quote Radhika “Research has proved ...

As I keep blog hopping,  I am constantly  amazed at the wisdom, courage and fortitude of parents who have been battling autism, in their own way, and passing on their experiences good and bad.   All of it can be overwhelming. Some of these blogs move you to tears. One such blog that needs mention is http://teenautism.com/ .                                Having handled a child with autism for 10 years, here are some thoughts I would like to share.   For one you can never wish autism away. The complexity and the challenges only keep varying. The mother with a newly diagnosed child may want to know all about potty training, while I am out looking for hobbies that Ramam can pursue.   There are going to be challenges along the way. Secondly, what works for your child be it therapy, or if you are thinking of medication...

We are back to go square one. One month of being on non gfcf diet, things began to go awry. It was like watching the trailer of a beautiful movie that never saw the light of day. We had a rollicking time eating pizza, ice creams, pizzas, pani puri….. The first half of the movie was racy, fun packed but somehow the second half the script began to flounder. Ramam began to get not so good reports from school, therapists. It was a huge disappointment. We had observed earlier also when Ramam was not on the diet, and we used to treat him to pizza, his behavior would be exemplary the next day. There is no logic to it as it is to so many things with autism. So the first fifteen days of the trial seemed to have gone smooth and easy sailing.                    He is back on the diet last 3-4 days and let’s see how thing go. He already is asking for rotis, curds and pooris. But maybe he understands as I have ...

As I was slugging it out with yet another questionnaire, many thought crossed my mind. To begin with, the umpteen number of questionnaires that we had filled since his diagnosis. I remember earlier it used to be a shared experience for me and my hubby dear. We used to mark it with pencils and cross check whether     there was consensus between us. Not to mention the length of each questionnaire. Slowly with the drift of time it was purely my job. In due course, I was subtly reminded that he had a job to keep. So now I take it in my stride quite sportingly.                  Answering a questionnaire on your child’s mile stones however can be a truly learning experience. (No pun intended). It kind of toots your child’s deficits and there is no denying it. These honest appraisals help you get your act together. Every assessment shows you where the child is on the learning curve. It gives you focus. ...

Here are the answers to some of the questions that have evaded you since the time you had a child on the spectrum Why is a social smile so difficult for our children?                                  I have snaps of Ramam when he was small, holding his lips when asked to smile for a photo, which means he has understood the social context but a smile is not an easy one. As Soma explains “In a social situation, there is a stimulus which begins in the hypothalamus, from there the impulse goes to the body to create physical changes, such as muscle contraction  as neurotransmitters are released. The changes are then fed to the somatosensory cortex of the brain, which sends the emotion forward to the frontal cortex where it is interpreted as hey! We have an emotion here”. In simpler words the neural pathway is a long one and a str...

Recently somebody send me the recipe for panniyaram. This is one another mother sharing her GFCF experience with her son. Although off GFCf, I still cannot resist a GFCF recipe when I come across one. Habits die hard! This is her mail to me. I have put it here with her permission.For those who have second thoughts about discontinuing the diet, here is a word of caution from this mother. Hai viji, actually i was shocked after reading ur post " All Clear" i started to worry. that's why i sent a mail to u Being a parent u know which is good for Ramam ,still i want share our experience so that it will give u an idea My son Ramesh(9 years old) after the diagnosis at the at the age of 4 immediately we changed the diet. Last 5 years he is on the diet.Being a tamil south indian it is easy for me to change diet with idli dosai, idiyappam, paniyaram, sambar , pongal vadai etc etc Like u we have also done the food allergy test for my son before two years and came to know he ...

Spreading awareness on Autism, Vivek oberoi, is all set to teach dance to children with autism in Mumbai. Arts in motion will be conducting its annual festival in Chembur. The theme will be "Dance with Joy, Accepting Responsibility, and Understanding Autism”. To know more click http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_story.aspx?Section=Movies&ID=ENTEN20100146672&subcatg=MOVIESINDIA&keyword=bollywood&cp . When we were in Pune, Shiamak Davar’s foundation had a separate group that worked with children with special needs. Ramam did a stage show with them. Recently now during the summer vacations, in Bangalore, when I checked for Ramam and my daughter Isha, they did a fees waiver for Ramam. They even wanted to take him in along with his age group. It is heartening to receive such  a warm response when you call.

After the initial diagnosis, the heartbreaks we eventually accept the problem and stat working with our children. Then somewhere along the line, we decide to start academics. We usually begin with matching, sorting….But there have been many a times I or rather me and my husband have wondered how is academics going to help him. We used to get these constant nagging doubts that   if he cannot take a simple command to fetch a spoon, switch off the fan, close the door………………what is to be achieved by him doing activities across a tabletop. But at all those times we were given assurances to keep working on his commands, we were told he will learn gradually. In introspection, had I waited to teach him academics after he stared taking commands, he would have been nowhere.                                    I have been readi...

I had written an earlier post on autism friendly websites. Here are some more for children in the age group 4-6.Thank you, Gina for the link. Have fun. http://www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooeyhome.html http://funschool.kaboose.com/ http://www.rapidtyping.com/ http://www.elbuhoboo.com/eng.php http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm l. Ramam enjoyed the fruit shoot games on this site. http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/ Check out my  earlier post for autism friendly websites

  I have been getting some google   searches looking for Dr Nandini Mundkur.   She is a developmental pediatrician. She is with the Centre for child development and disabilities Bangalore. She with her team are a group of professionals trained in ADI_ autism diagnostic inventory and ADOS autism diagnostic observation schedule. They are into early intervention. She can be contacted at 080 23342035 or 41205034 .Their website is www.ccdd.in . She is also on the panel of   consultants,  at   Samvad, Institute of speech and hearing, Hebbal, Bangalore.

Little Hearts Hospital at   Masab Tank. The  phone  number is  23372036. One can check for resources with them. Ranjeeta, she is an occupational therapist, who has specialized in sensory integration issues. Her number is 9441349168.          Also you may check my earlier post on schools in Hyderabad for more details.

Technically speaking or rather, clinically, Ramam is out of it. The blood test for Ramam has ruled out allergies towards gluten and milk. The floodgates have opened, so as to speak. My daughter has checked and rechecked with me in the last 2-3 days that is it ok for him to have noodles, wheat and milk… in that order. Can he eat dahi chawal is her BIG question. For a boy who loved his rice and curds few years back, he turned it down yesterday after my husband offered it at dinner time. After much cajoling, he hesitatingly tried a spoon of curd and fell in love with it all over again.                     Does this mean it is the end of GFCF for him and “US “too? Is it time to ring down the curtains     for jowar rotis, akki rottis, and raagi     parathas .Does it mean yes to panner at home? Is it time to watch out for Dominos flyers? Does eating out mean more than dosas, vada...

I want to thank all the sponsors who have contributed to this cause through online donations and cheques. A big thank you to all of you once again.Here are some photos of the marathon.Ramam and Isha did a 4k where  they joined the majja runners.I beamed proudly as some runners cheered us on saying both  ur kids are running.Unfortunately a beaming self is not in the photo. The next picture is  taken right after the 4k when they joined their father after his 10k.The third one, of course  recouping after the run.

June 6 th Ramam turned 10. We had a bday celebration with just the 4 of us. Went for a movie, bought some gifts, and ate out. We watched king khan in My name is Khan at home!   This was a different bday for him from his earlier ones with no bday party, no cake cutting. He picked up and answered all his birthday calls himself this time. A first! .We had done a blood test at the Apollo hospitals for allergies on the 5 th.   We are hoping that the tests come negative for the “THE” allergens gluten and casein. We are yet to receive the test results, and then probably that would be his birthday gift. At school he is in  a new class with a new set of teachers.   Wishing that he has a great year ahead of him.

                This school, Saandipani, in Shanti nagar is in Hyderabad. It follows the Waldrof curriculum that does not have a mass appeal with parents of regular kids. It works for our kids feels a mother of an autistic kid. The school believes in lot of physical activities, the academic sessions start only at 11.30. They teach more of vocational skills such as stitching and carpentry. After the gym, OT , and exercises , the mother feels the child is more focused. There are no deadlines. Her son is in the 5 th grade. The best part she says, I don’t have to nag him, and he feels it is his responsibility to do his work. I feel that is major, major …. (Guess it cannot be emphasized enough) learning. Today he writes A-Z, numbers independently and she feels it is an accomplishment to be proud of it. Earlier he was doing a whole lot of academics, none of it independently. ABA is an absolute NO -NO with her son. The Wald...

Equine therapy is considered a potentially promising therapy model for children especially with   autism, ADHD and bipolar disorders. Equine therapy involves individuals interacting with and riding on horses. Specially trained horses and therapists work   the special child to facilitate the desired change. Equine therapy maybe either therapeutic horseback riding or hippo therapy.   Hippotherapy is a form of physical, occupational and speech therapy in which a therapist uses the characteristic movements of a horse to provide carefully graded sensory input. It is more complex than your therapeutic riding. To do therapeutic horseback riding the child need not have previous experience with a horse. We initially had tried this when Ramam was very young around 2 years. Then his trainer would make him sit on a blanket on the horseback .This way, one feels the movement of the horse better. We used to carry sugar cubes and carrots for the horses. After a hiatus of 8 years he ...

                                I tried yet another cake after a long time. It is almost like a sabbatical from GFCF cooking. With the kids having their summer hols, one is just trying to catch up with them. Any therapy cancelled or rescheduled spells double trouble, as it means more work for me,   and I need to find options to keep him engaged. Anyways the recipe is as follows. I had wanted to use cashew milk as a substitute, but as the baking had been scheduled during one of his absences from home, I wanted to make it as quick as possible, in the process forgetting to add milk itself. Phew. It is a wonder, the cake still came out well and Ramam asked for more servings. ·          1 cup white sugar ·          1/2 cup ghee ·          2 eggs ·     ...

This is an appeal to everybody reading this blog. Sunfeast is organising the world premium 10K run. ASHA  (Academy for severe handicaps and autism) is one of the charities registered with the Sunfeast 10k marathon. Ramam studies in this school and it is  a great institution. Running a school  and at that a special school handling a complex problem as autism is quite a challenging task.Resources do always fall short, when running an institution as this. It caters to over 95 families in Bashweshwar nagar, and 50+ families in the early intervention unit in Mahalakshmi layout. They are also planning to open another unit for the adults catering to their vocational needs. All this calls for money and more money. Salaries, administrative costs, overhaeads ....... Please contribute generously  to this cause, as many families from the economically underprivileged  sections benefit ...

On the occasion of the world Autism Awareness day, I  thought it would be befitting to post a transcript of Prof. Abdul Kalam's speech that he delivered at  SPJ Sadhana School for the Mentally Challenged. There is a short poem of his and inspiring stories of parents who have handled their children s' disabilities admirably well.He says every autistic child is a spiritual challenge to the family. We will win, win, win with our mighty will   We are all God’s children, Our minds are stronger than diamond. We will win, win, win with our mighty will. When God is with us, who can be against! Innovative recovery of an autistic child  A success story, Nihar First let me talk about an autistic child who has been cured and trained by Sadhana School. Nihar presently a student of Visual Arts and Crafts was diagnosed of autism when he was four years old by his parents based on certain symptoms in his communication, walking, ...