Care4autism

The Initial diagnosis Our son was diagnosed with autism as early as 18 months.Our first concerns were his lack of speech, and social skills.The pediatrician expressed his concern but did not push it futher, more so because we are a multilingual family in that we speak 4 languages at home.In our subsequent visit he sounded the first warning bell.We followed it up by a hearing test. The test confirmed his hearing was normal. We were then referred to a psychologist and then began our journey .We had already started reading up on some material on the Internet on autism.Call it coincidence.I used to take him to a playgroup, where one of the mothers was a pediatrician again.I expressed my concern. Luckily for me,she observed him for an hour in natural settings. She called me up and asked me if I heard of the word autism. All of a sudden things were moving too fast. We were in the United Sates at that point of time.We had never heard of this problem back home. We got a se...

For the ignorant, ICH stands for Indian coffee house. Started by the coffee board of India, it is a chain of restaurants, spread across India. Much before the advent of Baristas and Café coffee Days’, people would sit over a cup of coffee here. My husband is in a transferable job. After we moved to Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, (central India) we rediscovered ICH. ICH is a no frills place, but for the frilled turbans of the waiters who are dressed in white uniforms. Sometimes the waiter takes his own sweet time to present the bill and so we just walk up to the counter and pay the bill. It is generally bustling on Sunday afternoons with the holiday crowd, but we manage a table for ourselves. My son relishes his two plates of Sāmbhar vada and washes it down with a glass of strawberry tea from café coffee day, a one km drive from ICH. ICH has been a blessing to us in many ways. He continues with his GFCF diet, he has a place to eat out. Since the ambience isn’t too classy or formal he gets ...

Bonda is a typical south Indian snack. It is basically cooked potatoes in a coating of chickpea flour. One can also use water chestnut flour (Singhada atta) for this purpose. Also refer singhada pooris in an earlier post. One needs boiled potatoes, 2 in number, finely chopped coriander leaves, curry leaves ginger, 1small onion and I small tomato. Take 2 tablespoon oil, add jeera (cumin), let it sizzle, and then fry onion till translucent, add ginger and tomato Add salt, chili powder and coriander powder to this. Add the cooked potatoes. When cooked, garnish with coriander leaves. Make a batter of chickpea flour. For this, take a cup of chickpea flour. Add salt, chili powder, asafetida, coriander powder and water to make a smooth batter. Make a ball of the potato filling and roll it in the batter to give it a coating. Deep fry in oil. One can add shelled peas, to the filling. Serve hot with chutney

Recently, I had been to a bookshop to buy some books for my daughter. Eventually I picked four books for both my children. As I presented the books for billing, the lady at the counter, seemed more like an apprentice to me, went about her work diligently. She wrote out the titles and their costs. She then pulled out another piece of paper and started to calculate the total. This is what she had to total. (30+30+30+45).She had to redo it a second time and unable to do it she then pulled out a calculator. I prompted her, the answer. (More out of habit).After having got her answer, she entered the “totel” with a flourish on the bill. The incident made me think. This is just not about her, but many people who rely heavily on technology. Here was this lady in her late twenties/early thirties, “normal” in all aspects struggling with a class 1 addition problem. I am badgering my 8 year old autistic son with addition and multiplication every day. It might be a simpler solution to teach him to ...

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can't change; courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference." I read this on the net put up by another parent, and found it most appropriate for our lives.

To make sago kichdi ,you need, sago -1 cup, ¾ th cup groundnut, roasted and peeled , 1Large potato,   cooked, peeled ,diced, 2 Tbsp sugar and salt to taste. Rinse and soak sago in enough water (just to cover sago) overnight. Gently mix in roughly ground peanuts, sugar and salt to taste and keep it aside. Now heat oil in a pan and add jeera and curry leaves .When jeera (cumin) starts to sizzle add slit green chilies and diced potatoes and sauté for few minutes till potatoes turn light golden. Mix in seasoned sago and stir gently for about 5-7 mins. Cook for another couple of minute. Serve hot garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves and enjoy. A blogger has described it as “as a medley of sago pearls tempered with peanuts and spices”.   Eloquent words. Surprisingly this is had by people more so on fasts on various auspicious days, not as a staple breakfast dish.

Poha  is made with flattened rice, again a Maharashtrian dish. Ingredients 2 cups poha ,1tsp mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilies slit vertically,1 large sliced potato, a handful unsalted peanuts,1 medium onion, a pinch of turmeric, lime juice-2tsps,salt to taste. Wash the poha under running water, and soak it for 5-10 minutes depending on the poha used. The soaking time will vary. Take oil, heat it and add mustard, curry leaves, chilies and onion. Then add peanuts, potatoes and fry till cooked. Drain the water from the poha and add to this. Let it cook. Remove from fir add the lime juice Garnish with green coriander leaves. Serve with mint chutney.