Care4autism

The long summer holidays are over   and he is back to school. (my hols have begun!) . Ramam begins this academic year in BUBBLES run by Sharbani at Hennur. Yes, I do miss him in that he has been my constant companion last 3 months. With both kids back to school there seems to be so much time on my hands to spare. It is back to surfing, blogging….                       Talking of school, what then comes to your mind is that a good school has to provide for opportunities for the child to SOCIALISE primarily, in a group which as an individual one cannot provide. That includes, communicating in a group, learning in a group, learning to share, taking turns, waiting…… all this apart from the basic education they receive. Socializing is probably best done for an autistic child in a school, probably because it would be done in controlled situations or there are teachers to encourag...

Recently ,  I , my daughter and Ramam had gone for a walk and my daughter told me in all seriousness, "Amma , Ramam must never get lost". I agreed with her but the reason she gave me, startled me.She said "Amma , he cannot even beg." Hearing it from my 6yr old daughter, I wondered  what an uncanny thing for her to say. I narrated this talk we had  to my husband , in her presence .He added, that she will have to probably have to look after him after our time, she immediately replied, that he will have to fit into her marriage or probably married life is what she meant.                         So many things that my daughter understands , speaks , recalls  amazes me, then all leaves me with a feeling of sadness , how much my son has lost out in life already. Looking at some old photos , she can recall the dress she had , where the table had been placed in the room . Having a...

Florence  Church send me a link to her blog  that boasts of 10 colleges offering special programs for people on the ASD spectrum. This is wonderful news. These colleges offer programs which include support groups, special classes and assistance. Only the costs seem  a little prohibitive even by American standards. But then that is the cost of your degree. This is the link to her blog.  10 Impressive Special Colleges                                                  Here is another website that I came across Jobs For Autism  .There is so much happening that it feels good. Recently at the Global Autism Convention, Mr, Thorkil Sonne, Founder, Specialsterne and specialist people foundation, Denmark, spoke of his efforts where he has em...

The global autism convention is being held in Bangalore on the 19th, 20th and 21st of this month at NIMHANS convention centre. Various institutions from Bangalore are collaborating to make this event happen.  ASHA (academy for severe Handicaps and autism) , Autism society of India, IRC, KPAMRC, Spastics Society of Karnataka, St. John’s Hospital, Parivar National federation of Parents’ organization. The Key note address is being given by Ms. Merry Barua. Speakers both from India and abroad will be addressing the gathering. Besides workshops are also being organized on various topics on information and computer technology, play therapy to mention a few.                    For more information, one can visit their website. http://www.autismconventionblr2011.com/. The registrations are on. More importantly they have organized for respite care for the three days at the venue @Rs.200 a day. For par...

This was a sequel to my camping out with Rama. But this time we packed in more punch with the whole family joining in. Father, mother, son and daughter. Organized by Akhila and Ram from Coimbatore in tie up with NALS an Adventure company, we had a lovely, memorable holiday. We were a group of six families. The comfort level was so high, the company great, the food excellent, the weather to die for, the experience sheer joy.                              We were put up in dorms with three tier beds and the kids freaked out. Isha had company with siblings who had also brothers with similar problem. And I even found her exchanging notes with them!!!!!!!! My brother kisses me, he can read ….                            We did ...

The last weekend I and Ramam set out on a camping trip. I would not have thought of such a possibility as this few months back. But it was made possible by Sarbani   mallick and her team at Bubbles. As everything was taken care of, logistics, food, accommodation all that was needed to be done was to pack my bags and leave.                                                       But, yes there were way too many apprehensions in my mind in the beginning. Will I be able to manage him alone? What about his food? I think food is always such a major issue with parents. Loaded my bag with every conceivable gfcf snack. It was some solace there were couple of other parents with children on the diet.       ...

It has been quite some time since I have blogged. Somebody recently asked me how often do you blog? I said probably 2-3 posts a month. But then I realized I have posted just one this month, I better buck up. My GFCF recipes have also dried up!! Am going thru a lean phase with nothing much I can think of adding. But just this. I recently attended a workshop by Dr. Yamini and Dr. Shiv Shankar from NIMHANS on language building and communication for our children, Sorry, I haven’t got the title right but what mattered was the content of the workshop.   I was looking forward to Dr. Yamini’s talk as I have interacted with her on earlier occasions but Dr. Shiv Shankar was also equally good.   The first point he made was not to confuse language with speech therapy. What we want for our children is language therapy and not speech therapy. One spends time commuting to therapists, money on therapies all to no avail because language therapy is something one must to do 365 days 24*7.The th...