Care4autism

        Though not into any diet, I am now convinced about the fact eating healthy is the way to go. Thanks to my friend Gina, I am now on innumerable forums ranging from the CD protocol to tried and tested diet formats. I am constantly bombarded with these posts, so to say at least I make an attempt to emulate some of these to the extent possible. I may not do the Parasite protocol, but yes, I did do an around of de-worming for everybody in the family. It is not anywhere close to following a protocol, but  I feel at peace having taken some effort in that direction. I may not follow the Paleo diet, but here I am attuned to the idea of making healthy breakfast, moong dal cheelas, bajra dosas, and millet kichdi, absolutely grain free. I have shot down the proposals for pizza the last 3-4 weekends.  Earlier, our ancestors did use a lot of millets. I have switched to buying TATA’s I-Shakti unpolished dals. The regular dals, I now find have an unnatural sheen....

The blog has been in need of a make over for ages . The  header  is no longer relevant. My charming  boy is now a preteen and is as tall as me. He continues to enthral us, pique us,  and even dare his father sometimes with his show of strength. For most part , he is still the silent companion but he did pull in a surprise,  when he was chosen for a music fest program , where he  is one of the singers!!!. He is a lot verbal today than he was, the phrases are there , the sentences are emerging. My eternal battle with the "wh" questions continue. Yes, he is still the same little boy shy, sensitive, loving, but somewhere along the line he is beginning to assert himself in the choice of eating out, making definite choices when shopping, doing his own laundry. ( washing, drying folding ,putting it away!). It actually gives me  a kick when he says he wants to eat momos, because that is one of his language goals . What/where  do you...

The pani puri stall as mentioned in my previous post  at the Christmas carnival at Bubbles was a hit. Ramam also participated in the whole process. He helped us with few plates, and kept humming Master Chef to himself .The cashier, my daughter was a little defunct as she had to handle coupons and not cash as anticipated. She had kept a sheet of her multiplication tables with her as a ready reckoner, in the case she will have to handle money and give change back to customers.                I have to mention this. Two mothers, Chithra and Lalitha waited very patiently just to have Ramam make the plate for them, giving him instructions, and praising him at the end of it. God bless you both. It is only for these few cherished moments that I put up the stall. For him to interact with others and feel good about the whole thing. And yes, in between all this, he helped himself to few pani puris too!      ...

                         I met this mother, Deepti yesterday (she also happens to be friends with me on Fb) for the first time. She introduced herself and asked me why I stopped blogging. I gave her some vague answer and told her probably nobody reads it. Just some ramblings of mine. She then told me I read every post of yours. That gave me a high. And so, this post is for you, Deepti.                            Looking back, I started this blog with the sole purpose that it helps somebody in this autism community, they get a parent’s perspective of the journey with autism. And so, let me try and be regular again.                    ...

It has been long since I posted something on the blog. but just having got to know that Sumathi Ramjee  has got  the NDTV award , was reason enough for me to get back to blogging . Such wonderful news, that I had to share it with others. Those who have know her will know this is a very well deserved award.                            The way she bonds with the children is amazing. She once told me that if she is not in good spirits, the kids are the first to pick it up.    A  Very positive , practical person, I am truly happy she got this prestigious award.                              In today's world , where people shout their achievements from the roof top, here is one lady who goes about her work quietly. It is very heartening to know her meritorious service has been recognized. Congratulations, Suamthi.   ...

The shoot out at elementary school has left me with a sense of despodency, grief, anger. A post on this blog is doing the rounds  http://anarchistsoccermom.blogspot.in/2012/12/thinking-unthinkable.html  My heart goes out to Adam Lanza mother.  There might have been many moments in her life when she must have been concerned for his future and  pondered over the now ubiquitous question "what after me"?   To shoot her, 20 children and then kill himself , it is a huge tragedy.                                         The word 'mental illness' is a black box, none of us can comprehend it fully. Everything is in control , till the unspeakable happens without warning. It is scary to say the least, when kids are on medications for various issue...

To quote Harshita Mahajan, a mother in Bangalore Mirror, December 6th 2012 issue, once… that autism is a zero sum game… you are either functional or you aren’t. Cognition doesn’t make the cut alone… it’s only a small part of the puzzle… a contributor to functionality. I had argued with my friend that in terms of her binary analogy that autism was a journey where we moved from the zero to the one. But finally you have to decide whether you are at zero or at one.                                  It cannot be surmised better. Often I think  if after so many years of intensive effort, if the final outcome is not up to your expectations , then indeed it would be a really sad story. It remains to be seen how functional Ramam would be at 20. By saying more, I don' t want to dilute the essence of those brief but powerful words.