It's a Puzzle

April is Autism Awareness Month.
Last Tuesday's post was about what
Autism is.

Gayle at Garden of Daisies asked
why boys are more affected than
girls. I checked into this and found
many theories on this topic but the
one I agree with and found mentioned
many times was that the *gene or genes
for autism are located on the X chromo-
zome. Girls inherit X chromosomes from
both parents, but boys only only inherit
one from their mothers. For girls--it is
thought that the X from the Father is
"protected" thus making girls less
likely to develop the condition than
boys.* There is more to this but I'm
going to stop with this it could get long
and drawn out and I am not a scientist. 
(If you would like to know more-check
your friend Google)
*Info from the internet

Last Tuesday I mentioned  three areas
that are affected by Autism.

Today we will touch on:
Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication
Communication issues vary from
individual to individual. Some may
have a delay in expressive language
and some may never develop
meaningful speech.
Their language can seem rote
or scripted, repetitive, or lacking
meaning--talking about something
that does not relate to "right now."
Most do not use gestures or give
any indication of their wants and
needs. This is where our "Sherlock
Holmes" skills come into play. We
learn to "read our kids.
Most do not have the ability
to carry on a verbal conservation.

In my class I have three boys
with Autism, two who are
nonverbal, they are able to
follow directions with lots
of verbal prompting and
gestures that we do. My boys
do not do a lot of gestures on
their own but we are making
baby steps in that area.
We have communication devices
for the kids to use and they are
their voices. These are very
helpful during "meltdowns" due
to frustration becasue they can't
say what they want or what the
problem might be.

Our third student has limited
language. He does gesture and
most of the time we can satisify
his wants and needs. Some of
what he says is "his own
language", and we have to
pick up his meaning for things.
example: Cheerios are Yoyos.

I would say that having a lack of
speech or limited speech is one of
the most frustrating things these
individauls deal with. My students
would agree with this.

Next time we will touch on
Social Interaction.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Yummy for the Tummy

Welcome to our Easter table.
Today for Sunday Savor I
am going to share a recipe
that everyone enjoyed. It
was a new recipe too!
So pull up a chair and
relax.

Red Asian Slaw

12 #  Red Cabbage
2   Medium Onions
3 C  Sugar or Splenda
2 C  Soy Sauce
3 C  Apple Cider Vinegar
1 1/2 C  Brown Sesame Oil
3 T Siracha
2 tsp celery seed
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper

Chop cabbage and onions medium fine.
(I chopped mine a little bigger.)
Mix the last eight ingredients together
and add the cabbage, onion mixture to it.
Let sit, gets better with time. I made
mine early in the am and served it
in the afternoon. YUM!

**This is a recipe from one of our fave
BBQ restaurants. I asked if I could have
the recipe and they gave it to me!!!
I believe this will make a lot so I cut the
recipe in half and had just the right amount
for six people.
My bottle of Sesame Oil was not very big,
I had just enough though. You might try
to find a bigger bottle if one is made.

If you make this let me know what you
think.

~Keep on Dreaming~

Thrify Thursday

I was browsing through one
of my favorite thrift stores
the other day and while strolling
through the book section I saw
these three treasures.
Now, let me assure you that I DO
NOT need another cookbook BUT
I WAS NOT leaving these.
Especially the two in the top picture.
Gooseberry Patch cookbooks and
calendars are fun to look at and
the "helpful hints" are fun to read.
The price was right too. The Goose
berry Patch books were $2.99 each.
Brand new they run around $16.95. 

The titles of these books are:
The Cozy Home Cookbook-Tasty
recipes and year round decorating
ideas for your cozy home.
Holidays at Home-Favorite family
recipes, decorating ideas and
magical memories for a homespun
harvest and cozy Christmas.

This 592 page with 1,200 collected
recipes cookbook was $ 3.99!
This cookbook picks up where "The
Martha Stewart Cookbook left off.
The 1,200 recipes are from the first
decade of her magazine. There are 19
chapters that cover the basics, breads,
soups, veggies, meat (s), vegetarian
main courses, and so on.
I'm not sure how many recipes will be
used from this book but it just looks
like a cook book that should be in a
kitchen and it's fun to look through.

See I told you they had to come home
with me! Who could pass up these
prices too?
Fun stuff I tell ya!

~Keep on Dreaming~

It's a Puzzle

April is Autism Awareness Month
and several of my posts this month
will be about this puzzling disorder.
(Hence the puzzle logo)

This subject is near and dear
to my heart because so many
of "my kids" (aka: my students)
have to deal with this on a daily
basis as do their families.
When I started in the field of
Special Ed many years ago,
Autism was fairly unknown
today it is a very prevalent
disorder.

What  is Autism?

It is described as a complex
disorder of early brain
development.
The most obvious signs and
symptoms of Autism are seen
around the ages of two and
three with varying degrees of
the disorder.

Areas affected are:

Social Interaction
Verbal and nonverbal
communication
Repetitive Behaviors


According to statistics:

1 in 88 American children
are diagnosed with Autism.
This is a ten fold increase
in prevalance in 40 years.

Studies also show that boys
are 4 to 5 times more affected
than girls. An estimated 1 in
54 boys and 1 in 252 girls
are diagnosed with Autism.

The increase of those diagnosed
is due to improved treatment
and awareness.


My goal for these post is to give
you a peek into a window that you
may or may not have looked in.

~Keep on Dreaming~