Friday, but every day.

Some mornings are more difficult than others to watch my baby boy get on the bus and go off to school. Sometimes I just want to hold onto him and protect him and  try to keep him little just a little longer.

Today was one of those mornings.  I know it is good for him, I know the social interactions he gets there are good and that the structure is setting him up for kindergarden.  So I waved him off and held back a little sniffle.

Yesterday we had his IEP meeting. It went well. We are all fairly much on the same page with the same goals. Staying on top of the school to be consistent with potty training was addressed and I hope that will be something they will take seriously. He has a new teacher next year, so I am hopeful.

I often wonder are IEP meetings set up to be intimidating? I am quite lucky. I am a pretty outspoken, brash Irish woman, at least when it comes to my children. Don't mess or you will see the Irish.  That being said, there were I believe 5 members of the school staff there and me. It could be seen as intimidating, I can understand why many people might feel that way. Years ago I would have!  That wasn't the case today.   I know what works with my son.  I am not afraid to say it and not afraid to make suggestions.  Still, I can understand how it can be intimidating.

So.... 4 hours  1 minute and counting.

Am I strange not to see this as free time?

Stop and smell the flowers sometimes.

Take time to stop and smell the flowers along the way. I don't usually pay much attention when I'm in a rush to get in and out of WalMart. Today my 4 year old stopped to look at and  smell the flowers. It made me think. Are we in a rush to get in and out of life too, that we forget to stop and enjoy things along the way? Stop and smell the flowers today! #mommy #proudparent #autismmom #autismparent #autismawareness #lightitupblue what made this moment more special was that he used a sentence to tell us what he was doing. I'm smelling the flowers. He is coming along so much. I am excited about his progress #ABA #autism #picoftheday

Gemiini Program - A Review

So, as promised I did say I would do a review on the Gemiini program. The program that is marketed as one of the biggest breakthroughs for children with Autsim. The following is solely my opinion and experiences and if you have had a different, better experience do feel free to share it! While I understand and do not dispute that this has worked or seemed to work for many, it was not for me and my son. 


Much of it appeared to be based on verbal behavior, and vocal coaching techniques. Which I like! However, it was terribly bland and flat, there was no emotion, no fun and quite honestly, in my experience as a teacher and of working as a therapist with children on the spectrum, making it FUN is one of the huge factors that keep our kids on task.

The videos were difficult to navigate, the whole site was quite difficult to navigate and while there was support from the facebook community I still felt very alone. That was not something I was expecting from a group of special needs parents.After the initial Hi, welcome, only a handful if that, of the ladies spoke briefly with me and THANKS ladies that was lovely of you but otherwise the page seemed full of new people struggling. I may have just hit it on a few quiet days or after an influx of new people but this was my experience.


My biggest criticism if I may call it that was this. When customer service emailed me to find out why I cancelled or if I had any difficulties etc. I asked them some questions. In fact I will copy my email to them here and also their response...


Hi Natalia,
I cancelled the subscription to the program because I was quite unsure of it's worth for my child, and I did not have the opportunity to really try it. What I did see, was much of what we do at home anyways regarding speech, he does speech therapy and ABA also. It was also not that easy to navigate and we even had issues getting the videos to play sometimes. It wasn't my internet connection as I did check that.
I have a few questions.
Is this program based on research?
If so where can I read this and the results etc?
In what way is it complimentary to ABA and speech therapy?
Sincerely
Lexi
That email was sent to them 10 days ago, bear in mind it took them a matter of hours to contact me when I cancelled... as of this morning... their reply to me.
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Yes, that is correct, no reply. Does this mean that it isn't based on research, does this mean that they don't care about the issues with getting the videos to play? Does this mean that they only care to contact potential customers because they will not get a subscription.
I do not doubt the possibilities of this program for people who may not have the resources to get other kinds of face to face 1 - 1 therapies for their children, but not responding to a client, or potential client, or maybe just not having the answers? Sorry Gemiini you get a 3 out of 10 from me.

*Blinks*

So this is what the wonderful world of Blogging looks like.

I never had myself down as a "Blogger" but, I will try anything once so here I am!

Let me just introduce myself. 

I am mom to three amazing boys aged 21, 10 and 4. My 4 year old was diagnosed with Autism in December 2013 and we have been on an amazing journey since.  A tough journey, a journey filled with questions and thankfully answers, a journey filled with HOPE.

Let me just introduce you to us!

  Yep, that's us, my family!