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MEMORIAL DAY 2024
 
Memorial Day honors the fallen, and we remember those who have served and sacrificed for their country. Many of these have surviving family members with Autism, and/or special needs.
 
Hopefully, this BLOG begins to give you an ‘Overview of Veteran's Benefits’ from the Special Needs Alliance –
https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/the-voice/veterans-benefits-2/
 
“As our nation commemorates Memorial Day, honoring it’s Veterans, this a time to consider the financial, medical, and other assistance available to veteran’s families and their survivors.”
 
< My Thoughts >     “…assistance available to veteran’s families and their survivors.”
 
You might find this, and similar VA websites helpful to explore. There are VA Aid & Alliance benefits which can provide monies for veterans and survivors of veterans who need assistance with basic activities of living for themselves and their families.
 
Find a comprehensive guide to the many different government benefits available to families with special needs on this website – https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/the-voice/veterans-benefits-2/

What government benefit programs are available to assist individuals with special needs?
 
There are many government benefits available to individuals with special needs, and they vary significantly from state to state. Some of the major programs are:

• Medicaid, which provides basic medical care to low-income individuals. Most states also have “waiver” Medicaid programs covering residential, day care, career, and other services.
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides funds for food and shelter to individuals with disabilities.
• Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which requires that participants have been unable to work for at least a year due to their disability.
• Disabled Adult Child (DAC), which requires a determination that the onset of the participant’s disability occurred before age 22…
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps), which has eligibility guidelines similar to SSI.
• Section 8 Housing, which subsidizes residential rents for families for low-income families, which may include those with special needs.

Please read more online, my Free ASD Book Know Autism, Know Your Child with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker; Extended ASD Book Reviews, and more about Autism, on www.sarasautismsite.com
 
Regards,
 
Sara Luker

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY with < My Thoughts  > by Sara Luker
 
You may never get the ‘hugs’ or ‘love’ words, but you know they are there even if your child cannot emotionally express them.
 
Here are just some ‘Mom excerpts’ from my ‘Extended Book Reviews’; with < My Thoughts  > by Sara Luker which can be found on my website MENU. Go to www.sarasautismsite.com.
 
Note: Excerpts from these books – (4% indicates location in the Kindle version of the book, instead of page numbers).

From –  A Child’s Journey Out of Autism: One Family’s Story of Living in Hope & Finding a Cure by Leeann Whiffin, eBook 2009 Edition
 
17%   There are those extremely rare moments in which I catch a glimpse of the little boy who is hiding inside the farthest corner of a hollow shell…
 
My instinct as a mother tells me he’s in there. But, he’s falling deeper into oblivion as time goes on – further from my reach.
 
Wong & Heriot (2007) know that parents they have encountered mostly “maintain a hopeful outlook for their child’s future. This attitude enables them to pursue treatment options and cope with the day-to-day challenges and stress involved…” They say that mothers especially, hold a sense of reaching the child and accepting the diagnosis, at the same time. The study showed that even if the parents’ optimism was unrealistic, they continued to hold an overall hopeful view of the future for their child.
 
Reference: Wong, M., Heriot, S. (2007). Vicarious Futurity in Autism & Childhood Dementia; Journal of Autism Developmental Disorders; 37:1833-1841.
 
From –  I Am In Here: The Journey of a Child with Autism Who Cannot Speak but Finds Her Voice by Elizabeth M. Bonker & Virginia G. Breen, eBook 2011; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
11%     Elizabeth’s autism has been a barrier and a connector as well. In many ways, I am connected with her more deeply because of her autism. What thirteen-year-old goes for walks in the woods with her mom? Elizabeth has taught me, words are not needed.
 
From – The Autism Mom’s Survival Guide (for Dad’s, too!): Creating a Balanced and Happy Life While Raising a Child with Autism by Susan Senator, eBook 2011; with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
The sun will come up tomorrow and we will still have autism within our family. I can choose how I live it. We do not have to trade ourselves for our children, or our happiness for our children’s happiness. Even something as confounding and difficult as autism in the family is not the end of a happy life. Once we understand that, we will get there and it will all be OK.

One day you will feel that something inside you has shifted, lightened.  When you look at your child, you no longer see a mass of problems, a broken thing to be fixed; you see you kid, just your kid. One day you will know that it’s just your life, warts, autism, and all. And you can’t wait to start living it to its fullest. Once you know this…you have just won the game.
 
From –  He’s Not Autistic, But…How We Pulled Our Son from the Mouth of the Abyss by Tenna Merchent, eBooks 2007; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
53%     My sister would call every day and ask, “How’s he doing? What did he eat? Is he having any symptoms?” I would excitedly tell her how wonderfully he was doing.
 
One day, I felt like I had hit the lottery! He said ‘Mommy’ for the first time, about two months after our visit. I couldn’t believe my ears. It felt so good.
 
From –  Miracles are Made: A Real-Life Guide to Autism by Lynette Louise, eBook 2011; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
11%     I began to get a glimmer of what lay ahead. It was a path I resisted. I didn’t want every aspect of Dar’s learning to be up to me. I just wanted to be his mom. However, as I was quick to discover, having every aspect be up to me is what it is to be the mom of a special-needs child.
 
From –  Hello, My Name is Max and I Have Autism by Max Miller, eBook 2014; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker

39%    Max says, “I am not autism. I am ME.”
 
42%   God made me autistic. 
 
44%   God sat there and asked the angels who should have autism and they chose me. The angels said I should have autism so I can make a difference in this world.
 
50%   My parents love me as I am.  I guess that is good because the autism isn’t going anywhere. Sometimes I wish I was normal but I was picked by the angels. I remember the angels. When I was born, I looked up and I thought I saw one but it was my mom.
 
< My Thoughts >  “I looked up and I thought I saw one but it was my mom.”
 
Doesn’t this speak volumes about autism, angels, and moms?
 
From –  Twirling Naked in the Streets and No One Noticed: Growing Up with Autism by Jeannie Davide-Rivera, eBooks 2013 Edition; an Extended Review with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker
 
95%  As a child, I was carefree – happy, as I knew happy to be at the time.  But when I grew into a young woman life got messy, and continued to come unraveled as time went on.  I had difficulty making friends, raising children, and communicating with my husband largely due to my autism.
 
96%   My boys now know I’m an Aspie, and to my 2 year-old I’m still just Mama. To my 8 year-old Aspie son, I’m still just mom. To my 13 year-old Aspie son, I am part mom, part superhero (according to him, my super-senses are super powers). I rejoice in my Aspie-ness, and if you are on the spectrum, or someone you love is, you should too.

Happy Mother's Day.
Regards,
Sara Luker

 Thank an Educator Today, continued...

On this, the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week, let’s talk about your child’s ‘Teacher of Record.’ A student’s TOR has students assigned to him or her and has met state licensing requirements for this position. Also, hopefully, this teacher a ‘Highly Qualified’ teacher; which means that he or she has met all federal licensing  requirements for that position.

< My Thoughts >          “A student’s TOR… “

In my experience, the Special Education TOR has access to all the student’s records. Has followed the student’s academic and individual progress, from the beginning. The TOR, when writing the Individual Education Plan (IEP) he or she gathers all possible information through documents and teacher / parent interviews. Thus, ‘paints a picture’ of this student, which will support all IEP requests, requirements, accommodations and modifications. The TOR gathers together the student’s ‘support team’ to contribute to and participate in all meetings, concerning this individual student.
​
For more information, please find the following on this website, from MENU –
Luker, S. (2024).
          UNIT 6 – Where to Look for Resources?
                    UNIT 6 – CHAPTER 3 – INTRODUCTION
                    a. Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
                    b. Autism Education & Anti-Bullying Policies
                    UNIT 6 CHAPTER 4 – Where to Look for Resources?
                    UNIT 6 CHAPTER 4 – CHAPTER 4 – FUTURE CHALLENGES 

Special Education Teachers also know what your child’s neuro-typical peers are expecting from their teachers. Here are some examples of what they like teachers to do –

• We like when teachers help us keep our grades up with extra credit assignments so we can get good grades for sports and clubs (and our self-esteem).
• We like when teachers make me feel that I am in charge of my learning (recognize my strengths). One teacher set me up with an online class to help me catch up with my science and math work, after I was out sick.
• We like when teachers bring the world into the classroom. Tell us about things they do with their families. Help us (discover) get interested in things, or build on our interests.
• We like when teachers make us feel important and point us towards goals. Teachers can bring out the best in us, find out special talents and help us with new skills we need.

< My Thoughts >  “…help us with new skills we need.”
Whether Special Education Teachers, or General Education Teachers, educators can help to encourage create ‘lifelong learners’.

Please read, share, and comment.
Regards,
Sara Luker

Reference:
Luker, S. (2024). Know Autism – Know Your Child: with < My Thoughts > by Sara Luker; 2024. Retrieved from: www.sarasautismsite.com.

Thank an Educator Today

Thank an educator today and every day. This week, May 6th – 10th, is Teacher Appreciation Week. General Education and Special Education educators spend years becoming qualified and certified to teach your child. Parents are the child’s first and foremost teacher and professional educators welcome your support.

Help support the Special Education teacher’s sometimes subtle teaching of necessary ‘Soft Skills’. These are skills which make life so much easier.

Here are some of the ‘Soft Skills’ teachers work on, daily with autistic students –

1. Communication. Since social communication is often a ‘core’ symptom of autism. Is your child’s keyboarding, storyboarding, or an alternative and/or facilitated form?
2. Self-motivation. Knowing their special interests helps teachers use that as a ‘hook’ to lead the learning process. What is your child’s ‘hook’?
3. Leadership to lead and inspire others. Discovering the student’s preferences, when working in a small group, may be the answer.
4. Responsibility. This requires productivity and success. The autistic world mostly consists of living in the ‘here and now’, not in the ‘future’. How can you help your child with these concepts?
5. Time Management. The student with autism is often fighting to stay in a routine. This can be an advantage when managing time. Will visual schedules help your child with this?

Another ‘support’ in the classroom comes from the Paraprofessional. They also are a big part of a student’s learning experience.

Asking for ways to support these efforts will be greatly appreciated. And always welcomed is a simple ‘Thank You’ for all that you do.

Damon, L. (2011) 10%    didn’t waste precious years of Carrie’s life while operating on the assumption that Carrie was going to turn out just fine on her own.

I’m Carrie’s mother and I barely have these things under control. But, I do know the activities she likes to do and what triggers her to lose control.

45%        All of the school staff who would work with Carrie – her classroom teacher, her special ed teacher, her speech pathologist, her paraprofessionals, even the school nurse – attended a workshop on autism over the summer before Carrie started school, just to be prepared. THAT is awesome.
 
…no matter how well versed you are in autism or how many professional development courses you may have taken, you don’t know THIS child.
 
< My Thoughts >        “…you don’t know THIS child.” 
 
General education teachers can determine pretty quickly which children are confident and which are struggling. Special education teachers may take months to determine ‘what’s what’ with your child, but they are looking through a professional’s lens. Because after all, this is not a typical setting with anticipated set of actions and reactions, it’s school, with other children on the spectrum with whom they are interacting. And, so many other things.
 
Your child will have good days and not-so-good days…as will you and your child’s teacher. There are days of medication ‘override’, when what dosage worked yesterday is not holding as well today.
 
Interventions that worked well yesterday are brand new and like starting over today. Often times because of subtle changes that only the child notices, like –
 
The teacher’s hair smells different because she tried a new shampoo. The air outside is thick and humid and changes the mood all around. Yes, ‘air’ does bother him/her.

The classroom aide was late today and seems rushed or upset. Its assembly schedule today. The hall monitor is new and doesn’t know the kids. The district calls for ‘fire alarm drill’ just before the end of day. The water fountain doesn’t work.

The bathroom is closed for repairs and students need to use the one on the other side of the building.

Damon, L. (2011) 98%   We still have so much to learn about autism, but the great thing is we are learning those important things at an incredible rate.  There has never been a better time to be an autistic person because of the more widespread knowledge and recognition, even from average people on the street, but especially from the people who matter most in the person’s life.
 
99%        …when that mother has to let her child loose into the world, there will be people like you (his teacher) around him or her on a daily basis to help them be as successful as they can be.
 
< My Thoughts >      “…help them be as successful as they can be.” 
 
Hopefully you will fill your child’s life with people who will know them and help them to feel successful, when you turn them loose into the world.
 
Resources:
Damon, L. (2011). Autism by Hand; eBook Edition.