I was very surprised one of my post generated so many views. It was titled “100 Days of Grace.” It was a very emotional post about our family crisis with autism.
I could just resume the same post. I can’t believe it has been three years since transitioning our non-verbal 13-year-old son to a residential school three hours away. That means he is now 16!
When Tristan was about 4 years old and I had a question for another mom, “How will I be able to potty train a non-verbal child?” Continue reading
With all this rain lately, we find our family doing more indoor activities.
I remembered how Tristan loves to help me in the kitchen. So for an activity/meal, I had him make Continue reading
Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s raising non-verbal children! I am grateful to God for all the deep life lessons on unconditional love that I get to experience through raising my son, Tristan.
We participated in a local autism awareness walk. This was the first time for our family to do this! I wish we hadn’t waited so long because it was a positive family day. Continue reading
Over the past six months, we have seen growth and development in our non-verbal son, Tristan. We have always taken him to church. This is a pattern and routine that is part of his world.
For an outdoor sensory activity try a bubble machine! As you can see from the picture our son loves it! This activity can be a little messy, but it’s all clean fun!
Brian and I decided to tackle a new activity with Tristan. I found an activity on-line called a “Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt.” I thought what a fun idea! This would be a good night-time sensory activity.
I know doing any activity requires pre-planning. I gathered all the supplies and was ready for Tristan’s home weekend visit!
We waited for it to get dark…. Then I quickly prepared the eggs in another room while Brian entertained Tristan. The eggs were ready to go in a paper bag.
Brian sneaked out the front door with the paper bag. He returned a few minutes later.
I looked out the window.
24 Eggs scattered in the front yard.
I handed Tristan a basket and said, “We are going to the front yard to pick up eggs!”
He put on his coat, and we walked out the front door.
It looked magical!
We explained to him what the game was. (finding eggs and putting them into the basket) He enjoyed the activity searching for the eggs.
It took about 20 minutes for him to pick them all up. (I had high hopes of this being a color sorting activity for him to enjoy, but honestly when they glow they are all yellow.)
Back inside we went…
When we came into the house, he opened each egg. When he turned off the battery tea light, then he could see what color the egg was. He seemed to enjoy this color guessing activity!
This was a win-win activity!
Since he functions at a toddler/pre-school level, we will enjoy this for several more weekends.
This idea came from the website smartschoolhouse.com.
Ever wonder if all the work you do on creating routines ever matters? I know I do.
Parenting books, articles, and videos all say kids like and need routines. When you add autism to the mix of parenting, the everyday routine’s are essential.
Our Tristan is very curious and loves to touch everything. It is just where he is at developmentally.
We have found that hands-on museums are a Tristan family-friendly activity.
We took a trip to the Curious Kids’ Museum in St. Joesph, Michigan.
When we entered the museum, I said to Tristan, “At this place, you can touch everything.”
At the physical disability awareness station, Tristan thought it was a fun game to sit in the wheelchair and circle the ramps.
The giant Lite-Brite station was a huge hit because he was gifted with one this past Christmas. He understood the activity. Tristan loves when items are larger or smaller than the usual size.
We played hard for about 90 minutes and then it was time to exit.
It was a great family day!
The Practical Side of Autism 