THE RONAN JAMES BLOG

YOGA BALL RULES!

ronanjames — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:28:50 +0000

When stimmies boil over, throw the chirruns on the yoga ball!!!! Make them bounce their butts all over the house until they ask you for deodorant because they “STIIIINNNNNNKKKKK SOOOO BAAADDDD!!!” (Ro quote).

Seriously, the yoga ball bounce does something for Ro that nothing else can…calms him in no time. Get one at Target for around $15, and it comes with a fancy hand pump that has you mimicking a repetitive motion that kept me giggling for about 10 minutes, and I got a biceps/triceps workout in! Sweet!

He Don’t Look Like Anything’s “Wrong” With Him!

ronanjames — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 03:43:34 +0000

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This is an actual quote from a mother we ran into at a playground a few years ago. Ro grabbed her daughter’s sleeve to try to get her attention in order to ask her a question. The mom didn’t like this. I tried to explain autism and why he did what he did to her daughter, to which she replied with the above quote.

This always leaves me pondering…Does having a “normal” appearance affect our children negatively when it comes to understanding or acceptance of their behavior?

I often face this, because my child looks so “normal” and so, very often, others mistake his behavior as bratty, spoiled, fresh, etc., and I think it’s tough sometimes to not have an outward clue as to why my over-100-lb 9-year-old “beautiful” son is thrashing on the floor of Sports Authority after not being able to get yet another Beanie Baby. I can’t make him wear an autism awareness shirt 24/7, so what is the best way to deal with this besides saying I don’t care what others think (believe me, I don’t really care much now after almost 10 years of this) Curious as to what you all think though.

THIS WILL MAKE YOU SEE A “DISABLED” PERSON IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT WAY

ronanjames — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:40:04 +0000

THERAPIST FILES CHARGES AGAINST FLORIDA TEEN FOR HITTING HER WITH HEADPHONES

ronanjames — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:13:40 +0000

Nobody likes to be hit. I’ll give the lady that. But what in the Mother of Pearl are you doing supplying therapy to teens with severe autism if you don’t understand that this might be possible? Oy.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/florida/article/231627/19/Autistic-student-accused-of-hitting-teacher-to-be-evaluated

10 Things You Can do to Help a Family Affected by Autism

ronanjames — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:24:35 +0000

LOVE #6! Ro definitely needs that!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/autism-in-real-life/201101/10-things-you-can-do-help-family-affected-autism

Myautismteam.com. Mami likey!

ronanjames — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:04:49 +0000

I LOVE this site! Immediately go to myautismteam.com and sign up. Then begin receiving support and share resources with others touched by ASD! I have so far shared stories and advice, gotten great advice and read amazing stories that I could relate to, and I’ve set up a team for others to reference and be assured by! Amazing concept all in one place of which I have been searching for for years. Go. Now. Benefit. Help.

INSURANCE, FINALLY! OF COURSE, THIS IS AFTER WE ARE ALL BANKRUPT, BUT I’LL TAKE IT!!

ronanjames — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:04:32 +0000

Holy Mother Love, they have FINALLY passed ARICA in the MA senate!!! Our state has become one of the 20+ that have passed Autism insurance reform bills, and I could NOT BE MORE ECSTATIC!

Hurry up and enforce it now, because Mama wants to make an appointment for Ro’s re-eval, and I haven’t been able to do it for a long time, due to the $3,000+ price tag!

I can’t even express how unbelievable it will be to not have to choose between OT, speech, ABA, evaluations needed for proper education, etc. etc. etc. etc…….

I know that it won’t be perfect, and I’m sure we will still be handing over the bills for something (copays, coinsurance, etc.) but at least it will be a recognized covered condition now!

SO happy for all of the children and families that will be helped by this. NOW, let all other states/countries follow suit!

No child should be denied medical care because of creative tactics and sneaky wording of diagnoses. Just shameful that they have been allowed to do this for so long, but so thankful that we are moving forward now

Yay Mass! Mami loves!!! XOXOXO

http://afamaction.org/

ADAM – THE MOVIE

ronanjames — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:30:50 +0000

It’s about a romance between a dude with Asperger’s and a girl without. Dying to see this. Here’s the trailer…

GOT TANTRUMS? GET GORILLA NEST!

ronanjames — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:07:36 +0000

Tantrums are one of the harder aspects to deal with when it comes to most spectrum kids. At least in this Mama’s opinion.

You can read, research, practice, etc., etc., but when a big one really hits (literally – hee hee), it can be very hard to access all of what you’ve learned – much like the processing of our kiddos!

After a particularly rough tantrum recently, Mama had tried all of the usuals, and they weren’t working. I had an idea! I love when that happens! When you are just at the end of your rope with nowhere to go – poof, out of sky this remarkable idea falls. This makes Mami very happy.

Anyway, have you ever seen a gorilla nest? I know more about them than I need to, thanks to my little animal-loving friend :-)

Gorillas build a nest in the trees, and then they retire to it about a 1/2 hour before the sun sets. It looks so comforting, relaxing and enveloping – ooh, very beneficial for someone who is spiraling out of control! lol

I stopped in the middle of my “breathe” “drink water” “sit with me and calm down” routine, and I just DUMPED a butt load of beanie babies onto my thrashing boy!

He stopped and looked at me curiously, like “what the hell is this lunatic doing to me?” Then…he smiled.

I got the big quilt. I threw that on top of him, and then I dumped another bucket of the beanies. Next, I surrounded him with about 20 pillows, and then I packed on more weight with another bucket of the babies.