Jessica
Can you send me your email so I can pass this on to a couple of families
Ann
aosterling@...
________________________________

From: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Grazia
Sent: Mon 7/31/06 9:12 PM
To: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [cuan-listserve] Re: New to group



Hi Jessica

My name is Grazia De Rocco and I have two children a girl 3 yrs and half with
autism a boy 5 with autism too (start with speech delay then PDD now from April
Autism)

I wonder if your son can communicate with you and how, does he speak? Does he
has difficulty to transition? With Matteo when he was about two and he wasn't no
verbal at all we start PECS that is a system of communication trough pictures
and he still using this even if he is talking now. Also this system was very
helpful for transition like when you have to go to the grocery store so you can
show him the picture and he knows what comes next.

You should also look at the services that your school will give to you. Is it a
full day or only half day? Do you have the result form the evaluation? It is
better haave this reports and read all the way trough because right before
school start or just at the beginning you should met all the future teachers and
therapists for your son at a meeting call IEP where it will determinate the
service that he needs - like how many minutes of speech therapy and which are
the goals and so on...

I suggest that you contact The Autism Project in Springfield they do wonderful
evaluation and they help you a lot to better understand which are the needs
specific for your son and what should you ask at school. They also offer the
possibility to barrow a bucket with a lot of activities based on TEEACH
technique where you basically spend some time with your kid to teach him to do
one activity then he can start to do that by himself under your supervision till
became independent so you can do some in the house and he can play by himself.

Summer is very difficult and is VERY long for family with autistic kids but when
he will start to go to school he can apply for summer school (generally 4 weeks)
so you can cover June then you can look for different activity offer for summer
camp, in CU there is CU Special Recreation that offer summer camp to special
needs kids and they are doing a good job.

Further then that you can look for play date with other kids but for a working
mom I agree is very difficult, I'm lucky because working with University I have
the summer off and more time to spend with them.

I hope I could help some and.....

I don't know if Paxon has this program or can benefit from but we have Respite
program offer from the Development Services center they pay for a baby sitter so
mom can have some time off you can contact Jennifer Carlson - Respite
Coordinator - jcarlson@... <mailto:jcarlson@...>

Even if they don't serve Paxon maybe she can help

Good luck



Grazia







________________________________

From: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com [mailto:cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of mrsabe02
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 8:21 PM
To: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [cuan-listserve] Re: New to group



Hi Ann,
No I haven't really found any other families to talk with- I would
love it because I have tons of questions about what other people have
tried to do for their kids. Please do pass my email along I welcome
all the resources I can find. My son is 3yrs old and has PDD-NOS.
Our biggest issues is finding something to lessen or help control the
meltdowns and adjust to new diets. I've taken a leave of abscence
from my job until he is settled in the early childhood program at
Clara Peterson school, however that doesn't begin until school is
back in session. I don't understand the program that he will be in,
it hasn't been explained in deepth it was a quick Evaluation and lots
of questions for me and at the time I didn't know what things to ask.
I'm pretty much Riley's care taker 24/7, my husband and Riley are
getting closer but Riley is very dependant upon me. I've been home
with him a little over a month. We have 2 other boys- one is 11yrs
old and the other is turning 2yrs old soon. We are a family on the go
alot and that doesn't help Riley because his routine gets changed
often. My husband's family lives near but work 40 hours a weeke since
I 've stopped working my longest break from Riley has been 2 hours
while grocery shopping. My nerves are very raw at this point, since
Riley is no longer in a daycare program he doesn't get much social
time with kids other than his brothers I have concerns there about
how he will do in the Early childhood program.
I thank you for letting me vent some of my concerns and issues, I'm
really hopeful the CU Network can provide some more insight on how I
can help Riley have more good days than bad.
THanks again!
Jessica Abrahamson

--- In cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cuan-listserve%40yahoogroups.com>
, "Ann Osterling"
<aosterling@...> wrote:
>
> HI there
> SUmmer can be rough for many families who have kids with special
needs. Do you know any other families with kids with autism/PDD? If
not, would you like me to pass your name along to a couple of other
families that I work with?
>
> What are your biggest issues right now? Do you have family/friends
around to give you some support-and breaks- during the tough days? Is
your child going to be going to early childhood in the fall?
>
> Ann Osterling
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cuan-listserve%40yahoogroups.com>
on behalf of mrsabe02
> Sent: Mon 7/31/06 1:20 PM
> To: cuan-listserve@yahoogroups.com <mailto:cuan-listserve%40yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [cuan-listserve] New to group
>
>
>
> Hi we are new to this group. We live in Paxton. We were told in may
> that our 3yrd old has PDD-NOS by Dr. Morton.
> We are having a rough summer and look forward to seeing what advice
> from others we can utilize to help our little boy in the best way
> possible.
> Looking foward to getting to know you all better.
> THANKS!
> Jessica & Tim Abrahamson
>