A Soapbox Rant From Me

It was a night like any other recent night...

The kiddos had long since gone to bed. Butch was already in bed. And here I sat, at the computer, checking up on my little corner of Facebook, checking emails, and playing Candy Crush--all at the same time, LOL. And then I saw it...this pic was posted by a friend of mine:

And so it got me thinking. And I had a little discussion with a friend. And then I was thinking some more. WOW...this pretty much says it like it is. Blue lights are all well and good, but do people really know WHY we put out all those blue lights? WHY parents work their asses off and bug their friends and family about changing their light bulbs to blue bulbs in April?? Do they know the real reason we do this? Yes, most people can now tell you its for Autism awareness. But can they tell you more than that? Like WHY we need Autism awareness?? WHY we NEED people to actually BE AWARE of Autism?? Can they tell you that the newest numbers--and scariest numbers-- from some of these studies are saying that 1 in 50 kiddos will be diagnosed with Autism by the time they are 8 years old? (*Note that this is not the current 'official CDC diagnosis' number, but a number from a parent survey done by the CDC). Can they tell you what that's going to mean in 10, 15, even 20 years from now when these kids are grown and should be on their own? Let's face it y'all, a lot of these kids aren't going to be able to be on their own when they hit adulthood. What's going to happen to society, to the workforce, when 1 in 50 people (well, it will probably be more than that with the way these numbers are accelerating) have some form of autism?

I'll tell ya how I feel--it scares the hell out of me. It scares me because JB is on the more severe end of the spectrum. He's 7, and has just now been fully potty trained this summer. He can't speak. Yes, he will say words, but not on his own, he has to be prompted. He is so far in his own little world that he can't walk around our local grocery store without being beside me. He's only interested in running laps around the inside perimeter of the store. He can read well, and he's pretty good at the math for his age. He loves school and loves to learn. But I'm scared because I'm not sure that he could make a PB&J sandwich for himself if he had to. I'm scared because he can't cross the street safely by himself if he had to. Will he still be at this stage at 18? At 20? Who knows? I don't. And it scares the hell out of me. 

Yes, we need people to be aware. Yes, it makes me feel good to see all the blue lights in April, because to me, it shows that people acknowledge that there is an issue. But does it truly help? Not unless the people who put out the blue lights take the time to learn the "WHY" of it all. We need compassionate doctors who actually want to help recover kids, not just look at them and say "here's a list of things that might help, have a good day!". Where are the doctors who will actually talk to the scared-to-death parents and try to figure out the best plan of action together and not just rush them out of the office? Where are the support services that we need? That these people actually NEED?! They're being given to people who are cheating the system (for the most part, I know there are people getting services who do actually need them, and that's a wonderful thing). Why can insurance companies tell you that your child isn't covered under your policy because he has Autism? So...you cover other kids with other disabilities? Why is Autism different? Why will you not cover my son's speech therapy that he needs because he's never spoken and cover another kid's therapy because they lost their speech because of an accident? Do these companies think that my kid speaking is not as important at the other kid speaking? GRRRRRRR!!! It makes me want to scream, what these companies get away with.

((DEEP BREATH....in....out..........ahhhhh, OK, calmer now...))



The bottom line is this: we need to reach out to educate people whenever we have the opportunity. With numbers like these, eventually almost everyone will be affected by autism in some way.



(*steps down off soap box*)


Hugs to all of my autism friends...we CAN do this y'all!! Love and encouragement to all!!

HOLY MONKEY BATMAN...she *finally* wrote a new blog post!

Well y'all, I'm finally back at it! Yep, after a huge absence, here I go again.

JB started summer school this week, and we have had one happy boy! Only one big fit this week, and that was on Monday after he came home from school. He came home upset and proceeded to get worse because he knew he wasn't supposed to be home from school that early. Poor baby--summer school is only from 8:30-11:30am, but JB wants his full day dammit!! LOL! Well, his fit escalated into full-blown melt-down mode, so I banished him to his room to throw his fit. I went in there and sat with him to make sure he didn't hurt himself (or throw anything through the window, which is A LOT more likely), and I finally got him to sit in his comfy beanbag chair and start to calm down. Well that lasted for all of about 5 seconds, so I bribed him with Veggie Tales and off we go to the living room to watch TV (Mom of the Year award to me, I know, but hey, it kinda worked). So I put on the Veggie Tales that I have thankfully DVR'ed, and even though he's still crying a little bit, he sits with me and lets me rub his back. And after an hours worth of Veggie Tales, I have a happy kiddo!

Mommy, on the other hand, needed a glass of wine! But HOLY COW BATMAN---she can't have any alcohol!! Why? Because I failed to mention that I was recovering from surgery last week, and of course JB would have a melt-down on my first day home alone with the kids. So here's the story on my surgery:

I had bariatric (weight-loss) surgery. I chose to do the procedure that's known as the gastric sleeve. Before y'all ask, no its not like the Lap-Band. In this surgery, they went in and took out the pouch part of my stomach, and that part that's left looks like a banana, or a 'sleeve' (get it?). By taking out that portion of the stomach, its supposed to remove the hormone that causes you to crave food even when you're not hungry. (Bet it doesn't work for wine, cause I still want that, LOL!) Hey Batman--that's just what I needed!!

So here I am, close to two weeks after my surgery, and I'm doing great! Pretty much the only issue I've had that's been hard for me to handle at the moment was the big melt-down on Monday, so I've had it pretty easy. The hubby has been awesome at helping me out! He's done dishes and fed the kids and even done the laundry (even though that makes me cringe, he didn't ruin anything this time, LOL)! The one complaint I have is that on the night he made homemade burgers, he wouldn't let me lick the patty! I'm on a liquid diet, give me a break here! The 'juice' coming off that burger is a liquid--give it up! Nah, I'm playing, I should NOT be licking burger patties! Thanks for saving me Butch!

So all is well here in 'hillbilly land' where we live. Right now, Butch and a buddy of his are outside cuttin' down dead trees. Luckily, this time Butch and the chainsaw have not had a disagreement, so I have seen no chainsaws flying across the yard. Another plus--Butch is not doing his famous lumberjack move of swinging an ax once, stopping for a swig of beer, then taking another swing with the ax, all the while sitting on a bucket. The day has not gone downhill yet! Woohoo!! That'll do it for now y'all, I'm off to make sure no trees fall on the house!