Bus aide charged with slapping Autistic boy suspended

I will have to follow this story closely because since the story just broke the details of what exactly happened is still not clear but smacking any kid is wrong but smacking a kid with special needs is a new low if it is true.

Butler Township police said Freeman allegedly slapped the boy across the face on Sept. 22 at approximately 3 p.m. at the Drums Elementary/Middle School while placing the youth in his seat on the school bus.

According to the police report, two autistic classroom support specialists witnessed the assault and contacted school officials.

District Transportation Director Fred Mariano said he investigated the incident along with district Security Director Vincent Zola and Drums Principal Dan Diehl, who then turned their findings over to Butler Township police.

As a result of the joint investigation with school officials, police said a citation charging Freeman with harassment was filed at the district court office of Magisterial District Judge Daniel O’Donnell in Sugarloaf Township.

According to David Chiverella, owner of Chiverella Inc., Freeman was intervening in an altercation among students on the school bus that day.

For the rest of the story click here.

N.J. lawmakers introduce bill to restore $4M for children’s autism aid

For those of you who follow my blog you have likely picked up that I am a conservative republican. I a a big fan of the New Jersey governor and agree with how he is getting New Jersey back to being fiscally sound. But I must disagree with him on this issue. The approach of cutting aid for early intervention to save money now will only hurt New Jersey later. It will cost so much more to help these kids once they hit school age.

I have personally seen what early intervention can do for kids with Autism. Brandon has been receiving early intervention care for 2 years and it is the primary reason he is as high functioning as he is now. And I personally know several kids with Autism that have benefited tremendously from early intervention care. To read more on the bill visit click here.

Where were you on that day, September 11th 2001?

Where were you on that day, September 11th 2001?

I was in Parisppany, NJ working for a utility consultant firm. The whole business stopped and tuned in CNN. I saw this video on that day. I will never forget that day, I will never forget the emotion that it cause me to feel. I was scared, angry, confused, enraged. I remember my employer at the time asking us to leave work and to go home to be with our families.

more about “A Time Of Rememberance“, posted with vodpod

When I left work I stopped at a store, it was strangely quiet everywhere. I made it home where I spent the rest of the day listening to the radio as I worked in my basement. My most vivid memory of the day is just how beautiful the weather was that day. Such a beautiful day for such a horrific attack to happen.

We must never forget. The terrorists took more than our friends and family that were in the planes, Towers, or the Pentagon. They took our feeling of security away. I am thankful to all those men and women who stepped up to help after this horrible event to help give us back some of what we lost.

Please remember this day, I know it is tough to think about how vulnerable and scared we all felt that day but a bigger tragedy will happen if we forget. It will likely happen again, history has a way of repeating itself. Please remember this day.

The Apple i-Pad Helps Children With Autism

I was going through my Autism news websites and stumbled upon this news article about a family and a doctor who is using the Apple iPad and iTouch to help children with Autism. I have been thinking of getting a iTouch for quite sometime and now I have another reason to justify the purchase. If I end up getting one in the future I will report on how it works with Brandon. Click here for more of the story.

The Film “Temple Grandin” Wins Big

HBO is the big winner of the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards with a total of 25, and original movie “Temple Grandin” surprised many by winning seven of those Emmys. On Sunday’s August 29, the film won five awards in major categories: Best made for TV movie, best directing for a miniseries/movie and acting awards for Claire Danes, Julia Ormond and David Strathairn. But many people at home, however, were wondering who or what is a Temple Grandin?

Grandin was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Richard Grandin and Eustacia Cutler. She was diagnosed with autism in 1950. Having been labeled and diagnosed with brain damage at age two, she was placed in a structured nursery school with what she considers to have been good teachers. Grandin’s mother spoke to a doctor who suggested speech therapy, and she hired a nanny who spent hours playing turn-based games with Grandin and her sister.

At age four, Grandin began talking, and she began making progress. She considers herself lucky to have had supportive mentors from primary school onwards. However, Grandin has said that middle school and high school were the worst parts of her life. She was the “nerdy kid”, the one whom everyone teased. She would be walking down the street and people would say “tape recorder”, because she would repeat things over and over again. Grandin states that “I could laugh about it now, but back then it really hurt.”

After graduating from Hampshire Country School, a boarding school for gifted children in Rindge, New Hampshire, in 1966, Grandin went on to earn her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Franklin Pierce College (also located in Rindge) in 1970, her master’s degree in animal science from Arizona State University in 1975, and her doctoral degree in animal science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989.
Grandin was born in 1947, when autism was less well understood than it is today. Although doctors claimed she would never speak or function normally, her mother Eustacia was instrumental in teaching her to speak and socialize till Temple was able to go to school. She was always drawn to animals, believing that her autism helped her see the world through their eyes.

This lead to her interest in animal science, in which she received a doctorate, and her invention of new devices and new slaughterhouse designs for the humane treatment of livestock. She’s become a university professor, is an advocate for understanding autism and has penned several books including “Thinking in Pictures,” “Animals in Translation” and “Animals Make Us Human.”

This film was by far one of the best films I have seen and it brought new light to what the possibilities are for children with Autism. Here is a brief clip of the film.

Last Iron Pigs Game 2010

Well Labor Day marked the end of the 2010 season for the Iron Pigs (AAA Baseball) and it was a beautiful day. I was so looking forward to going to the game with my son Brandon. But Brandon often times is unpredictable in certain social situations, and today was not a good day for him. Most six year old boys would be thrilled to go to a baseball game on a beautiful day but Brandon was very sad or at least seemed it. The entire 2 innings we stayed all he did was self stim, he did not even seem to notice that around him a baseball game was being played. It is hard to communicate with Brandon about his feelings, all you get is one word answers or he just closes down. Days like today make it tough. I would love to have a conversation with Brandon to discuss his likes and dislikes that would last more than one or two words. Don’t get me wrong Brandon has made tremendous progress with his battle against Autism but I still want to know more about my son. You can almost tell by staring into his eyes he has so much more to say but does not know how to say it.

Its been a long time. I need to unload.

It has been a long time since I have posted anything mostly because I have struggled to find something to write about. I need to put down this burden and then move on. I think over the past couple of months I have been a bit depressed but our recent trip to Disney World and other things have helped to snap me out of the funk I was in. God has shown me just how much he loves me and how blessed I am.

The trip to Disney World that the Dreams Come True and Give Kids The World organizations gave us showed me it is time to get back into the game so to speak. I saw people give their heart, soul, and time to me and my family. The volunteers at Give Kids The World would cook, entertain, serve, and more. The volunteers ranged in ages from young teens to seniors. There was not a want or need that we went with out while we were there. The people who volunteered did so out of the kindness of their hearts. They were simply there to help another person or family who has challenges with their kids. I saw in their eyes the joy that God gave them by helping us and the other families. I miss that joy God gives you when you server and are close to Him.

I feel like I have been driving along for the past couple of years thinking I knew where I was going only to arrive at a place not knowing where I am or how I got there. So I am at the point of finally breaking down to ask for directions, so I can get back on the road to where I want to go. I need to find my path back to be in the presence of God. This will be a long drive back because I have wondered away so far but it is time to start making my way back to being in His Presence. This road will be bumpy and have many twists and turns but knowing where I am going will make the trip worth taking.

It is funny I have been writing this post for almost 2 months, knowing when I post it, it becomes real. I am not even sure if all this makes sense to anyone but me. But I am hitting the publish button.

Alone

From childhood’s hour I have not been

As others were; I have not seen

As others saw; I could not bring

My passions from a common spring.

From the same source I have not taken

My sorrow; I could not awaken

My heart to joy at the same tone;

And all I loved, I loved alone.

Then- in my childhood, in the dawn

Of a most stormy life- was drawn

From every depth of good and ill

The mystery which binds me still:

From the torrent, or the fountain,

From the red cliff of the mountain,

From the sun that round me rolled

In its autumn tint of gold,

From the lightning in the sky

As it passed me flying by,

From the thunder and the storm,

And the cloud that took the form

(When the rest of Heaven was blue)

Of a demon in my view.

Edgar Allen Poe

Health Insurance Coverage For Autism.

The discussion continues in the state of Virginia on forcing health insurance companies to cover Autism treatments. As a parent with a son with Autism I agree Autism should be covered but forcing insurance companies to provide coverage gets parents with kids with Autism imperfect coverage. For instance there is a bill before the General Assembly in Virginia that would force health insurance companies to provide insurance to children with Autism to age 9. What happens when the children turn 10? Autism currently does not stop at the age of 9. Continued treatment and therapy is needed in many cases. I agree, with the health insurance companies currently set up the way they are we need to force the health insurance companies.

But there is another choice. Remove the regulations on the health insurance industry. Currently the health insurance industry can not compete state to state. So if that regulation was lifted an you could shop more freely for your health insurance, you could shop in another state for a health insurance company that provides Autism coverage. And soon, you would have insurance companies competing to provide more Autism coverage instead of the bare minimum. This happened several years ago with the auto insurance industry, now auto insurance is cheaper, has more options, and easier to get. We have a long way to go for health insurance but it can be done.

Brandon did a weird thing today.

I went to pick the kids up at the bus stop today. I got them in the car and we drove home. We all got out of the car and went in the house. Once we were inside I had asked the kids to take off their shoes and coats, and then to wash their hands. This is the ritual when they come home from school. Well today Brandon took of his shoes, open up our black shoe tote, pull down his pants and underwear and preceded to pee into the black shoe tote like it was a toilet. So I yelled out “Brandon” he turned towards me with his pants down and preceed to continue peeing but now on me and the floor. I was puzzled by what he was doing and was glad his Therapy Specialist saw the whole thing and she was just as puzzled. Brandon almost seemed confused but I asked him when I put him to bed tonight why he peed in the black shoe tote, and he told me it made him mad. I tried to get out of him what he thought the shoe tote did to make him mad but I got nothing. One of the weirdest things I have seen him do.