Time For a Safety Reality Check

Let me start off by saying that even though this post is geared toward parents and caregivers with Autistic children, a lot of these subjects are relevant with any child.  Nowhere is this more important than CHILD SAFETY.

Sadly, I'm highlighting this now because there was a recent drowning in Florida involving an Autistic child.  These incidents are unfortunately all too common, as children with Autism are prone to wandering.  If you're the parent of an Autistic child, there's a good chance you've lost your child in public, or have been in danger of it.  I had several terrifying experiences with this when Matthew's younger brother was an infant, because it was virtually impossible to run after one child while carrying a baby at the same time. 

Here is a link to The Autism Speaks: Autism Safety Project, and it contains absolutely vital information for anyone who cares for Autistic children, or in my opinion, any small child. According to their site, the "Top Safety Risks for Individuals with ASD" are:

• Wandering
  
• Pica (ingesting non-edibles)
  
• Drowning
  
• Household toxins

 The page also has links for Personal Identification products and Tracking Devices.
If your child is prone to wandering in public, or even their own neighborhood, please consider these resources.

Another tip:  take frequent pictures of your child so that if he/she does get lost, you will have a recent picture to share with authorities and the community.  If you have a camera phone, try to take a picture of your child each time you leave the house for an outing.  That way, you will always have a picture with your child wearing the clothes they are in when they went missing. 

I'm sure I'll blog about household safety in the future, but for now, please visit the link above for national and regional resources that can educate us all on ways to keep our children safe!

2010 Walk Now for Autism Speaks: Sacramento -

2010 Walk Now for Autism Speaks: Sacramento -



Being the parent of a child with Autism can be pretty darn time consuming. Between the IPP's, IEP's, doctor's appointments, assessments, hours upon hours of ABA therapy....well, most full time jobs don't clock this many hours. After a while, it becomes your life, and when it's going badly, that "woe is me" rut can get a little rough.
When that happens, I remind myself that we have a great opportunity as members of this little "club" to get the word out and make a real difference for others. That's why I signed my family up last week for our first "Walk Now For Autism Speaks" event! The idea of being a Team Captain never really crossed my mind in the beginning; I just assumed there would be something going on in our area for National Autism Awareness Month. What I learned was that Sacramento isn't holding their walk until October! So do I sit around until then, twiddling my thumbs, eating Mounds bars and waiting for the leaves to turn yellow? That's probably what a smart woman would do. But I'm getting pretty used to this idea of an insane amount of multi-tasking, and somehow I thought that this event would be so much more fun and meaningful if I jumped in with both feet and started our own team!

A few log in names and passwords later, I am now the Team Captain of Matthew's Mighty Walkers!!!! I have no idea how much money we'll raise or if we'll even meet our Team Member Goal, but I'm pretty excited about being a part of such an important event. Because when you're living the Autism Lifestyle, especially in the early stages where our family is, it can be a bit isolating. What better way to bring awareness to the community and your friends and family, than by joining so many others who are dealing with the same struggles you are?

I'm especially excited to get my 7 year-old daughter involved. I can't imagine wrapping my head around a disorder like Autism at such a young age, but she already does an amazing job of being a protector and advocate for her brother. On World Autism Awareness Day last week, she got up in front of her first grade class and explained what it was like to have a brother with Autism. And she was so proud. To her, it's important for people to understand that he doesn't speak much, but that he's still a lot of fun. She focuses on his strengths, even if it's something as simple as how fast he runs at the park, or how affectionate he always is with her. And now she gets to walk in a "parade", raise money, and teach others how to understand her brother. How cool is that?

If you'd like to donate to our team, Click on the link above and search for "Matthew's Mighty Walkers"! And if you have any great fund raising ideas for kids, let me know! We have several months to get this team moving!