Comment from M Johnson
Time: April 2, 2009, 8:02 am

My husband and I have three children with special needs. Our middle son has ADHD, Tourette Syndrome, and High functioning Autism. I homeschool my children so our days can be Pretty Long. I know I have a very hard time with meeting each of their needs, I can only amagine how they must feel. Just remember to encourage others daily (they need it) and to give yourself a pat on the back at the end of each day too! Our 12 year old is walking at the Mall of America April 18th for a walk for Autism, with some friends from church. I am so proud of my boys!

Comment from Valerie Hau
Time: April 3, 2009, 6:34 am

At Christmas, we adopted a family to give gifts to – they had 10yr old girl with autism and Downs – one of the item they needed was a weighted blanket – found a GREAT source http://www.affordableweightedblankets.com/. Check it out, she made me a blanket at the lowest price and shipped it for free.

Comment from Deb Porwoll
Time: April 17, 2009, 5:22 am

Hi,

I have five beautiful grandchildren, two my son’s boys are Autistic.

It took a long time for their parents to accept their diagnosis, but now that they have they have become strong advocates for autism awareness, and I’m very proud of them for the way they are handling it all.

“Christopher” is a twin; his sister is “Miss Rachel”-they are four. He is adorable-bright and sweet and has a wonderufl memory. He remembered a rock tray that he played with at his auntie Heather’s house-almost a year earlier, and wondered where the rocks were (he loves to play with small shapes). He is also very good with the alphabet, and LOVES letters! For Christmas we gave him large wooden letters that spelled out his name. He was thrilled and said “I love the letter C”…the first letter of his name.

His little brother “Joey” will be two in July, and has sensory issues. He cannot tolerate textures in his mouth, and is still on baby food and milk bottles. He is starting to say a few words and is beginning to stand and is starting to take steps. He is a little joker and is always smiling! He learned to get around by hopping on his butt. He looked like a little froggy hopping the house…but he gets around very well!

We love these boys the same as the other grandchildren, and just as we enjoy learning of the other kids’ accomplishements, we also look forward to progress reports on Joey and Christopher.

They are all such a blessing to our family and I’m so proud of them!

Grammie Debi