Christie - 38 from Ohio - married to John (33) for 3 years - mom to Vaughn (8 yr old aspie) and Jack (almost 2 yr old - NT so far).
Vaughn has had "behavior problems" since he first walked through the doors of preschool. He was finally diagnosed in December 2005. Since then he has been evaluated by the school and has an IEP. He just finished 2nd grade - regular mainstream classroom. He did not qualify for speech or OT (our district is not really prepared for ASD kids - he was denied OT because "his handwriting is fine"). We are footing the bill for a behavior therapist, social skills group, OT, music therapy and (soon to start) hippotherapy......Thank God for Family Resource money from the county board of MRDD ($1500 per year).
Interesting fact: I've been married 3 times.....I don't know if that is interesting or sad....LOL! First marriage was in the Catholic church and it was annulled (so I guess I can say I was only married twice now....right?! LOL). Second marriage was to Vaughn's dad and it was in Vegas at the Graceland Wedding Chapel and Elvis gave me away and sang (just like Paula). Third (and final) was to John and on a cruise ship.....the whole family went with us (including Vaughn).
Let's see -- I'm Sara married to over 10 years to Cliff and son is Malcolm who will be 9 years of age in a few weeks. We live in NYC right in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. Malcolm was dx'ed developmental delay at age 3, speech and language delay at age 5 and (privately) PDD-NOS at age almost 7. He has been in MANY forms of therapy and intervention, special needs schooling since age 3. We just moved him from lovely ASD school to more challenging academic mixed special needs school in Feb. Because he is a summer baby, he will have 2 more years there, whew!! And because of NYC failing special education system, all is paid for the the NYC BOE. He is a way cool dude and great fun!!
My dh designs computer programs for Wall Street firms and I, after many years as a theatre actor and producer, now work mostly as a very expensive personal trainer and aerobics instructor -- which at least keeps me in shape and means I only have to work 4 or 5 hours a day to make beaucoup de bucks, plus hours are somewhat flexible. If I can AFFORD the time and if the money is even reasonable, I still occasionally do acting and theatre work.
Fun factoids : I have been seen over the years on several television commercials and as bit parts on soap operas, including playing a pg. lady WHEN very pg. with Malcolm on As The World Turns, and a recurring waitress at the diner on One Life to Live. Oh, and my favorite: a jail matron on All My Children, but the young blond chickie I was supposed to be guarding, in for someone's murder, was such a creampuff... Problem : I never watch soaps, so I never really knew the story lines exactly. Also made loads of money with a Heinz Ketchup ad for the squeeze bottle when it first came out, ran for years, big huge checks in the mailbox every week, VERY nice. Wish they'd run it again!!!
Renee (37) married for 15 years to John (38). We have 4 kids, Cait (12-AS and epilepsy), Mike (10 ASD), Emily (8 and a sweetie peetie stuck in the middle of stuff) and Dave (6 and the future Donald Trump with SID). Typically I can go really long on this stuff but it just is too overwhelming today, lol. Besides you all know my life anywho.
Interesting fact - hmmmmmm. I was in the Macy's Turkey Day Parade when I was in highschool.
I'm Michelle (Shell), age 32, (more of a lurker) married to dh (36) for 8 years and have a ds, Dakota, 7, who has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS and ADHD, and a dd, Sierra, 4, NT.
Dakota attends a special education classroom at a regular elementary school. He has an IEP. They told me he'll get speech therapy for one more year. They may put him in a regular classroom for math. He doesn't get any other kind of services.
Sierra was in a special education preschool this last year. They say she mastered her goals in one week after starting school in September. No surprise...I knew once she got past the I'm shy act she's a whole other girl. I think the main reason they excepted her was because of their past experience with my ds when he went there for preschool. She is no longer elgible for any special ed services. They will be putting her in a regular all day pre-K class next year. Yeah! I'm glad since she loves going to school.
I just graduated from nursing school for a RN. I will be taking my state boards tomorrow, June 13th. I got sick just in time with sinusitis! Ugh! It is too late to reschedule. Oh well. I start my RN job on the 19th at the local hospital. I do also have a BA degree in Advertising Design.
I'm Kate (44) wife to Dan (43) and mom to Ryan(7, AS). We live in eastern PA, about 2 hours west of Philadelphia.
Ryan finished up Kdg on June 1st. He'll be in a regular 1st grade class in the fall, with speech 1x/week, and sessions with the autistic support teacher 3x/week for work on social skills. He's shares an aide, but that's been reduced from full time to about 2.5 hours/day. He's a sweet quirky kid, but with sensory and attention issues, and probably executive function problems as well. I worry about that for the future. Both dh and I work full time, so ds goes to a day camp during the summer. It's run by the same Lutheran Church that ran the Day care he attended. We're very lucky that Ryan just "clicked" with some of the staff members there, they've been very patient and understanding with him. So he'll be doing a lot of swimming, taking nature walks and hikes, and a few day trips. So far so good.
Interesting fact.. tough one. I work for a software company now, but I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering. So I have lived and worked with alot of nerdy, geeky people, many of whom had terrible social skills (me too). I prefer that group! I had never heard of Asperger's back then, but it was good training for being the mom to an Aspie.
I'm Cathy, married to DH for 10 years as of last Thursday. We live in CT and have 3 kiddos. Oldest DD is 7.5 and finishing 2nd grade. My DS Jack brings me here -- he will be 5 next week and is PDD-NOS with huge sensory issues. He is as sweet at the day is long. My youngest child is a 2-year old DD who is about to start being a "typical" in an ASD program for little kids (DS's speech therapist signed her up). So while I am thrilled that she is a typical 2-year old, she is a typical 2-year old and is getting into stuff! Aaaaack!
All this is compounded by the fact that we have bought a house (in our SD) and are about to put ours on the market. Gee, these kids just don't seem to be helping me get the house together -- unless you count dumping sunscreen all over the floor as help.
Okay, you got me, too. Participating in a roll call is the least I can do, after all of the advice and support I have gotten here.
I am 41, married to a man who is 46, and we live in New York, well in the suburbs of NYC. We both work full time.
We have two boys. The first is a 4 year, nine month Asperger's guy who is entering kindergarten in the fall. I am currently negotiating his Kindergarten program. I do not think it is appropriate for him to have a half day program and get pulled out of it for, say, 3 sessions of ST, 2 sessions of OT, 2 sessions of PT, social skills training, etc. (In addition, the neurologist recommends ABA, and I still have not decided if I want to push that with the district or not.)I am not sure if I hope to send him out of district (A neighboring district has an ABA class) or to have him enrolled in something extra, such as an additional K session or also a self-contained classroom, and have him pulled out of the "extra" session for most of his therapies.
The second little guy is 24 months. He is in the process of being assessed by Early Intervention for the second time right now. The first time, at 18 months, the psycologist had concerns, but also backed down and said that is "probably" just fine. Now, at two, my little guy has seen the OT, who said she is going to recommend services for his sensory issues. She said that he does not have a fine motor delay yet, but he is at risk because his sensory issues will make him avoid the activities and experiences that develop skills. (What a difference from school age, where I was told no severe fine motor delay means no OT.) He also saw a psychologist, who said she is going to recommend a SEIT to monitor his social skills, attention to task, and language content. (Right now, she said, he uses language in too high a proportion for labeling.)She said she does sometimes DX PDD right on an EI visit, but that she doesn't feel she can go "all the way" with my son until he is followed a bit. She feels he might have PDD. My son will soon see the speech therapist, and then I guess we make a service plan.
Interesting fact: My name is not Sidney. I also had made up cyber names for my sons, but I forgot them! So now I just leave them nameless. My hidden identity started when I was trying to concieve and did not want to be recognised by my employers as such. Now I am paranoid that my son will look himself up in the future! How crazy is that?
A school district saying that "no severe fine motor delay means no OT" for school age is ILLEGAL! Because they are determining in advance without considering the educational needs of an individual child. That's almost as bad as saying "we don't have the funds to provide that". If that were caught on tape, say, during IEP meeting, etc. that could so mean going into mediation to fight for OT to address sensory issues...
Hey, go talk to IEP geniuses at IEP Board here at iVillage about that one.
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Christie - 38 from Ohio - married to John (33) for 3 years - mom to Vaughn (8 yr old aspie) and Jack (almost 2 yr old - NT so far).
Vaughn has had "behavior problems" since he first walked through the doors of preschool. He was finally diagnosed in December 2005. Since then he has been evaluated by the school and has an IEP. He just finished 2nd grade - regular mainstream classroom. He did not qualify for speech or OT (our district is not really prepared for ASD kids - he was denied OT because "his handwriting is fine"). We are footing the bill for a behavior therapist, social skills group, OT, music therapy and (soon to start) hippotherapy......Thank God for Family Resource money from the county board of MRDD ($1500 per year).
Interesting fact: I've been married 3 times.....I don't know if that is interesting or sad....LOL! First marriage was in the Catholic church and it was annulled (so I guess I can say I was only married twice now....right?! LOL). Second marriage was to Vaughn's dad and it was in Vegas at the Graceland Wedding Chapel and Elvis gave me away and sang (just like Paula). Third (and final) was to John and on a cruise ship.....the whole family went with us (including Vaughn).
Christie
How fun, Paula! Alright re: Elvis impersonators!
Let's see -- I'm Sara married to over 10 years to Cliff and son is Malcolm who will be 9 years of age in a few weeks. We live in NYC right in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. Malcolm was dx'ed developmental delay at age 3, speech and language delay at age 5 and (privately) PDD-NOS at age almost 7. He has been in MANY forms of therapy and intervention, special needs schooling since age 3. We just moved him from lovely ASD school to more challenging academic mixed special needs school in Feb. Because he is a summer baby, he will have 2 more years there, whew!! And because of NYC failing special education system, all is paid for the the NYC BOE. He is a way cool dude and great fun!!
My dh designs computer programs for Wall Street firms and I, after many years as a theatre actor and producer, now work mostly as a very expensive personal trainer and aerobics instructor -- which at least keeps me in shape and means I only have to work 4 or 5 hours a day to make beaucoup de bucks, plus hours are somewhat flexible. If I can AFFORD the time and if the money is even reasonable, I still occasionally do acting and theatre work.
Fun factoids : I have been seen over the years on several television commercials and as bit parts on soap operas, including playing a pg. lady WHEN very pg. with Malcolm on As The World Turns, and a recurring waitress at the diner on One Life to Live. Oh, and my favorite: a jail matron on All My Children, but the young blond chickie I was supposed to be guarding, in for someone's murder, was such a creampuff... Problem : I never watch soaps, so I never really knew the story lines exactly. Also made loads of money with a Heinz Ketchup ad for the squeeze bottle when it first came out, ran for years, big huge checks in the mailbox every week, VERY nice. Wish they'd run it again!!!
Sara
Well ya got us.
Renee (37) married for 15 years to John (38). We have 4 kids, Cait (12-AS and epilepsy), Mike (10 ASD), Emily (8 and a sweetie peetie stuck in the middle of stuff) and Dave (6 and the future Donald Trump with SID). Typically I can go really long on this stuff but it just is too overwhelming today, lol. Besides you all know my life anywho.
Interesting fact - hmmmmmm. I was in the Macy's Turkey Day Parade when I was in highschool.
Renee
I'm Michelle (Shell), age 32, (more of a lurker) married to dh (36) for 8 years and have a ds, Dakota, 7, who has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS and ADHD, and a dd, Sierra, 4, NT.
Dakota attends a special education classroom at a regular elementary school. He has an IEP. They told me he'll get speech therapy for one more year. They may put him in a regular classroom for math. He doesn't get any other kind of services.
Sierra was in a special education preschool this last year. They say she mastered her goals in one week after starting school in September. No surprise...I knew once she got past the I'm shy act she's a whole other girl. I think the main reason they excepted her was because of their past experience with my ds when he went there for preschool. She is no longer elgible for any special ed services. They will be putting her in a regular all day pre-K class next year. Yeah! I'm glad since she loves going to school.
I just graduated from nursing school for a RN. I will be taking my state boards tomorrow, June 13th. I got sick just in time with sinusitis! Ugh! It is too late to reschedule. Oh well. I start my RN job on the 19th at the local hospital. I do also have a BA degree in Advertising Design.
Oh, we live in Illinois.
Shell
Here we are:
Tina(35) married to Bob(41) 8 years in November.
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You got me!
I'm Kate (44) wife to Dan (43) and mom to Ryan(7, AS). We live in eastern PA, about 2 hours west of Philadelphia.
Ryan finished up Kdg on June 1st. He'll be in a regular 1st grade class in the fall, with speech 1x/week, and sessions with the autistic support teacher 3x/week for work on social skills. He's shares an aide, but that's been reduced from full time to about 2.5 hours/day. He's a sweet quirky kid, but with sensory and attention issues, and probably executive function problems as well. I worry about that for the future. Both dh and I work full time, so ds goes to a day camp during the summer. It's run by the same Lutheran Church that ran the Day care he attended. We're very lucky that Ryan just "clicked" with some of the staff members there, they've been very patient and understanding with him. So he'll be doing a lot of swimming, taking nature walks and hikes, and a few day trips. So far so good.
Interesting fact.. tough one. I work for a software company now, but I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering. So I have lived and worked with alot of nerdy, geeky people, many of whom had terrible social skills (me too). I prefer that group! I had never heard of Asperger's back then, but it was good training for being the mom to an Aspie.
Kate
You would have got me....but I read the outline so I knew this was a roll call. ;)
That was sneaky! ;)
I'm Cathy, married to DH for 10 years as of last Thursday. We live in CT and have 3 kiddos. Oldest DD is 7.5 and finishing 2nd grade. My DS Jack brings me here -- he will be 5 next week and is PDD-NOS with huge sensory issues. He is as sweet at the day is long. My youngest child is a 2-year old DD who is about to start being a "typical" in an ASD program for little kids (DS's speech therapist signed her up). So while I am thrilled that she is a typical 2-year old, she is a typical 2-year old and is getting into stuff! Aaaaack!
All this is compounded by the fact that we have bought a house (in our SD) and are about to put ours on the market. Gee, these kids just don't seem to be helping me get the house together -- unless you count dumping sunscreen all over the floor as help.
Cathy
Okay, you got me, too. Participating in a roll call is the least I can do, after all of the advice and support I have gotten here.
I am 41, married to a man who is 46, and we live in New York, well in the suburbs of NYC. We both work full time.
We have two boys. The first is a 4 year, nine month Asperger's guy who is entering kindergarten in the fall. I am currently negotiating his Kindergarten program. I do not think it is appropriate for him to have a half day program and get pulled out of it for, say, 3 sessions of ST, 2 sessions of OT, 2 sessions of PT, social skills training, etc. (In addition, the neurologist recommends ABA, and I still have not decided if I want to push that with the district or not.)I am not sure if I hope to send him out of district (A neighboring district has an ABA class) or to have him enrolled in something extra, such as an additional K session or also a self-contained classroom, and have him pulled out of the "extra" session for most of his therapies.
The second little guy is 24 months. He is in the process of being assessed by Early Intervention for the second time right now. The first time, at 18 months, the psycologist had concerns, but also backed down and said that is "probably" just fine. Now, at two, my little guy has seen the OT, who said she is going to recommend services for his sensory issues. She said that he does not have a fine motor delay yet, but he is at risk because his sensory issues will make him avoid the activities and experiences that develop skills. (What a difference from school age, where I was told no severe fine motor delay means no OT.) He also saw a psychologist, who said she is going to recommend a SEIT to monitor his social skills, attention to task, and language content. (Right now, she said, he uses language in too high a proportion for labeling.)She said she does sometimes DX PDD right on an EI visit, but that she doesn't feel she can go "all the way" with my son until he is followed a bit. She feels he might have PDD. My son will soon see the speech therapist, and then I guess we make a service plan.
Interesting fact: My name is not Sidney. I also had made up cyber names for my sons, but I forgot them! So now I just leave them nameless. My hidden identity started when I was trying to concieve and did not want to be recognised by my employers as such. Now I am paranoid that my son will look himself up in the future! How crazy is that?
Sidney
Quick note, Sidney :
A school district saying that "no severe fine motor delay means no OT" for school age is ILLEGAL! Because they are determining in advance without considering the educational needs of an individual child. That's almost as bad as saying "we don't have the funds to provide that". If that were caught on tape, say, during IEP meeting, etc. that could so mean going into mediation to fight for OT to address sensory issues...
Hey, go talk to IEP geniuses at IEP Board here at iVillage about that one.
Sara
ilovemalcolm
Pages