Review: The Autism Sisterhood

I was given a copy of this book to review for my main blog (http://www.coolestmommy.com/) but I told the author, Michele Brooke, that I would cross post to this blog since it is so relevant.

Book Name: The Autism Sisterhood: A (brief) Manual

Author: Michele C. Brooke

Price: $9.95.

Available at Amazon.com

This book is just what the subtitle suggests it is. It's a small book that fits into my big purse easily. Each chapter is short (1-2 pages) and gives another piece of instruction or information that gets to the heart of things that women in 'the sisterhood' go through.

As a mother of a child on the Autism Spectrum, I have tried some of her ideas and jotted notes of other ideas. I appreciated her theory on who makes up the Autism Sisterhood. She includes not just mothers of Autistic children, but fathers, teachers, therapists, doctors and friends who can be a sounding board or give insight or just celebrate the little things with you. I agree, the sooner you find people in your corner, the better off you are.

The chapters are as diverse as our children are. Topics range from reading skills to preparing for holidays, social stories and singing. There are practical tips that can be used with both verbal and non-verbal children.

The book is meant to be read in short bursts. I read it through the first time from cover to cover during a one hour therapy session. I was able to finish in about 45 mintues. It's a fast read and contains wonderful information and insight. Michelle Brooke mentions that this book is meant to be a quick read that you can keep in your purse because then you will have it to pass along to another person who could use it.

For those who have read books by other mothers of autistic children, Michele Brooke doesn't go into the emotional roller coaster of getting diagnosis, etc. This book isn't about the emotions or feelings of you or your child. The focus is strictly on finding ways to enter into your child's world and help them find more of our world, too. It is all practical advice and tips to help us find new ways to communicate.

I hope you'll pass the word about this book to others who could use the information contained within.
 

Disclosure: This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by Michele C. Brooke for this review.

You might have a visual learner when...

For vocabulary words, the kids are to know the meaning of the words and how to correctly use the word in a sentence. As we went over the vocabulary words for this week, Nathan had all the meanings correct. Until we hit "ponder". He tried to break it down that the word 'pond' was in it so maybe it was something to do with water or ponds. When we told him it's thinking hard about something, he said that it WAS like a pond.



Huh?? Pond?? Water?? For Ponder???
Sean & I don't see it. We asked Nathan to clarify.

Nathan's answer:

Well, if I remember that my brain is like a big pond and the ideas are the ducks. When I ponder, I wait for the ducks (ideas) to come into the pond (brain) and that's pondering.

Oh yeah, I think he's a visual learner.

What's in a name?

We have a new art teacher at school this year. When we were at back to school night, we made Nathan introduce himself and meet her so he wasn't surprised that she is there. (Our former art teacher was part time and was able to go back into the classroom full time. We had to show him where her room is now so he knows she didn't disappear.)

When he met the teacher, she said her name was Mrs. Reed. He studied her name by the door and finally looks at her and says, "You know, if you took out the extra E in your name, it would be Mrs. Red. That would be a really artistic name."

We smiled, told him great reasoning and mentioned that he is a special little boy with a unique perspective. Then, we giggled. How sweet was that? I'm not sure if she saw the humor that we did, but I think he's a smart little cookie.

A story about life at a 2E home...

One day at the Twice Exceptional Home, a packet of information arrived from a local school called Elementary. Inside the exciting packet was the room number and name of the teacher for a little boy named Nathan. This Nathan waited with baited breath for his mother to share the big news. His mother said, "You're in Room 6A with Mrs. R." The older brother, Andrew, shouts, "You're so lucky--I only got Mrs. R for 3 weeks. You get her for a whole year!!!"

The little boy named Nathan held a brave face. Then a lip quiver started to show. Then his face crumpled and tears were streaming down his face. With a wavering voice, Nathan says, "But I wanted Mrs. S."

Thinking fast, his super mother asks, "Why did you want Mrs. S so much?"

Nathan tells mom, "Because of Reading Buddies."

"What--did you say reading buddies?"


"Yes."


Realization dawns on the mother who says, "Which classroom was with Mrs. S last year?"


"Mrs. B!" (Mrs. B was our teacher last year.)


Ah-ha. "Good news, Nathan. There is now one more room in last year's grade so there will be changes. You might still have Mrs. B for Reading Buddies. Besides, she moved around the corner and there's only one room between her room and your room this year. Isn't that great?!?"


"I might get Mrs. B for Reading Buddies? Cool."

Thus ends the saga of teacher assignments.

On Demand Learning for Today's "iGeneration"

I had the opportunity to review the Online School Solutions website. I honestly did not think I would like what I found. I've never been convinced that online learning is as good as traditional learning--even though I have friends whom I deeply respect who homeschool and use online learning to supplement homeschooling.  I know we can learn a lot online, but to give schooling over to online learning is a bit beyond my scope.


I started looking at the online school solutions sites for my oldest. I wondered if these classes would help supplement his learning. What I started to realize is that if Nathan begins to have too much trouble in Middle School or High School, this website would be a wonderful resource for me to have at my fingertips. Many of the courses are geared at High IQ (gifted or AP) learners. Well, what's a 2E but a gifted learner with a learning disability? I started looking at different schools available and what classes they offered. While it looks like the private online schools would cost about $1800 per year to do full time online education, individual classes are only about $250-300 per class. I was impressed at the broad scope of classes available to students.


If you need any sort of supplement to learning for your child--whether he is in public, private or home school--I'd suggest looking at this site. The information was pretty clear cut and I had the opportunity to watch a video demo of some of the techniques used. They don't leave the kids flying solo. There is support online for the kids, they can interact with other kids and adults and some of the online schools also have live people locally whom you can call if you need additional help.


Here is some information I was provided by Online School Solutions:

Today's students, known as the "iGeneration", are the first to crave and benefit from education "on demand" - or the option to choose where, when and how they want to learn.


To put it in context, the "iGeneration" has never known life without the Internet, being mobile, using avatars, IMing or choosing and watching content whether they are at home, in the car, at a football game or shopping at the mall. To reach them in their high-tech, high-touch world, many parents and educators are looking at how to rewire schools to match how the iGeneration learns.


Taking classes online is one way to give middle and high school students (and their school districts) new options to learn using preferred tools in a familiar environment, and even experience enhanced, one-on-one relationships with educators. Whether they're in need of more assistance, looking for wider range of classes or simply prefer to learn in a medium that they have grown up with, online learning can be a great way to fit your child's needs.


Students are increasingly able to take online classes in partnership with their local school districts. Schools facing budget cuts and a reduction in teachers are turning to online classes to supplement their curriculum, from offering classes for which they have no teachers, Advanced Placement® classes for students who excel, and credit recovery options for students who struggle. In fact, today there are 1 million children learning online, either part time, full time or between school terms. Additionally, more than 20 percent of schools and educational institutions around the country offer online classes today, and that number should grow by another 30 percent within a couple of years, according to industry research. (Simba Information).




KC Distance Learning (KCDL) offers online learning options to fit all types of students and learning situations.
From the home-schooled family, the student brushing up on skills to compete at the next level or the child facing challenges in traditional schools such as bullying, KCDL provides academic solutions to fit your child's needs. We welcome you to look through the website at www.onlineschoolsolutions.com, and then click on your state to find the online school serving your area.


A recent survey found that compared to traditional learning environments, online learning is proving to be an effective way in teaching today's "iGeneration" who live in a world of customized and instant feedback. See the results of the Student Survey here.

If you ever have a need or are interested in learning more about online schools, take a look and see what you think.




Disclosure: I received a gift card to compensate my time in researching and writing this review. The gift card does not affect my review and all personal thoughts and comments are my own.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the 2010 Autism Puzzle Walk a big success. Team NATHAN raised more than we thought we could--and that's thanks to all of you.

Without your love, support, encouragement and donations, we couldn't have done it. Overall, the Puzzle Walk raised more than $45,000 this year.

Thank you again for supporting Team Nathan.

Here are some photos from the walk. There were over 800 people who showed up to walk with us and support the Autism Society. Thank you to everyone who came. Thank you to our 'walk angels' who helped families needing an extra pair of hands along the way. It was a wonderful day and lots of fun.

Deep Thoughts

Today, Nathan was at a birthday party. Daddy took him since it was at a skate rink and helped him work on skating. As they are going around the rink, Nathan was concentrating hard.

About halfway around the rink, Sean asked him what he thought (wondering what he thought about skating). Nathan answered, "I have a silly question."

Dad says, "Ok, shoot."

Nathan says, "Did Jesus have Jesus in His heart?"

Ummm....wow, what a deep question. Anyone have a good answer for the 8 year old??

Sean responded with, "Do you have you in your heart? (Nathan nodded yes.) Well, I think everyone has themself in their own heart, so Jesus had Jesus in his heart. It's just important for us to ask Jesus to come into our hearts to join us there."

Nice job, Dad! And seriously, you wonder why we parents of 2E kids look frazzled all the time. We ask our kids about skating and instead of being focused on balance, feet or listening to the music, they are in the midst of a deep theological debate. Phew! Glad Dad was there to take that one.

Hope that gave you a smile for today!