The feelings of both excitement and nervousness flow through me as I share with you that Autism But Life Goes On is officially Autism But Life Goes On Inc. For the past couple of years I’ve shared with individuals my experiences as the mother of an autistic child. Time and time again I’ve noticed that kind deeds and a few words of encouragement go a long way; hence why I started this blog. The experience has been amazing. In the past few weeks I’ve been blessed to be used to touch the lives of several hundred people in the United States as well as people in the United Kingdom, Australia,Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, Myanmar, Netherlands, Ireland, Kenya, Italy and the Cayman Islands.
Now that Autism But Life Goes On is a registered business my plans are to really reach out to the members of the Autism community through various activities. I can’t speak for people in other states, but there aren’t a lot of support and social services for people touched by autism in Illinois. I’d like to change that. I’ll be working on some things and will be posting updates about progress as I move along. As for now….hooray for a new service provider for our community!
Autism But Life Goes On 
Congratulations! Great news! This is something I have been considering for several months too. So many people can’t afford an evaluation or the therapies their children need, or don’t have a support system once they do have an evaluation or diagnosis. I told my husband several weeks ago that i wish we could reach out somehow, raise money for those who need it and educate the community. Great, great news today! So glad you are doing this:-)
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Thanks so much for your well wishes; they really do mean a lot to me! Starting something like this takes a big leap of faith and it’s nice to know that I have people like you supporting me.
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Hey, how things going with you and the little guy?☺
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Thanks for checking in with me. Things are going ok. I know my blog has been quiet but its been a hectic few weeks-you know how it goes. I was going to write a new post this weekend.
We finally got a meeting at his school. They said they are doing 8 of the 10 things required in the classroom for him. We told them he is full of anxiety about school, that he bit his lip open one day when he was talking about it. Obviously what they are doing in the classroom isn’t quite working since he is so upset all the time. They want to test and evaluate him before they move forward with anything else.
Last week was really rough. He was home sick and was incredibly aggressive all week. He has calmed down some this week since he’s back at school and in a routine. Its like a roller coaster some days.
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Hmmm, sounds like they’re treating you like they’re doing you a favor as opposed to what’s legally required by law. I had some problems with the school that my son got his initial IEP done. They knew I didn’t know my legal rights and they totally dragged their feet with everything. I contacted a Not for Profit called “Equipped for Equality. ” They helped me learn my legal rights and let me copy them on emails to the IEP team. When the school saw that…they got their act together real fast. I know Equipped for Equality is based in Illinois but maybe they know of a similar organization in your state. Let me know if I can help with this.
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Thats exactly what I told my husband. It feels like we’ve bothered them or something. Nothing the school has done has really helped. We told them that if the steps they were taking in the classroom were adequate, then our son more than likely wouldn’t be freaking out every day. Since he is on track with the other kids they feel as if they are doing their job. BUT, he has been writing his name, has been able to count to who knows what number, has been drawing shapes, etc since he was 2ish. Of course he’s on track. He learned all this stuff 3 years ago. Its really frustrating.
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Hence why there’s “social workers” on the IEP team; because not all autistic children have academic learning delays. Is there an Easter Seals near your?
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I will look into it. I was warned by other parents that this would be a knock down drag out situation. I am just overwhelmed. The solutions seem so simple, such as moving him to a smaller classroom, but the school wants to make it difficult. I can’t wrap my brain around why. Why do it the hard way ifbthe resources are already in place and available to other kids?
He is on fall break this coming week and I have miraculously gotten the week off with him. I will be calling all kinds of advocacy groups this week. I can’t go up against the school alone.
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Easter Seals should know of good schools with autism programs and/or good special education programs. The resource page on my site has a few Easter Seals sites listed. If you don’t see one near you do a location search on their website. Things will come together,x.
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Thank you for the help. Looking forward to a long, slow weekend so I can start fresh on monday morning. I will keep you updated. Thanks again:-)
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Anytime ☺
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Congratulations! That is wonderful! I hope you are able to reach out and influence even more people with your new business endeavour. Keep up the positivity!
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Thanks so so very much! Your support really does mean a lot to me.
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That is brilliant news and I wish you the very best of luck.
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Thanks so much for your well wishes! Your support really does mean a lot me.
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