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Help Me Illuminate the Future for Those with Autism

logo_waad-227x300As you know, I am extremely involved in the Autism community, both to support my son and in the Emergency Preparedness/Emergency Responder arena. I am blessed and honored to be training some of Georgia’s finest men and women in uniform – Law Enforcement, EMS, Fire Rescue and Disaster Responders – on how to recognize and safely interact with Autistic persons on the scene of a crime, fire, medical call or disaster. My goal is to have all of Georgia’s responders trained within the next 18 months. The Autism Society of Georgia is helping me do that by fully endorsing my training programs!

April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day. 

Please join the Autism Society of Georgia and me by helping us illuminate the future and create awareness for Autism.

For as little as $5.00 you can help us light a luminary for 1 child or adult.

There are over 150,000 children and adults in Georgia identified with Autism and we are making a difference. And, because my training programs are critical to the safety of the Autism community, the Autism Society of Georgia is giving 20% back to Spirit of Autism when you donate through my unique link so that I can continue to provide this training.

If you feel inspired to, you can click here to go to mydonation page or head over to Autism Society of Georgia’s The Future is Bright website to learn more about the campaign. From there you can choose Spirit of Autism on the right hand side by clicking my logo.

Thank you for being a part of MY community. I know you haven’t heard from me regularly in a while… I apologize! I’m almost done with Advanced EMT school and can come up for air soon : ) Now back to my IV drip conversions and drug calculations!

xoxo

I Took the 7 Link Challenge!

I was perusing through my favorite feeds and came across a unique content idea from ProBlogger that I just HAD to use!

The article recommends publishing a list of 7 links to posts that I (and others) have written in response to 7 categories, complete with reasons why I chose each particular post.

Here are my 7 links – I hope you enjoy them!

Your first post

Top Five Reasons I Volunteer Before I began my Autism site, I helped DeKalb County start a citizen branch of support for Fire Rescue. Along with several extraordinary team members and an amazing Captain, we formed a vision for what was known at that time as the Citizen Reserve and watched it come into fruition. It was an incredible experience. Since moving out of state, I watched Citizen Reserve change organization, duties, protocols, and eventually redefine itself. It seems to have circled back around to its original vision, and I can’t wait to be involved again in any capacity!

A post you enjoyed writing the most

… and That’s What Little Boys Are Made Of Writing to share my experiences and help others ALWAYS helps me. I can talk about being patient, kind, and empathetic with ease, but I am also a single (human!) mom that balances a LOT on my daily plate. I make mistakes. I get caught in pity parties and frustration at times. I lose my patience. This post was very therapeutic for me, as it reminded me that I don’t always have to live in an the analytical and diagnostic world of Autism. Sometimes my son is just being a boy!

A post which had a great discussion

Why Does My Autistic Child Scream?! I am always honored when someone experiencing the things I write about first hand comments on my posts or tweets. As much research and energy as I put into understanding my son, I am still an outsider when it comes to Autism and Sensory Processing Disorder. I don’t feel what he feels, or see the world quite the way he does, though I always give it my all! I was thrilled to read Jason’s thorough remarks about this post, especially when it was only my second post on the blog!

A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written

Little Specks of Autism by stark. raving. mad. mommy. This post is just beautiful. I related to it so much! I especially think about all the quirky rituals I have in my daily life, from having a favorite plate that no one else can use, to my odd parking space logic, to accidentally bumping my elbow on the table and having to re-create the same volume of pain on the opposite elbow for it to feel “even”. Yep, we all have little specks of Autism alright!

Your most helpful post

Parents: Who Supports Us? This is dedicated to all of us that live with and fight for our special needs children. It’s not a job for weenies! It reminds us that our feelings are natural, however appropriate or inappropriate we are judging them to be at the time, and that support for US is vital to our children’s success.

A post with a title that you are proud of

“I’m funny how? Funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you?” This was a really fun bit to write explaining how children on the Spectrum typically do not understand sarcasm. Ironically the entire post was sprinkled with said sarcasm, as it runs rampant in my house and in my head.

Actually it’s a tie…

Are You Going to the Hardware Store for a Loaf of Bread? Another playful post that starts off with a famous scene from The Electric Company. Though quite humorous, the post really hones in on our expectations and how it’s not really fair to keep demanding things from people that they are not capable of giving.

A post that you wish more people had read

A Letter to my Son – Clearing the Past Read with tissues nearby. That is all.