Month: April 2016

Mj’s Secret Life 😏

~ NickyB. ~ 26 Comments

Recently MJ said something that we’ve never heard before. One night on the way to bed he said, “But Brian has a watch and I don’t.”  I immediately said, “OK MJ do you want a watch?”  His reply was, “yes!” This may not seem like a big deal to most people but it is for us. MJ rarely shows interest in material things and in a weird way his sudden interest in a watch made us happy.  I decided to email his teacher and inquire about his friend’s watch.   This was the reply from his teacher:

“That is so funny. He has a digital watch that lights up. He has more than one watch. Each one of them have a character theme.  Marcus gave this same friend his blue Autism Awareness wristband. This means that they are officially “Best Friends” from what they told me. Just to let you know Marcus is starting to dance and sing more…lol.”   

I have been looking for his wristband for over a week.  I had no idea that he gave it to his friend.  According to his teacher’s response, it sounds as though he and “Brian” are really great friends. The fact that he is singing and dancing at school is completely hilarious to me. Singing, we are accustomed to seeing him do but he very rarely dances at home!  I wish that there was some way for me to “spy” on him while he is at school.  I would love to see how he socially behaves in that environment.  The “school MJ” is apparently a bit different than the “home MJ.”   

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Loving This Weekend💕

~ NickyB. ~ 15 Comments

This weekend was the “Autism Swims” event.  This event is held to teach kids with autism about water safety and also to give free lessons.  Last year at the event MJ wasn’t swimming nearly as well as he is now.   Being there really shows his progress…  


We also had an unexpected guest come in town.  It was wonderful spending time with family.  

MJ also is still enjoying the Basketball Buddies program.  His skills have improved greatly and he is making friends.   It has been awesome for me as well because I have been able to speak to other special needs parents.  We have been talking and comparing notes and have honestly helped each other with something in regards to our children.  

Hope everyone’s weekend has been great. 😊

#itstheweekendbaby

Liebster Award :-)

~ NickyB. ~ 13 Comments

I was blessed enough to be nominated for the Liebster Award by  autiwomandifferentbox and spiritualjourney17 .

As stated by my fellow blogger…”The Liebster Award is an online award for bloggers to gain more support, recognition and just to get to know the person behind the blogger. It also helps others to discover new blogs and to build a sense of community in the blogging world.”

I will answer questions from both of my blogger friends  Thank you so much for nominating me…Here we go!

1. Please sum up your blog in 10 words?  A look into my life raising a son with autism!
2. What are your four favorite songs?  I have way more than 4 favorite songs and I love all types of music.  Right now I have to say “Just Be Held” by Casting Crowns, “Cake By The Ocean” by DNCE, “King” by Tamar Braxton, and “Intentional” by Travis Greene.
3. What four things would you get rid of from the world? (try go for more trivial/fun things like beards, just as an example, not all saying world hunger we all want to get rid of that) Acne (I have been dealing with it since I was a teenager), traffic, the need to have any part of my body waxed, and car trouble of any kind.
4. What scares you the most? Wondering what in the world will happen to MJ when I’m gone.
5. Which is better breakfast, lunch or dinner? For me I have to say dinner.  It’s the time when I get to relax and have a nice meal after working all day. 

6. I see why you blog from your posts. The question is…what keeps you going? How or where do you find your inspiration? I am amazed every day by my son.  The things I see him do and say inspires me.  I never thought he would be able to read, dress himself, speak in sentences, tell jokes, swim, engage in family activities and the list goes on.  I want advocate and share our lives so there will be more understanding and acceptance…So he will have a better future.    

  7. What’s your favorite hobby or leisure activity? Have you ever thought of making it your profession? I love watching movies.  If I could make it a profession I would LOL!  I also love working with children and I already do that as my profession.

  8. Is there something you want to still accomplish within this year? What is it?  Would love to advocate for more autism awareness and acceptance within middle schools and high schools in my area. Many say that we don’t need autism awareness but I disagree.  In schools, awareness is imperative.  There are too many kids out here that have NEVER even heard of autism.  They have no clue what it is.

My nominees for this award are:

21andsensory

realliferealtalk

sadiesnest

cathylynnbrooks

threesaherd

blogofamadblackwoman

If you choose to accept, then please answer the same 8 questions above!

 

liebster2

 

Finally

~ NickyB. ~ 39 Comments

For years I’ve wanted MJ to participate in various sports programs.  Starting from about 6 years ago, I tried to put him in swimming classes and was told, “We don’t have anyone that teaches special needs kids.”  I then tried to sign him up for baseball.  This was supposed to be a league set up for special needs kids.  I filled out the form twice, called and left messages, and emailed the contact persons and no one ever contacted me. I also tried the local YMCA and again never got anyone to contact me even after going there and trying to speak with someone.  I felt invisible and also felt that people didn’t care about my son because he wasn’t what they called “normal!” I really wanted to curse these people out in 3 different languages but I had to remember that I loved Jesus and that doing so would probably get me nowhere! 

Recently I received information on a sports buddies program through the YMCA.  Due to the issues I’ve had in the past I really had low expectations that anyone would contact me.  I was pleasantly surprised when I received a phone call and email answering ALL of my questions.   I signed MJ up for their basketball buddies program.   I explained to him that he would be playing basketball with a buddy once a week.  He looked at me strangely and I knew he was processing what I was saying.  It was new for both of us so I couldn’t give him further information.  On the first day he was a little nervous.  On the car ride over he was playing with his mouth which is something he does when he is nervous.  When we walked into the gym his face lit up when he saw the other kids.  I decided to stay back and observe his behavior.  I had already decided that if he didn’t look happy or didn’t engage, then we would not be returning.  I was thrilled to see MJ participating in several basketball “drills” and high fiving his “buddy!”  He stopped playing with his mouth and was fully engaged in all of the activities. So far he has had two sessions and everything has been completely organized and lots of fun.  He now eagerly anticipates going. I’m truly grateful for this program.  It’s wonderful to see the teamwork and self confidence in all of the kids. 

  

 

“I Won’t Open The Door!”

~ NickyB. ~ 21 Comments

As autism parents know, there are usually numerous safety concerns that are on our minds on a daily basis.  For our family a number 1 concern was MJ opening the door to strangers or just opening the door and walking out of the house!  He actually did that a few times when he was younger.  We’d be in our family room and then all of a sudden see him outside in the backyard!  We had to have dead bolt locks on our doors to make certain that never happened again.  More recently he’d open the door to anyone that knocked. The mail carrier, pizza delivery person, annoying neighbor, or any stranger that came knocking.  We would speak to him about it all of the time and then finally we tried putting a sign on the inside of our front door that said “MJ do not open the front door.  Get mommy and daddy first.” The other day this happened:

Pizza delivery guys knocks on the door. MJ says, “Who is it?”  Pizza delivery guy says his name then MJ says, “I won’t open the door!”   

 My husband heard all of this take place and told me about it when I got home.  We laughed and are excited about the fact that he finally learned/listened to what we have been saying for years now.  Hopefully this will be a consistent thing.  It really allows me to rest a little easier.  

  

 

“Who The Heck Is Brian?”

~ NickyB. ~ 25 Comments

Mj’s IEP meeting has come and gone.  It was a whopping 2 hours of talking, agreeing on goals, listening to his speech teacher and special Ed teacher, and signing forms.  One “take away” from the meeting was that they are going to test MJ so we can get updated psychological data on file.  The information we have now is grossly outdated.  The biggest “take away” was the fact that we found out that MJ has a best friend in class!  We’ll call this said friend, “Brian.”  We have never once heard MJ mention his name! All I could think was, “Who the heck is Brian?” It was so interesting to hear his teacher go on and on about how much they get along in class and how talkative they are together!  I interrupted the meeting and spoke candidly about how I was feeling. I insisted that they communicate more with me.  I asked them to give us information other than academics.   Due to MJ’s speech limitations it is very difficult to find out what is really going on socially in class. I insisted that the teacher email information on the different social interactions that happen in class.  She understood and agreed to do so.  Later, we asked MJ about Brian and his face lit up.  “Brian is my friend,” he said. I am really looking forward to hearing more about MJ’s school social life.  

Laugh or Cry?

~ NickyB. ~ 17 Comments

MJ to his dad: Daddy, where’s mommy?

Dad: Mommy went to the store. 

MJ: Now we can have some fun (Then proceeds to jump around the house)!

My husband told me this when I got home and it totally made me laugh. 😂