I finished filling out paperwork and left the hospital, there was nothing more I would do, Jess was sleeping and I wasn’t allowed to see her until the morning. I cried all the way back to my boyfriend’s house where my son was, crawled into be and tried to sleep. The next morning I took… Continue reading Experiences Grow the Brain (part 3)
Category: Social/emotional development
Experience Grows the Brain (part 2)
Well, I guess I have kept everyone in suspense long enough. That last post was a cliff hanger! I don’t know if it is just the topic of this part of Jessy’s story, but I have really struggled lately with consistently getting to this blog and writing. This event was by far the scariest and… Continue reading Experience Grows the Brain (part 2)
Experience Grows the Brain! (part 1)
Experiences, all experiences, create brain growth. Rewarding experiences and stressful experiences can create the growth of new brain neurons (brain cells). I am in no way an expert in this field and this is not a neurobiology 101 lecture. But having this information is important because it means that the human brain is open and… Continue reading Experience Grows the Brain! (part 1)
Somatic Complaints…Where to Draw the Line.
“My stomach hurts, my head hurts, I don’t feel good…” familiar complaints of many kids who don’t want to go to school some days, right? The challenge is to identify what is real and what is an excuse, what they need to push through and when to keep them home. I remember telling both of… Continue reading Somatic Complaints…Where to Draw the Line.
BUMPS IN THE ROAD
So band camp was a great success and a great way for Jessica to transition into high school. She had a peer group, she was settled in her resource classes, she loved her teachers and they were all very fond of Jessica and her medications seemed to be managing the Trichotillomania. Sounds like smooth sailing,… Continue reading BUMPS IN THE ROAD
High School!!!
Now that we had Jessica’s IEP in place and saw what worked for her academically, I was less concerned about her going into High School. And she has been involved with the Middle School Band and many of those kids were transitioning to the High School Marching Band with Jess. The first big event came… Continue reading High School!!!
Summertime!
Summertime with my kids has always been fun and relaxed. Lots of water, wether it was the beach or swimming at our local pool. Before I was divorced, we lived at a lake and the weather was hot, we had a great backyard and I was a stay-at-home-mom, so we played everyday. After the divorce,… Continue reading Summertime!
Moving Along
So, I started out telling Jessica’s story chronologically through school years….and then I side tracked….and then I side tracked again…and maybe once more. There are lots of important things to write about along the way! But I am going to back up to the school stories now. We last left off in Middle School and… Continue reading Moving Along
Perseverance is Her Greatest Strength
I’m back! I have been offline for a brief hiatus. I didn’t go anywhere, I didn’t do anything special, I simply wasn’t motivated to write. I thought about this blog most everyday and I have lots of thoughts and ideas, but I just couldn’t get myself to sit down and start. What I was motivated… Continue reading Perseverance is Her Greatest Strength
Middle School
Unfortunately where we live, Middle School starts in 6th grade. What happened to the good ‘ol days when Junior High School was that brief 2 year transition (7th and 8th grades) from elementary to high school??! To be honest the only thing I remember of Jessica’s 6th grade experience was the annual 504 meeting in… Continue reading Middle School
Being Jessica's Mom: Growing up on the Autistic Spectrum 