WELCOME TO JIM'S AUTISM BLOG





Hi everyone and thanks for visiting our blog. My wife and I created this blog to chronicle our experience while raising a son with Asperger's syndrome. Since our son was diagnosed with an ASD at age 5, we've had a lot of questions. Lucky for us we have a great support network in place. And our blog gives us an opportunity to share what we've learned with our readers. We hope you find our blog informative and interesting. Thanks again for visiting.


"It seems that for success in science and art, a dash of autism is essential." Dr Hans Asperger 1906-1980



Monday 19 March 2012

I NEED A BREAK FROM MARCH BREAK

Today was the first day back to school after the March break.  And it was also the first day that I could relax without having to worry about entertaining a 7 year old with Asperger's.  It was also Jacob's first day back after being away from school during the week before the break.  He's actually had 2 full weeks away from school, so it was difficult to predict how his day would go.  Luckily it turned out to be not so bad.  Jacob had a little bit of homework from this morning, but none from the afternoon, which is great with all things considered.

The only home work that Jacob had was, that he had to write in his journal, about something he did on the March break and then draw a picture.  Sounded simple enough right?  We thought that Jacob might write about his trip to the art gallery or maybe 1 of the 10 trips downtown.  But no, Jacob decided to write about a milkshake he had at Grandma's house.  What a laugh.  I remember having milkshakes when I lived at home and believe me, they were thick.  Jacob carefully described to us what was in the milkshake.

Jacob:  "First you put in ice cream, then milk, then a banana, then some chocolate syrup and last an egg."

Dad:  "Did you drink it?"

Jacob:  "Yep."

We were in shock.  I can't believe that Jacob drank something with a raw egg in it.  He never eats eggs and I mean never.  He'd sooner go on a hunger strike than eat scrambled eggs.  We thought that finally Jacob's food choices might expand.  And that he might start eating more than just peanut butter sandwiches.  So I asked him;

Dad:  "Jacob, are you going to start eating eggs?"

Jacob:  "Only when they're in chocolate milkshakes."

Sigh.  I don't think I can handle making a milkshake on a daily basis.  Nor do I think it would be good for Jacob to have a chocolate milkshake every day.  I used to have those things all the time, which probably somehow contributed to me being allergic to bananas as an adult.  Yeah it sucks.  The really funny thing is, that after Jacob drank the milkshake he had to lie down because his belly was so full.  It was probably his body going into shock from all the vitamins he'd just consumed.   He was telling us how good they were as he laid there half ill.  What can you do though?  Raising a child with Asperger's is difficult enough and sometimes you have to pick your battles.  So a milkshake for breakfast it is.  I'm just kidding, I couldn't do that to the school.

    
Bunch Of Bananas Isolated On W...Just the sight of bananas makes me ill.  Ugh.

4 comments:

  1. Haha! This is a great story, Jim! I'm not a milkshake person myself, but going to Grandma's is sounded better and better! LOL! I always wished I could've met my grandma, I bet she would've spoiled the crap out of me too! Jacob sounds like a blessed and lucky little boy! How's Chico doing?

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    1. I remember those milk shakes being real thick. You could turn your cup over and it wouldn't move. You could almost eat it with a spoon.
      Chico is great too. We have to get him fixed soon and one of his boys hasn't dropped, so I'm sure it will be expensive. But we know what it means to get a dog. You have to be ready to spend money at any time.

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  2. We went to Disney when K was in kindergarten and got 2 flat tires on the way down (long story, some farming truck dropped an actual tire on the hwy, we hit it, not good). Since the two truck driver couldn't take us all, the kids and I had to ride to the tire shop with a policeman. Now, when asked what she did on vacation, K said she got to ride in a police car. We went to Disney for a week and what she took away was that ride...HA! Hilarious.

    K has such anxiety over food, and lately she has been dropping stuff she DID eat (cantalopue and bananas). Ben is picky, too, but he'll try stuff once in a while, and at least doesn't get anxious. I might just make K a chocolate milkshake each day if it got something good into her (although, probably not the greatest thing for the waistline!) ;)

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    1. I enjoy the fact that somehow all families affected by an ASD, always seem to have something in common. It seems that lots of kids like ours have issues with eating. I do wish that Jacob would eat a cantaloupe, but he'd probably get sick just by looking at it.

      And hey. At least K can cross "riding in the back of a police car" off her bucket list. And I guess you can too right?

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