Autistic Artistry

So Katlynn has a minor obsession with pencils, pens, markers and most anything you can write or draw with.


With that said, the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser has become a best friend in my house because Katlynn prefers my walls as an art canvas to using paper or a coloring book. Now, I do want to encourage all the artistry I can, but I also can’t leave a writing utensil within arm’s reach of her if she is not in my sight or this is what happens. It is most of the time that this happens, I am on face book and it takes her no time to run from wall to wall creating her masterpieces.

Moving forward...

So we are changing up the programs for Kaltynn’s ABA right now. She is pretty non-compliant in some areas since she doesn’t want to do the non-preferred tasks, but she is getting there.

I still haven’t signed her IEP yet. However, I have decided I feel Clouds (where Audrie will go) is the best placement for her for now. We shall see what they say. We are going to have to call another IEP.

So my real reason for today’s blog is to give Katlynn bragging rights yet again. She was able to point to and say several shapes such as circle, square, heart, diamond, rectangle, oval and moon (or as we know it crescent). She is doing so well with not only pronouncing words, but using her words more often. We are so very proud of her progress.

F***ing IEP's

I am allowed to cuss all I want since this my blog.  I am really pissed, emotional and stressed about this whole ordeal. 

I have no clue what is the right decision.  My husband is clueless (sorry dear) and our family is really not much help.  Why does this have to be so hard?

I seriously do not know what to do for Katlynn's preschool. The vision I had in my head has gone to shit. Everytime I think about the school the IEP team recommended I am in tears. That has to be a sign, right? I have toured the place and asked a million questions, but I am still not sure it is the right place for her. I am not trying to make her be a typical child. That is not my goal. I do want her to be in the best and least restrictive environment for her growth and development.

I just wish it was easier and I wish I knew what was the right decision.

IEP was a BUST... :-(

Well we had Katlynn’s IEP for preschool on Tues. It was very emotional for me and ,in all honesty, it was a very sucky meeting. I think due to the fact I heard what I really didn’t want to hear. The team recommended a more intensive program for Katlynn other than the one I had been counting on for the past 5 months. The same school I was hoping she and Audrie would attend together that takes some mild/moderate special needs kids. Turns out they do not think she will adapt to it just yet and in time she will probably be able to transition to the same school, but for her now is going to have to go to a different one. I thought about fighting it… I still think about fighting it, but I know it is only temporary and I am not trying to cure Katlynn or force her into a setting she is not ready for. After reviewing all the reports I do agree she might not be ready for the inclusion school just yet. I am going to stay on top of the school and follow all her benchmarks and goals and as soon as she has met 85% of them, I am going to call another IEP and request she be given a chance at Clouds (the inclusion school Audrie is going to attend). In the end, my goal is to have her in regular Kindergarten if that is possible.


It is all so overwhelming dealing with IEP’s and special needs kids and I sometimes feel very few of my close friends and family can really relate. With this said, it could be a lot worse. I am thankful I have a loving, bright and affectionate daughter whom I have no doubt has a good bright future ahead of her. It will take a lot of work and encouragement, as well and a lot of intensive therapy, but I truly believe she will get there.

I want to thank everyone who attended the IEP in support of Katlynn and I appreciate everything you have done to help her.

It’s been a while I know, but I am a busy mom and wife and sometimes it’s hard for me to get caught up.


So we went on a mini vacation to Disneyland the 3rd week of March and it was a swell trip. All 3 kids had a blast as always. Disneyland is a wonderful place for kids on the spectrum; at least in my opinion. It is so big, and there is such a variety of things to do, it can please even the most sensory sensitive, tantrum throwing kids. I am so glad we renewed our passes again this year.



On that note… that trip really threw Katlynn off. She went from being my sweet, mellow go with the flow girl to a tantrum throwing, hitting, and non- complaint screaming turd. It was a stressful week. We sure as hell didn’t and don’t miss those aspects of Autism. This week though, she is like the old Katlynn; back to her old pleasurable compliant self. Boy let me tell you what a relief it is. I was really getting worried she was going to do this huge regression and that I had fed her something or had done something to cause it all. Of course I then have to remind myself that autistic kiddos are pretty unpredictable at times and sometimes any little thing can set them off. So we’re all back to one big happy family now.

Katlynn’s IEP is this coming Tues. Not looking forward to it and I think I have already ticked off some of the staff by asking for things and putting my foot down; not letting them walk all over me. I am hoping we get a lot of great goals placed for Katlynn and that this inclusion program I am fighting for is really going to benefit her. Yet another tricky part to autism is, what you might think will work for some kids, doesn’t. I am crossing my fingers that we all come to an agreement easily and get this IEP set.

Here are some random recent pictures of lil' red!

It's pretty obvious we don't do GFCF........yet!

Stiring up batter to bake a cake.  Cooking with the kids is always a HIT.

Halle is an awesome big sister.

Bio-medical intervention

I just wanted to add a quick update on Katlynn’s progression. She is doing quite well with ABA programs and is in fact going through them so fast they have to implement new ones every couple weeks if not sooner. Her words are coming so fast. She still needs a lot of tweaking on her language and pronunciation, but she is doing really well and getting much better at asking for what she wants. She is really into counting these days and saying her ABC’s. They are not always in order and she’s rarely completing them, but getting there and it is huge progress. She loves books and asks specifically for a certain police book every night. In fact, I have now checked out this book for 8 weeks in a row and thankfully, no one is requesting it. If someone does, I think I will have to go out and buy it for her.


I still have been torn with going down the bio-medical path with Katlynn. It is something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for 6 months now. If you are familiar with biomedical intervention and Autism, you will know what I am talking about. If you are not, then I will give you a quick course on it.
Some specialists believe children with Autism have bodies that are overwhelmed by a combination of heavy metals (mercury, lead aluminum), live viruses (particular from their vaccines), and bacteria. These toxins serve to slow or shut down normal biochemical pathways in the body and lead to the physical and mental manifestations. The ultimate goal of biomedical treatment is to remove environmental toxins from your child's body and repair the damage that has been done. There are many different routes you can take to do this. It can vary from supplements and medications to injections. It can even get a simple as changing to a GFCF (gluten-casin free) diet. Many parents with children on the spectrum swear by it, so I am contantly researching and reading up on it.

I went to a doctor (closest thing to a DAN I could get) back in Feb as asked several questions about biomedical, as I am not a pill pusher and very anti-medication if at all possible. She told me based on the blood and lab work, Katlynn didn’t seem to have any allergies to gluten or dairy/casin and everything else seemed to be very normal. I didn’t have her tested for metals because it is very expensive and from what the  Dr. told me, her odds of having a high metal count and anything lowering it to make a drastic difference was slim to none and she suggested I not fork out hundreds of dollars trying to do it since there is little known proof about metal levels in the body and autism. Dave and I decided to not do the labs for now. We figure since she is making so much progress with ABA alone, we didn’t need the added stress of medical bills on 1 income. She did recommend the most natural route which was GFCF. We had already tried it once a few months ago and it was a terrible experience. We all hated it. Katlynn was miserable for 3 weeks. Nothing changed. So we stopped it. I am not opposed to trying it again someday though. Just have to get everyone else on board to commit and follow through. If not EVERYONE in my house and those who watch Katlynn once in a while are going to stick with it…. It is pointless.

I have gotten into a few debates over bio-medical the past few months with other parents. People who have pushed it on me and when I decline have said I was selfish for not doing everything I could for my daughter. But in reality, I have more than just 1 daughter. I have 3. I also have a husband who is the sole provider. I had to think about the long term and how forking out thousands of dollars trying to cure (or recover) Katlynn was going to affect my family. Do I wish I could do more for her, of course I do. I think I have done quite well getting what I want out of my insurance company, the county and the school district. I still have a long way to go and I will continue to fight for her rights and be the sqeaky wheel. I will learn everything I can from every therapist she sees so that I can continue to help her when she isn’t doing services. I just had to draw the line somewhere. I had to make a conscious decision about what I thought was best for Katlynn.

So it is not that I am opposed to the Bio-medical intervention. It is just that I am not taking that route as of right now and she is still making tremendous progress without it. I figure I will go with the motto, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for now.

I am still extremely greatful to the TACA organization for all the vital information they have provided to me on Autism and helping children with this condition.

So keep checking back…

Autistic or Autism?

Which is proper you ask? Well, that depends on WHO you ask. To some parents is extremely offensive if you call their child autistic. It is “labeling” them. To me… it is merely one in the same. I have bigger fish to fry then to spend time complaining how you want to label my daughter's condition. Whether you call her autistic or say she has autism, it's still the same dang thing. She still has it and it is not going to change the diagnosis if you call it one or the other. So don’t feel as though you have to walk on eggshells with me when talking about autism or autistic children or when referring to Katlynn. Honestly, I don’t give a damn which one you want to use to describe her. I am just happy to hear when people are interested in talking about her condition.