bountifulplate

Last week, as I was coming down our street towards the stop sign, I saw a boy, maybe about 10 or 11, riding down the sidewalk on his skateboard.  He had no helmet, no arm or knee pads and was on his cell phone.  He was going really fast and I had a feeling he didn't see me in our van.  Sure enough, when I was about 20 feet or so from the stop sign, he flew down a driveway and right in front of my car.  He never looked back, he just went right into the middle of the street, in front of me, to the left and then back in front of my car to the right.  When he went past my car a second time, he hit the curb and fell down.  The whole time, the boy never stopped talking on his cell phone.  After I made sure he was okay, I said, "do you know you rode your bike right in front of my car?"  He was like, "I'm sorry."  I thought he might cuss me out or tell me, "hey, you're not my mother!"  He knew what he did was wrong, I guess.  It made me thi...

For close to a year after my son's Autism diagnosis,  I would use the fact that he had Autism as an "excuse" for his behavior.  Whenever I would be out in public, if he acted up, I would say, "oh, it's because he has Autism."  I felt like I had to tell every person I met whether they wanted to hear it or not.  I came to the conclusion after that year, that the best thing I could do for my son (and everyone else) was to set limits and get him into some kind of routine.  I think all kids crave routine, but kids with Autism especially like their routines!!  They like things that are predictable such as riding the bus every day to school, eating the same kinds of foods, going to bed at the same time every night (a big one for my son!!)  and reading a favorite book, just to name a few.  My son used to have a really hard time transitioning from one activity to another.  Between the great teachers he has had at school and us working with him, he has...