My friend Linda did this. I'm lucky to have a friend who can make even the most mundane things in life BEAUTIFUL!

I just read a book that's been around for awhile (2008 copyright), A Friend For Henry  by Nuala Gardner, about her autistic son and the impact that their dog Henry had on Dale's life. When he was 10, he began speaking through Henry--his pet was his constant companion.
If you haven't read it, you might enjoy it. I hope the sun shines on you today!
Hugs,
Ellie

p.s. I kind of just adapted to my recipe problem. I'm leaving the ones I've put up here & I might just add another one now and then.

Bacon Crescents

Bacon Appetizer Crescents

1 pkg (8 oz) low fat cream cheese, softened
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked & crumbled
1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c onion, minced
2 tsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp milk
2 cans (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix cream cheese, bacon, Parmesan cheese, onions, parsley and milk until well blended; set aside.

Separate each can of dough into four rectangles; firmly press perforations together to seal. Spread each rectangle with 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture. Cut the dough lengthwise into 4-5 equal pieces. Roll up and place on baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Source: Adapted from Kraft Foods

Garlic Monkey Bread

          2 (7.5 oz.) cans BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

   

    5 Tablespoons BUTTER, melted

          3 cloves GARLIC, minced

          2 Tablespoons DRIED PARSLEY

         1/4 cup GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE

         Preheat oven to 400°. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

·         Cut each biscuit into quarters and place into a bowl.

·         Combine butter, garlic, parsley and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. Pour over biscuit pieces.

·         Gently toss together and make sure everything is evenly coated with the butter mixture.

·         Place 6-7 biscuit pieces in each muffin cup. Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese.

·         Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.  It makes a dozen.

oops....this is supposed to be on the recipe page, but I'm not adept at this.
Hugs,
Ellie

My friend asked me for advice working

with a new employee who has autism.

 She wants to do the right thing. Here's some advice

I gave her that might be helpful for anyone else 

who is lucky enough to work for employers who

see the value in employing our autistic young people.

 

Autistic A+ traits on the job:	Ways to help your autistic employee:
·      Obey rules ·      Keep promises ·      Never take credit for another person’s efforts	·   Use email or a note for important information ·   Don’t use idioms ·   Listen to them
·      Are attentive to details ·      Set high standards ·      Have a sense of fairness	·      Don’t give vague directions ·      clear deadlines help ·      change is hard, so ease into it

Later this week, I'll share some challenges for autistic
personalities that it might be nice to be aware of if you're working with
them daily. It doesn't mean you have to make adjustments for
them. It just might be good for you to know the efforts they're making to
accomodate us, when they're part of our team in the workforce.

Hugs,

Ellie

                                                                                             

                                                                                                                 

Today, I ran across this lovely Emily Dickenson poem.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.

Hugs,
 Ellie

the sun is shining-- crawl out of that log

It's a sunny wintery day here on the prairie today, so I'm coming out to say hello and continue my discussion about dealing with my son's autism after he was diagnosed.

What made dealing with autism difficult for me, was the uncertainty. There were no guidelines that could be counted on. With other children, there are those step-by-step parenting books. At 6 months, they'll be crawling. At 1 year they'll be walking, etc. With autism, I wondered if I would be dealing with meltdowns when he was 15 years old. What can I expect? It was disconcerting.

Lately, I've been amazed at the number of books that are available on ASD (autism spectrum disorders) and PDD (pervasive development disorders). At first, I thought "This is GREAT! There's so much help out there now." There was literally nothing available that was useful when I was helping James. The theories of Leo Kanner and Bruno Bettleheim that pointed the finger at "refrigerator mothers"  (blaming us for autism) were so demoralizing! They made a hard situation even more difficult. Bernard Rimland later tried to clear our names but by the time I found his theories, I'd quit reading in disgust.

This year, I started reading......and reading......and reading......and reading...... I thought "This is exhausting!" I have a Masters of Education in Counseling & Human Resource Development and my mind was reeling with jargon and conflicting facts and data, even though everyone seemed to be an expert and touted research based theories. How can you wade through this (especially without a background in education) and still have time to do what needs to be done? I think it may be worse than having nothing!
So I'll try to be a comforting, reassuring presence available here to you if you need me. Don't let them wear you down, your child doesn't need fixing. He needs your time and attention and the world's acceptance and understanding. It'll be ok.
Hugs,
Ellie