Dyslexia

As anyone who raises a child with autism knows, other problems usually go hand in hand. Learning disabilities are very common for kids living with autism. We are in the process of determining whether or not Tim has dyslexia. It would definitely explain why he has such a hard time memorizing facts, or why he still reverses his letters or words. To make things easier for me, but also to help others, I've compiled a list of links regarding dyslexia. It's not organized, I may get to that later, when I understand more about the learning disorder myself. I will add more resources as I find them.

Dyslexia Facts

Special Needs Homeschooling- Signs to Look for With Dyslexia

Dyslexia Leaves It's Mark (Grades 9-12)

Words Failed Me and Then Saved Me 

Dyslexia Symptoms

Test for Dyslexia

How is Dyslexia Diagnosed?

Signs to Look For With Dyslexia Learning Disabilities

Language Tools for Working With Dyslexic Children 

Dyslexia Homeschooling: Multisensory Can Help Your Child Learn

Dyslexia Games

Cooking with the Kids

I love to cook. I didn't always, though. In fact, I didn't even know how to 'really' cook until I got married and my husband taught me. My mom was an awesome cook, but she didn't have the patience to teach. She didn't want me in the kitchen at all when she was cooking. So, much like we all do when we grow up and have kids of our own and try to change what we felt we missed out on as a child, I made sure to make cooking a family event. Not every meal, but as often as possible or as they want.
Tim, my oldest, LOVES to cook. He definitely shares my passion. When we had DirecTV, he would join his dad and I in watching The Food Network. He can make several things by himself and what he can't do by himself, he gladly helps me make. In fact, for his sister's 2nd birthday, he made her (boxed) cake all by himself. Today is his dad's birthday and he'll be making his cake.
Josh has just recently shown an interest in cooking, although he's been helping out since he was about three. Josh is a very picky eater, so he'll help cook but he won't always eat what he cooks. Tim was like that, more so because his sensory issues were really bad and wouldn't let him eat a lot of foods, willingly. Through the course of learning about foods and how to prepare them, as well as raising most of the foods we use in our garden, Tim has become a pretty outgoing eater. So, there's still hope for Josh!
Kaylee is already helping in the kitchen. She loves to 'wash' dishes and helps prepare foods whenever I let her. Last night, as I was slicing zucchini and squash for a meal, she was putting the slices into a bowl for me. She also helps stir and pour ingredients.
Cooking is a great way to work with your kids and it builds their self-confidence. It is very rewarding to make a meal and sit down and eat it, knowing it came from your own work. When it's really good and the family enjoys it, it's a great boost to the 'I CAN do it' mentality we try to raise our kids with.

Pets Are Family, Too

My husband and I have been married for 18 years. During that time, we have never been without a pet. Never. In fact, we have almost always had a zoo. It is safe to say that we are animal lovers. I worked in pet stores for three years and developed my love for almost all animals during that period in my life. My husband grew up with dogs, cats, birds and guinea pigs, and went on to have farm animals as an adult. From there, it just grew for both of us.
Prior to having human kids, we had many animal children. We've owned dogs, cats, cockatiels, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, pot-bellied pigs, lizards, mice, rats and a snake. All before having kids, so we're looking at an 8-year period of time. When we moved to where we live currently, we couldn't bring what farm animals were still alive. By that time, we were down to just dogs, cats and an iguana. Between the time that we moved here six years ago we have acquired another snake, a bearded dragon, fish, another rabbit, hairless rats, parakeets, an Amazon Parrot and two conures.
Having animals takes on another significance for my family, besides loving their company. With both boys having autism, we use our pets as therapy. Having pets is a great way to teach concepts like unconditional love, affection, empathy and responsibility. Through having pets, they also learn about death, how to grieve and move on. They know more than most kids their ages that animals take a lot of time and money to take care of, but they are worth it.
Tim saved up his allowance for several months, at the age of 7, to buy his own parakeet and cage. He could have used that money to buy toys or spend it on junk food, we let them choose what they spend their money on. He wanted a bird, and wanted one bad enough to sacrifice childhood desires to get it. Sadly, it died a few months later for unknown reasons but not because he wasn't treated like a king. The breeder replaced it for free knowing that something must have been wrong with it. Tim fell more in love with that one than the first, until it somehow got out of the cage and flew off. Heartbroken is an understatement. He was devastated. We replaced that one with a conure, and while he loves that bird, it's just different for him. Through this, he's also learning that loving a pet a little less doesn't remove his responsibility to take care of it. I think he's just trying not to get close again for fear of it leaving.
I'm sure we will have many more pets during our lives. I consider my love for animals a gift from the Lord. It extends beyond pets into just about every kind of animal, with the exception of bugs and spiders. That's where I draw the line!

                                          My Sun Conure, Baby

                                               Tim's Conure, Apple

                                 Tim's Ball Python (nameless)

                                 Josh's rabbit, Long Ears

                    Our inside dogs, Buster and Sparky

Why I Homeschool

Many people wonder why I chose to homeschool. I'll tell you why. :) Some think it's because my boys have forms of autism, but I made the decision to homeschool long before I had kids.

My sister was the first person I knew that decided to homeschool. Her daughter was in Jr. High and was starting to get in with the wrong crowd. She pulled her out and began teaching her at home. I spent some time with her during the first summer that she started home teaching, and I was impressed. I knew right away that I wanted to teach my kids, and wished I had known about homeschooling when I was in school.

One of my main reasons for wanting to teach my kids is to have more time to teach them about God. The only 'religion' taught in schools, or should I say forced, is evolution. That's not what I wanted for my children. I knew from when I was in school that the teachers and fellow students have a much bigger influence on children than parents, and didn't want to gamble on the fact that the few hours a day I would see my kids would be enough to instill Christ in them. Yes, it does work for many, but I didn't want to take the chance and find out it didn't work for mine. My kids' souls are too important.

Another important reason (I have many reasons, but I'm trying not to write a book!) is their education. When you have children with special needs, you hear story after story detailing how neglectful public schools can be. There are some that really have the child's interests at heart, but they are few and far between. It isn't just kids with needs that suffer, either. It seems more and more that public schools are more about money rather than giving kids a well balanced education. Test scores are the focus, not retention or actual knowledge. I wanted my kids to be able to focus on the material and not the friends. That has only been confirmed since I started driving a school bus. I also wanted them to learn to REALLY socialize with people. Real life involves getting along with people of all ages and in various situations, not just kids their own age in a classroom environment.

The third most important reason I homeschool is to really enforce the idea of family. I want my kids to learn to appreciate EACH OTHER more than peers. I want them to learn to be responsible for each other, because they will have to take care of each other when Rick and I are gone. I want to enjoy them while they are children, before they go off into the world on their own. I love watching them learn new things, and knowing that I helped them. I love the quality time we have together. I love giving them the opportunity to explore their interests, letting them have a say in what and how they learn... just like real life.

My First Blog

Well, here it is. I finally decided to start blogging. I love Facebook, but it's hard to keep track of things I post. I am a mom to Tim, age 9. He just started 4th grade, and has high functioning autism. Josh is 6, just started 2nd grade and has Asperger's. Kaylee is my little two-year-old spitfire. I chose to homeschool my children before I even became a mom, but that's for another blog post. I drive a school bus as our main source of income, since my husband is unable to work.
We live somewhere in San Bernardino County with our "Zoo". We are all animal lovers, and each one we have is a family member to us. Proof that there's no such thing as a family too large. Our plans are to eventually move and start our own homestead. I wish we could do this tomorrow! We make as much as we can from scratch, including our laundry detergent. Ridding our house of toxins and using as much aw we can that is natural, has been our game plan since learning that our oldest had autism.
We do our best to put our Lord, Jesus Christ, center of our lives. Although we do fail him miserably on a daily basis, we keep striving to be more Christ-like and to raise our children to put Jesus first. We don't claim to be perfect, by no means. If you spent a day with us, you would see that for yourselves! We enjoy life, and spend every free minute with our children. They are only young once, and being older parents, we count each moment as precious... even when they are driving us crazy.
I will try to blog at least once a week, so please, stay tuned. If you have a question for me, send them my way and if it isn't too personal, I may write a blog about the topic. To my family and friends, in real life and online only, I don't know what I would do without you. Having your support makes life so much more enjoyable.