define('DISABLE_WP_CRON', true); _sh1ft.org » autism

Archive for the “autism” Category

the silver fox

Posted on October 11th, 2011 by Tracey

In the mirror this morning, I spotted three grey hairs. Well, actually they are white and as my sister puts it ‘can be seen across the room’. I can’t deny that the last 6 months have been stressful, though the last 2 and a bit have been better since I’ve been on leave from ‘work’. We still have our whole lives to be stressed – I think I’ll be a silver fox before we know it.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

We had our first appointment with our neurologist and a follow up appointment with our paediatrician today. Waiting times aside (hello, 4 hourssss), they both reminded us to look into Rett Syndrome because it’s still not off the table. We won’t know the test results for months yet, so excuse me if there is more emo posts here on the blog.

The dr also threw in the term ‘severe’ to describe Jovie’s Autism and I didn’t flinch. I don’t know whether that’s good or bad, but I guess when you live it, any term you use to describe a situation doesn’t matter.

Jovie’s doing this new thing where screaming, out of happiness in the highest pitch known to man, is her release. It started before bed times, and then progressed to wherever we took her – my favourite was the toy store where she did her usual ‘clearing off all counters’ (bye bye slinkies) and then screamed while I paid for some halloween lanterns. I’m learning really quick to find all exits and to clear a good 3 feet buffer zone around Jovie.

——————————————————————————————————————————–

Trying to remind Jasper to use his manners, Uncle Allan asks him ‘What’s the magic word?’.

My sweet Jasper replies ….

‘Abracadabra!’

——————————————————————————————————————————–

I’ve been getting back into painting and screenprinting lately. It’s been a welcome distraction for both Jasper and I and the smell of the paint brings me back to my high school art rooms.

I never was good at painting, but some prints & things that I made the other day make me happy 🙂

The Honest Truth

Posted on October 5th, 2011 by Tracey

… did not demontrate meaningful social gaze
… looking at lights out of the corner of her eyes
… unusual hand mannerisms
… limited cooperation
… low tone and hypermobility
… constant movement and always on the ‘go’
… very much ‘in her own world’
… her development is very significantly delayed

In the mail yesterday, we received Jovie’s full report from the Child Development Unit at Westmead Kid’s Hospital. A heartbreakingly honest assessment of Jovie’s current development, reading it is surprisingly harder than actually living it. Perhaps it’s because it’s all there in black and white, it’s very final and clinical and matter of fact – but we live with Autism 24/7/365 and all of this is just ‘normal’ to me.

But I’m very happy with the report, because it’s accurate and we have a good base report to start with. The only way is up, right?


for all the berets in paris …

Posted in autism, jovie • Comments Off on The Honest Truth

happy friday and …

Posted on September 30th, 2011 by Tracey

We’ve had a lovely response from friends & new friends regarding the video posted earlier in the week. It’s always nice to share a part of your life & a part of creative side, and get a positive reaction 🙂

It’s Friday which means lots of weekend fun is coming up – friends to catch up with and a trip into the city planned. I hope your week has been great and your weekend will be awesome.

In the meantime, here are some links I want to share ..

my Tiny Tower so addictive
GASP retail complaint gone viral only too glad to retweet horrendous ‘customer service’ experiences.
Sydney Children’s Festival i love their little animal mascots!
Stella’s Galaxy A gorgeous girl and her family living with a rare degenerative mitochondrial disorder

xx

Posted in autism, jovie • Comments Off on happy friday and …