Noelle M.'s Comments

THREE PAGES OF MY LOVER GIRL'S DIARY. by rajendra singh s.

Feb 25, 2007 | comments: 27

Noelle M. Feb 26, 2007, 12:57pm EST

I really hope this wasn't taken from someone's diary without permission. If it is, and she does love you this much, publishing someone's private thoughts sure isn't a good way to repay it.

In any case, why was this published to the Amazing Race 2007 group? It has nothing to do with the Amazing Race.

How Tough It Was For Me Before I Was Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome by Yvonne Christian (Uncommon Bostonian)

Jan 28, 2007 | comments: 36

Noelle M. Feb 22, 2007, 11:30am EST

Thank you for sharing your story. Are things getting any better now that you have an official diagnosis? Does reading books about Asperger's Syndrome help at all? My daughter is 6 1/2 and has autism. I keep wondering how she will be as she grows up.

Building a Better Behavior Plan by Noelle M.

Feb 21, 2007 | comments: 3

Noelle M. Feb 21, 2007, 11:56pm EST

My daughter does have a 1-1 paraprofessional (aide) with her at all times. She does have behavioral issues and she is a flight risk. This is in addition to the IEP and is really part of the IEP document.

She spends most of her time in the SSN (significant support needs room) and only small parts of her day in the general ed room. We are trying to increase that time. Mainly her SSN teacher and para (and therapists) will be following the plan, but as she spends more time in general ed, that teacher will need to follow it also.

The plan is designed to address how to encourage good behavior (which needs to be ongoing and from all the adults that work with her) and specifies what they need to do in the face of inappropriate behavior (which is mainly going to be handled by the SSN staff).

Errorless teaching, as the team has been using it, means that she is instructed in a new subject in a variety of ways - really depending on what they're trying to teach her. As they start doing worksheets and whatnot with her, she tries it on her own, but if she's starting to get frustrated and is escalating, they will help her find the answer. The idea at this point is to help her succeed in school and help her learn that learning can be fun. The plan is so detailed now because we hope to teach her enough good behavior that fewer and fewer supports are needed and so she can ultimately spend more time in the general ed class with her peers.

Whomever is working with her writes notes in her back & forth book. It's preprinted with all the subjects of the day and has various checkboxes. If there is a behavior, the behavior is noted. We have abbreviations for the behaviors (R/H/K/Y would be run, hit, kick, yell). They note duration of the behaviors over the course of an episode and note any time spent in time out.

She follows the main classroom curriculum as much as possible, but we modify the homework as needed. There are some areas where she is far in advance of her class, areas where she's about at the same speed, and other areas where she is behind.

My Weight Loss Diary by Laura Cushing

Feb 17, 2007 | comments: 56

Noelle M. Feb 21, 2007, 6:57pm EST

Good luck Laura. I hope you can find it within yourself to succeed. I have tried Weight Watchers twice in the past. I did reasonably well the first time but had to quit when I got pregnant. I did not do well the second time. I have found life to be somewhat stressful since I had my daughter - she has autism - and I wasn't able to stick with the plan with everything else going on. Right now I'm trying to go from sedentary to getting about 10-15 minutes of exercise a day and trying to make gradual changes to my eating habits. I think Weight Watchers has a good program - it just wasn't working for where I was at the time.

Most Memorable Seconds Of TAR-Episiode 1 by Fawn M.

Feb 19, 2007 | comments: 11

Noelle M. Feb 21, 2007, 5:09pm EST

When the first couple got voted out, my first thought was that at least they left the race while they were still pulling together as a team and before the usual ugly inter-personal bickering starts.

The Lofty Heights by Noelle M.

Feb 12, 2007 | comments: 4

Noelle M. Feb 21, 2007, 3:31pm EST

I have suffered from depression through most of my life. I was in a particularly downward phase as I wrote that - and Stygian seemed to suit it well. But even in depression, I've still been able to look into myself and gain some kernels of wisdom (however small they might sometimes be).

Game: Word Association by Austin Cushing

Feb 9, 2007 | comments: 42

Noelle M. Feb 12, 2007, 10:23am EST

news

The Eight I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts by Steve Bachman

Jan 4, 2007 | comments: 24

Noelle M. Jan 8, 2007, 12:14pm EST

I wish more folks followed the 'Eight I'd Rather You Didn'ts'. Good work. :)

Pet Rules , not necessarily followed! by Fran S.

Jan 6, 2007 | comments: 8

Noelle M. Jan 8, 2007, 12:02pm EST

Very funny! Thanks for sharing.

Connection Requests by Noelle M.

Jan 2, 2007 | comments: 23

Noelle M. Jan 2, 2007, 4:50pm EST

Maybe it's possible to combine what I would like to see without placing an undo burden on other people. Maybe when you make a connection request there could be a little box that gives you the option of entering a comment. This way you can quickly do the connection request but you don't have to write a separate email.

Devil Woman - I don't really understand your comment. Do you think I'm reading too much into a connection request? There are different level of requests. If someone just requests a colleague level - that's one thing. A friend level request implies a little more to me. As far as "It's just Gather" some people take online connections more seriously than others. In other forums I've seen the "It's just..." comment used to belittle someone else's interest in something. In the electronic medium, you really can't read someone's tone of voice or body language to necessarily take their message in the context in which they meant it.

It is 'just Gather' I suppose, but you cared enough to comment on the subject, so it must mean something to you.

Connection Requests by Noelle M.

Jan 2, 2007 | comments: 23

Noelle M. Jan 2, 2007, 4:14pm EST

I guess I hadn't thought about this as being high maintenance (but if this sounds high maintenance, you're right - we probably wouldn't be a good connection). I thought of it more along the lines of saying 'hi' to someone first. If I'm reading the screens correctly, you can subscribe to someone's content without actually making a connection to them.

What Do You Know About Your Grandmother? by Sensational Sadie Sexy Senior Sitizen

Jan 1, 2007 | comments: 30

Noelle M. Jan 1, 2007, 6:48pm EST

I enjoy reading this kind of memoir. It's feels more 'real' somehow than just reading stuff in a text book. My mother has been working on collecting family history and I am interested in seeing what she puts together. I have not been as interested in it personally. I have so much brain energy that goes to my daughter's needs (she has autism), and I was adopted as an infant so i really have mixed feelings about family history at least for me.

My daughter's birthday 2006 by Noelle M.

Dec 24, 2006 | comments: 3

Noelle M. Dec 25, 2006, 9:46pm EST

I tried inviting kids from her class 2 years ago. We had I think 3 show up. This last year she was still involved in her special needs cheerleading so I invited her team along with family members. About half of the girls on her team showed up. I got along well with the moms and as other special needs parents, they understood. I guess unless I get feedback from Alissa's para that she's genuinely made some friends from school, I probably will just invite family and kids she likes from the special needs support group we go to. The group is great. The parents get to chat and the kids have 3 adults supervising them while they play in another room.

Letter to my Daughter's General Ed Kindergarten Teacher by Noelle M.

Sep 22, 2006 | comments: 20

Noelle M. Dec 23, 2006, 12:04am EST

Laura,

I'm curious as to how your son is doing now that he's further into the school year.

A Photo by Bryan F.

Dec 15, 2006 | comments: 4

Noelle M. Dec 22, 2006, 11:54pm EST

That's my darling baby girl. She looked so cute helping me decorate for Halloween.

A Photo by Noelle M.

Sep 1, 2006 | comments: 3

Noelle M. Dec 22, 2006, 11:22pm EST

Thank you! A friend and I designed the pattern and I sewed the dress myself.

Letter to my Daughter's General Ed Kindergarten Teacher by Noelle M.

Sep 22, 2006 | comments: 20

Noelle M. Dec 3, 2006, 11:46pm EST

Yes. I have all three of her books "The Out-of-Sync Child", "The Out-of-Sync-Child Has Fun", and "101 Activities for Kids in Tight Spaces".

Letter to my Daughter's General Ed Kindergarten Teacher by Noelle M.

Sep 22, 2006 | comments: 20

Noelle M. Dec 3, 2006, 11:04pm EST

I have quite a few books on autism. Some are very good. Some I found to be a bit to technical as a parent new to the diagnosis. There's a new one out that's recommended for parents new to the diagnosis and for sharing with families and educators. It's called "Understanding Autism for Dummies". I was skeptical, but the authors are well educated - one of the authors also has autism. The intro is by Temple Grandin who is immensly respected as a speaker, author and inventor who also has autism. It's a nice overview. If there are things in the book that you want to learn about in more depth, you can follow their additional information links or do your own search on google.

Letter to my Daughter's General Ed Kindergarten Teacher by Noelle M.

Sep 22, 2006 | comments: 20

Noelle M. Dec 3, 2006, 1:26pm EST

Hi Laura, thank you. Colorado has a very few schools for autistic kids. Unless you can pay tuition yourself (something like 65k per year), you have to totally fail at the regular school before you can fight to get your child sent to an autism school. Alissa is in a standard elementary that has what's called a Significant Support Needs (SSN) program. She has a para with her at all times. She gets daily pull-outs for therapy (motor and speech throughout the week). She gets sensory breaks in the OT room. While they're moving to have her in general ed (with her para) as much as possible, she is probably 50/50 between the general ed room and the SSN (self-contained) class.

PDD-NOS is a diagnosis from the DSM IV as I understand. That was Alissa's initial diagnosis when she was younger and first diagnosed. As she got older and I read more, I had her evaluated again. This time she did get the full autism diagnosis. I think aba can be very good when done correctly. We have a private therapist that uses a combination of aba and floortime and Alissa does well with her. I like the idea of intense intervention through the school, especially as early as your son is getting it, but you need to make sure they're working on the social component too. Alissa likes to be around other kids and will imitate (when she's really interested) what they're doing. If she only saw unusual behaviors, I think that's what she would imitate. It's good for her to be around her 'typical' peers and have a chance to imitate them, and it's good for them to be around her and learn to treat someone 'not-typical' as a peer.

Her Kindergarten year was pretty bad. The general ed teacher was not on-board with what Alissa needed and some of her team was fairly inexperienced. This year we have a really good team that listens and trys to integrate what I tell them about her needs. She's well accepted in her class and some of her regular ed peers will choose to join her at lunch. Done right and with a good team, you can have success in a mainstream school.

I stay on top of things, I document everything. I carry a notebook (3 1/2" binder) to every meeting. I put Alissa's pictures on the cover and have organized all of her evaluations, a timeline I keep of when she's hit different milestones, all communications with the school (I write down meetings and phone calls and print emails), her behavior plan, report card results, and notes on her home therapy. They know I'm well-read and organized and I think it helps when it comes to discussing things. They take my input seriously.

My advice is to educate yourself as much as possible. Read about PDD-NOS. Decide for yourself where your son sits on the spectrum. There are comparision charts that will show PDD-NOS traits vs. Autism. Have a look at it and see where your son fits. Know your sons educational rights. I recommend www.wrightslaw.org. They are an awesome resource. You might look into getting an educational advocate to attend school meetings with you. The advocates are no-charge here in Colorado. They will know what a school does and doesn't have to provide for your child.

I would say one thing that helped me the most though, is mind-set. My mind-set. Not everything she does is because of autism or sensory issues. Other kids do weird stuff too. Sometimes she's just being a kid. I try to 'let her be a kid' as much as possible, and then make the adjustments I need to for the autism.

I'm sorry this was so long-winded. I hope it helps.

Game Master's Corner: If All Else Fails, Bribe the GM by Bryan F.

Oct 3, 2006 | comments: 6

Noelle M. Oct 3, 2006, 7:45pm EDT

Oh how we loved those coupons. And the DM bribe option came in very handy too. ;-)