Care4autism

Just 3 days to go to herald the new year. We have yet, again embarked on a new therapy for Ramam ,the NAET-Namboodiripad allergy elimination technique with the same fervor, hope , enthusiasm that marks the beginning of any activity. More on it,as it progresses. Ramam just recovered from yet another out of cold and fever,and that put a stop to all our Christmas holidays program. I was tempted to look up some of the therapies that parents'at Rama's school have joined, but a reconsideration of his existing schedule made me think twice. Given that there are are only so many hours in a day that you get to work with the child, one doesn't want to get it fragmented by doing too many things. Set small selected goals, work on it. And then move on to the next set of goals. This realization has dawned quite late on me. I shall probably work on that. Many a times, mothers tell-me when the child is capable of academics, shouldn't he be encouraged on those lin

As part of the world disability day, on 3rd December, the Bangalore chapter of the autism society of India (ASI) had organized, a visit to Sarla Birla Academy- SBA , which is a residential school for boys . A group of 27 children set off chaperoned by dads, moms, teachers and of course Ruby, the new secretary of ASI. Five special schools participated in this program. The objectives being, one to spread awareness of this Autism spectrum disorder amongst the youth, secondly give the children an opportunity to interact with their peers. We set out in two buses, and reached the school around 11.30. We were warmly welcomed by both the students and staff alike. The students who welcomed us were from the higher classes the eleventh and the twelfth grades. On arrival we were served refreshments outdoors. I shall be doing injustice if I were not to talk a little about the campus. Fabulous courts, sprawling acres of greenery, a stone garden… the works. The students were extremely courteous,

I have not been blogging for quite some time now. At Ramam’s end things are moving at a snail’s pace. He is showing a lot of interest in playing with ball, basket ball, football….. Enjoys throwing and kicking them around. He has been off the diet since Diwali. There have been no obvious changes but not very sure if his verbalization has come down.                                             Ramam participated in Kalangana 2011, a very dismal performance. This was our first exposure to the event although I have heard Sumathi speak about it.   Among the hundred thousand children on the spectrum, probably a very small percentage gets an opportunity to go and participate in a competition. It is not about winning, but more about participation. In that sense Kalangana is a blessing. That brings me to Sukesh performance on Asianet (a regional channel) in Star Singer. In a request by the viewers to know more about Autism, Sukesh’s mother grew emotional and said that she would not be able to su

Some of the parents in Bubbles school have been practicing for the program that they are going to stage for the kids for the childrens' day, the first words that come to my mind is that it is a labour of love. What is it that about our kids that we don't seem to be doing enough for them. The mothers start their days quite early, some of them had a bad night's sleep,but come practice time there they are all ready for it. The day doesn't end at that. They go back home, feed the kids, most of them have therapy slots in the afternoon and evening. In between the cooking, cleaning washing, feeding......... , they find time to make the props for the play, buy accessories for the costume, have time to surf for the dance song, practice the beat. One can do this kind of rigamarole only if you are absolutely dedicated and selfless. There is only one purpose to life and that is the kids. These mothers are juggling so many acts in a day. Some of them travel by public

A very quiet Diwali at home with both kids being down with flu.After we purchased the I- pad, I and the kids have been spending quiet some time with it.Probably been even bonding over it. With nothing much to do tonight,I just watched Stevejob's Stanford speech.Truly inspirational. There have been so many posts on various blogs by so many parents thanking Steve jobs for the joy and and happiness that the I- pad has bought into their lives. Having experienced it first hand there is no denying the fact, even as I merrily type away this post. There are so many apps like the story builder,Lego creationary,talking Carl.....just to name a few. Plenty of apps for communication purposes also.One is spoilt for choices.But to narrow down to one , and then to put it to proper use is the challenge. I don' t want Ramam to use Proloquo2 go (AAC aap) just to demand things. I have set and reset his home page and alinged the folders so many times but yet to finalize t

Last year this time around we were busy seeking admissions for my daughter to a different school.In another two months we would be heralding the new year. I know it is a little too early to say "The year that was". If I were to do a quick recap of the year it has been, we changed the schools for both kids, had some good holidays,introduced the I- pod and the I- pad to them , prologue2go the AAC device,keyboard classes for Ramam.The entire effort has been to provide a better ,brighter future for the kids. And every year it is the same story. We try some new therapies, discontinue some, all the time trying to offer the best possible resources (permutations and combinations)for the children. Every new year eve I have the same prayers,let this be a wonderful year for them, let them pick skills that shall help them along the way. And this is so very true for Ramam. These are not only about skills that may provide him livelihood but also things that he can pursue as hobbies. As t

                                        Our children are concrete thinkers. Maybe, all of us understand that to some extent. We have been cautioned at some point of time, that a particular concept is abstract for them. But how much and what to what extent should we get into specifics is something that I am slowly realizing. It started with Dr. Yamini in one of the story narration sessions for Ramam. I had a book with no text and just illustration and to my mind; it was the perfect book for Ramam to narrate. One look at it and Dr.Yamini (NIMHANS) said it made no visual sense. The story line is something like this. A boy has to get his kite stuck on a tree -top down. In the illustration, the tree top and a boy sitting on a buffalo were at the same height. To Ramam’s mind he has to just stretch his hands to get the kite down. How is he to visualize the tree top is is at a much higher height and the boy is at a much lower level. This illustration was very misguiding. Does he understand wha

When Kindness Kills                                           I and Ramam decided to celebrate Onam ( A festival of Kerala) at the army club, RSI, Bangalore. It was an impromptu decision. I and Ramam seated ourselves comfortably in one of the restaurants. I placed an order for Chicken lollipops and Sprite for him. Dr. Yamini (NIMHANS) had suggested me to write things out rather than repeat them verbatim every time .These are called visual chits. I proceeded to make these.   As I rummaged my bag for a pen and didn’t find any, I decided to borrow it from a gentleman across our table. Being the gentleman that he was, in the true army style, he objected to me getting up from my chair, walked to our table and handed over the pen to me. He noticed what I was writing. I thanked him and returned his pen. The visual chits said “No clapping hands, No shouting, Eat quietly.”                                      We continued our starters, and I noticed the gentleman had just ordered beer and Rama

 I have wanted to share two of the recipes for icing on a GFCF cake. It has been on my mind for quite some time but somehow I have not posted it on the blog. The first is my own creation; yes I was quite excited with the idea. I used finely cut pieces of Bourniville Dark chocolate, (their label mentions use of cocoa butter and no milk products) with cashew nuts,  dalda (hydrogenated oil),  and put them in a blender. I did this as a frosting for my daughter’s b’day cake in July (yes! been quite some time) and she was hugely appreciative of the effort. Decorated it with Marbels (again dairy free). The cake was of course made from Orgran chocolate cake mix.                                                    The second one is the GFCF vanilla cake frosting. Also Morappam is another easy to make 40’clock GFCF snack. Use leftover idli/dosa batter. Add finely chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, and grated carrot, to the batter. Take a spoon of oil. To the heated oil add m

Following my heart . Here I am talking about the  to- do list that has been in the making for a long time. It is a  list  that would put me first ,ahead of everything, a list that would probably give me something to look forward to everyday , a to- do list that has got to do with  self development, a list that enhances my growth as a person. It is already sounding ambitious…                        Not the everyday mundane things such as feeding the kids (yes! It does take effort and time). ·         Hunt for a job – This one I guess will always be on my  to- do list. Here I am trying to squeeze in a job into the those wedges of time when my children are at school, or am not escorting one of my kids somewhere, to some therapy or some class . I want flexi timing, a job that will take a max of 2-3 hrs a day. Besides, I would like to have as many days off as the kids have, cause then I would be doing the full- time mom bit.  Sadly there aren’t too many jobs that way. Also my resume is ve

The long summer holidays are over   and he is back to school. (my hols have begun!) . Ramam begins this academic year in BUBBLES run by Sharbani at Hennur. Yes, I do miss him in that he has been my constant companion last 3 months. With both kids back to school there seems to be so much time on my hands to spare. It is back to surfing, blogging….                       Talking of school, what then comes to your mind is that a good school has to provide for opportunities for the child to SOCIALISE primarily, in a group which as an individual one cannot provide. That includes, communicating in a group, learning in a group, learning to share, taking turns, waiting…… all this apart from the basic education they receive. Socializing is probably best done for an autistic child in a school, probably because it would be done in controlled situations or there are teachers to encourage and monitor social skills which can then be translated to more general situations.              There is always

Recently ,  I , my daughter and Ramam had gone for a walk and my daughter told me in all seriousness, "Amma , Ramam must never get lost". I agreed with her but the reason she gave me, startled me.She said "Amma , he cannot even beg." Hearing it from my 6yr old daughter, I wondered  what an uncanny thing for her to say. I narrated this talk we had  to my husband , in her presence .He added, that she will have to probably have to look after him after our time, she immediately replied, that he will have to fit into her marriage or probably married life is what she meant.                         So many things that my daughter understands , speaks , recalls  amazes me, then all leaves me with a feeling of sadness , how much my son has lost out in life already. Looking at some old photos , she can recall the dress she had , where the table had been placed in the room . Having a child who is so outspoken, can also have it's heartaches. There was this ad for Johnson b

Florence  Church send me a link to her blog  that boasts of 10 colleges offering special programs for people on the ASD spectrum. This is wonderful news. These colleges offer programs which include support groups, special classes and assistance. Only the costs seem  a little prohibitive even by American standards. But then that is the cost of your degree. This is the link to her blog.  10 Impressive Special Colleges                                                  Here is another website that I came across Jobs For Autism  .There is so much happening that it feels good. Recently at the Global Autism Convention, Mr, Thorkil Sonne, Founder, Specialsterne and specialist people foundation, Denmark, spoke of his efforts where he has employed people in the spectrum in the IT industry. He is also a parent. He has 7 yrs of market experience.To know more you can visit their website specialist people                                  Back home, Meera Raghu is setting up a vocational centre in Be

The global autism convention is being held in Bangalore on the 19th, 20th and 21st of this month at NIMHANS convention centre. Various institutions from Bangalore are collaborating to make this event happen.  ASHA (academy for severe Handicaps and autism) , Autism society of India, IRC, KPAMRC, Spastics Society of Karnataka, St. John’s Hospital, Parivar National federation of Parents’ organization. The Key note address is being given by Ms. Merry Barua. Speakers both from India and abroad will be addressing the gathering. Besides workshops are also being organized on various topics on information and computer technology, play therapy to mention a few.                    For more information, one can visit their website. http://www.autismconventionblr2011.com/. The registrations are on. More importantly they have organized for respite care for the three days at the venue @Rs.200 a day. For parents who have already registered, and for those who would like to attend and wondering where t

This was a sequel to my camping out with Rama. But this time we packed in more punch with the whole family joining in. Father, mother, son and daughter. Organized by Akhila and Ram from Coimbatore in tie up with NALS an Adventure company, we had a lovely, memorable holiday. We were a group of six families. The comfort level was so high, the company great, the food excellent, the weather to die for, the experience sheer joy.                              We were put up in dorms with three tier beds and the kids freaked out. Isha had company with siblings who had also brothers with similar problem. And I even found her exchanging notes with them!!!!!!!! My brother kisses me, he can read ….                            We did the usual activities, rope, trekking, bit of water play….Isha was the first to volunteer for the rope activity and Ramam followed suit. The treks were beautiful and the last one lasted about 2 hrs. Gave you an idea as to how much you can push yourself. The team of   NA

The last weekend I and Ramam set out on a camping trip. I would not have thought of such a possibility as this few months back. But it was made possible by Sarbani   mallick and her team at Bubbles. As everything was taken care of, logistics, food, accommodation all that was needed to be done was to pack my bags and leave.                                                       But, yes there were way too many apprehensions in my mind in the beginning. Will I be able to manage him alone? What about his food? I think food is always such a major issue with parents. Loaded my bag with every conceivable gfcf snack. It was some solace there were couple of other parents with children on the diet.                                                         The camp was being organized by the adreno group. Ramam enjoyed it from the word go. The excitement of the trip caught on to him watching me pack and he was up at 3 in the morning! He decided to sit on a 3 seater in the bus, decided on a window

It has been quite some time since I have blogged. Somebody recently asked me how often do you blog? I said probably 2-3 posts a month. But then I realized I have posted just one this month, I better buck up. My GFCF recipes have also dried up!! Am going thru a lean phase with nothing much I can think of adding. But just this. I recently attended a workshop by Dr. Yamini and Dr. Shiv Shankar from NIMHANS on language building and communication for our children, Sorry, I haven’t got the title right but what mattered was the content of the workshop.   I was looking forward to Dr. Yamini’s talk as I have interacted with her on earlier occasions but Dr. Shiv Shankar was also equally good.   The first point he made was not to confuse language with speech therapy. What we want for our children is language therapy and not speech therapy. One spends time commuting to therapists, money on therapies all to no avail because language therapy is something one must to do 365 days 24*7.The therapy is

I would request all readers reading this blog especially from Bangalore to give this post its due importance. For people who are totally unaware of the new disability act coming into act shortly, I would like to provide some background information. A new law is being worked on for people in the disability sector as a replacement of the 1995 PWD (persons with disabilities) act. A working draft committee with a handful of very committed members (as I say handful, in terms of comparison to the number of people affected) is looking into it. This is an issue close to all our hearts especially the parents.   Read on. This is an abridged version of a mail that has been circulated among the members for a better understanding of the law and its shortcomings. The issues are ·          The man date of the committee, and specifically the one law multiple law issue ·          Inclusive education versus appropriate education ·          Consultation with the wider sector ·          The worth of pare

After attending the meeting organized by ALFAA, I was for once, looking forward to    meeting a government official, somebody from the census board.   I was also pumped up after watching the commercials being aired on TV to include disabled persons, no matter what the disability in the census. Autism as of now is not mentioned in the census which is very sad, given the fact it is increasing at an alarming pace. It is it is clubbed with “others” in the disability category.                                          Unfortunately for me, the official turned up at my doorstep at an inopportune time. Ramam was in a foul mood, and I requested him to come after 10 minutes. I requested him to complete the formalities for the other apartments on my floor. He then told me initially it was now or never. Then finally he acceded to my request but did not turn up. I was fuming. I blamed the government, the inefficiencies, and the state of affairs. I thought I will shoot letters right, left and centr

A friend of mine called me up and told me about this article in  The Hindu Metro plus today's edition. The chefs of Hotel Sheraton have been creating mouth watering GFCF receipes for the students at V-excel educational trust. For those of you who have not heard of V-excel, the school handles CP and autistic children.They have implemented this program for the children for the last  2 years  in the school with good results.Three cheers to such wonderful meaningful partnerships. Read on  http://www.hindu.com/mp/2011/02/11/stories/2011021150871000.htm

         1.   There is a workshop on enhancing the teacher’s creative and cognitive potential organized on the 26 th jan at akshayam preschool and resource centre, C.V. Raman nagar Bangalore. The registration charges are at Rs.250 only. The contact numbers are Mrs. Indira Swaminathan 919880815617 and Ms.Manjit Kochar 919845699451.                    The workshop is designed to equip participants with techniques and ideas on how to use teaching aids/materials more creatively and innovatively. The workshop is open to Parents, Pre-school teachers, Primary teachers, Special Educators, Therapists and all others who would find this topic interesting and helpful.          2.     KILIKILI is organizing the Kilikili - Habba at M N Krishna Rao Park.   Timings from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at M N Krishnarao Park, Basavangudi on the 22 nd of Jan.  Activities for the day include 1. Nine Pins   2. Outdoor games: Cricket, Football, Basket ball - organised by Aata Oodanata,   3. Bubble Blowing,   4. Pot

Here is the list of two more schools in Bengaluru send to me by another parent.  The schools are near the Thippasandara area. One is kara4kids and  the other Geethanjali Montessori Both offer integrated programs, kara4kids is really expensive . There are however no therapies in Geetanjali The staff here have dealt with autistic kids.  Also check out my earlier posts on schools in bengaluru .                               He also recommends another app for the i-pod First words Delux which his son loves. Here are the links to two websites that have a wealth of information http://www.autism-pdd.net/ . http://www.possibilitiesunlimited.in/ . The second website is oriented towards education of special children                      This is yet another link to a blog where a mother raises not one, not two but five autistic children http://survivingmotherhood-mom26children.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=22

This is wishing all readers a wonderful 2011.   After a hectic holiday in Kerala in Dec -2010,     2011 seemed to have started on a good note. To start with Ramam has an ayurvedic dosage regimen in place. I decided to go to Kotatakal arya vaidyashala after reading Krishnan Narayanan’s Autistic musings. This is his second innings with ayurveda. The good thing about kotakkal is that they have an extensive distribution system so I can probably buy their medicines at their Jayanagar branch in Bangalore. I understand they have something big in Delhi too.                                       The second exciting thing at the moment is   proloquo 2 go which as their ad goes is AAC (augmentative alternative communication) in your pocket . Developed by professionals it is a complete package. Of course, my husband gets all the credit for the research he has done online. As I write this post I am trying to make a brave attempt to analyze the apps available as I am not a very tech savvy person.