Two trips in one month, and I'm just throwing this together from my readings in between. No theme, no particular rhyme or reason, but all good stuff. Check it out.
1) I liked this post over on Hopeful Parents from Dr. Linda Edelstein. It's about how we handle and sometimes try to avoid "information." We all know the person who doesn't want to go to the doctor because they would rather not know...perhaps that person is you. I have been that person before a few times and I must say in the end it has always been better to know. When someone first hinted to us that our daughter might have autism I fought that diagnosis in my head every day for about four months, but really once we knew we were able to start learning how to work with her more effectively. Two and a half years later I can say that I'm now glad I know.
2) This sort of relates to appropriate terminology when talking about or writing about individuals with special needs. I've had several discussions lately with people about why children with autism should not be compared with "normal" peers. One of my favorite blogs to read of late is Reports from a Resident Alien, written by a young woman with high functioning autism. Here is her take on "normalcy" as it relates to the spectrum. Bottom line we all like to categorize individuals into neat little boxes, but honestly we're all valuable regardless of which handy labels you want to put around our necks. Let's focus on that.
3) And more about the intrinsic value of life from In(courage).
4) I found this article on bullying from the IAN project via Our Journey Thru Autism. As my daughter gets older I worry more about bullying form both sides of the problem. My daughter's lack of self-regulation and her history of aggressive behaviors is a perfect set-up for being classified as a bully if people don't understand what's driving her. Her lack of social skills and odd behaviors may set her up as the target of a bully, too. I'm "reading ahead" to try to understand this large topic and will probably post some things on this soon.
5) I've heard this song by Amy Grant several times recently. It is always a good reminder to me that every moment can be worship if my heart is in tune with His Spirit as I move through my day. Even if I am a mess...He loves it when I come into His presence. Will you join me there?
