"When one door of happiness closes, another opens;
but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
Helen Keller

Friday, May 21, 2010

2 great articles from CNN.com & Famous parents of children with autism

I've posted links to two articles that I found on CNN.com that were specifically about autism...a parent being in denial (did you know the actress that played Frenchy in Grease has a son with autism?) and having breakthroughs, as well as another article about how meltdowns affect both child and parent including the effects judgement from the public has on a parent.
I hope you find these articles just as interesting as I did!
Also, did you know the following well-known people have a child with Autism and most are very active in the advocating and fundraising for organizations like Autism Speaks?!
Aidan Quinn-actor that has a daughter with autism
Jenny McCarthy- actress, author, and comedian that has a son with autism
Edward Asner- actor that has a son with autism
Joe Mantegna- actor, director, writer, producer with a daughter with autism
Gary Cole- actor that has a daughter with autism
John Travolta- actor whose son with autism died of a seizure almost a year ago
Dan Marino- former NFL quarterback that has a son with autism and created the Dan Marino Foundation
Doug Flutie- former NFL star that has a son with autism and created the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, Inc
Greg Haugen- former boxing champion who has a grandson that is diagnosed with autism and created the Greg Haugen Foundation- Fight against autism
William Christopher- actor (famous for his role on Mash) who has a son diagnosed with autism
Sylvester Stallone- actor that has a son diagnosed with autism
Holly Robinson Peete- actress and author, finalist on the current Celebrity Apprentice/chose her Autism foundation as her charity for the show, has a son with autism and actively fundraises for autism with the foundation she created.
Isn't it amazing how many well-known people out there have children with autism? They could use their celebrity status to raise money to improve awareness, education, and for research to find a cure...while many do, it would be nice to see all of them come into the limelight about this and share their experience to help those who are now going through the diagnosis of their own child and starting the fight of their lives.
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Autism and Our Family

"Autism"----It's one word that can change the life of a child and family in so many ways. Autism Spectrum Disorders are being diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 68 children currently. If you do not already know someone that has been diagnosed, the statistics say it won't be long before you do.

Our son developed typically until around the time he turned 2 years old. We heard words...we saw him play with other kids...we watched as he played with his toys appropriately...we made eye contact with him...overall we understood his wants and needs. In a matter of a few months, that was all taken away from him. He began lining up toys, lost all of his words and signs except for one word "ball", ignored other kids, could not sleep through the night, lost eye contact and the ability to follow directions, and he had no way of letting us know what he wanted or how he felt. It was heartbreaking to see something happening to our child that we couldn't stop!

Brycen began receiving home therapy 1-2 times per month for about 6 months before we realized it wasn't just developmental delays. We knew it was Autism...we just didn't want to say it outloud to anyone. He was officially diagnosed with Autism (classic form and regressive), as well as Mental Retardation in August 2009 by the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

We continue to learn as we make our way through this journey with Brycen and we will continue to share this journey with you on this blog! The blog has been a great therapy for us to be able to vent our frustrations and struggles with accepting that we have a child with special needs, while sharing how blessed we are to have a child teach us what life truly means. It has also been a great way to inform others of his progress and changes over the last couple of years.

Thank you for your support of Brycen and our family! We hope you are able to learn something through this blog no matter if you are a parent of a child with special needs or a neurotypical child, a teacher or therapist, a family member, or just someone that is interested in the journey that a family goes on as they learn their child is battling a life-long disorder.