WillThink4Wine

Some of you may recall that my nephew Thomas, twin to Kevin and son to SisterDear3, was accepted into Manville School school in January. Thomas’ diagnosis is PDD/NOS. It had been quite difficult to find a program that was not only a good fit for Thomas but one that also had an opening. His previous placement only reluctantly kept him in due to a “Stay Put” order by the SPED Director.

We were all very excited and relieved when Thomas started at Manville.

Well, when SisterDear3 emptied his backpack last week she found that Thomas had received his very first Award from Manville! What was amazing though was that Thomas did not tear it to bits before arriving home, despite the fact that weather and traffic made his ride home about 2 hours longer than it should be on a normal day and Thomas loves to tear paper almost better than I enjoy a nice glass of wine!

I would be delighted to put the Award up for you all to admire, but unfortunately SisterDear3 is Scanner-Challenged.

Way to go Thomas!!

Tags: Autism, PDD/NOS

I met the most wonderful boy yesterday. His name is Trey.

I said, ”Hi Trey”. He looked up at me and smiled. His mom said “Say hi Trey”. Trey looked back at his plate of chicken nuggets he was eating and with his head down, said “Hi”.

I continued to watch him as I stood talking to his mother. I had met her earlier in the week at Stop and Shop. She was leaving with her other son Thomas as I was entering with Kevin. Kevin immediately told me who they were and proceeded to ask the mom if he could come over to their house for a play-date.

So there we were two days later standing in this women’s kitchen. Soon after the boys went off to play, she asked me how Thomas was doing. I didn’t know that she knew Kevin had a twin. She wanted to know how the new school placement was working. She said she was very happy that he finally is where he should be. I was blown away. I hardly knew this woman, and she knew so much about me.

It was then I noticed little Trey again. He was on a stool, kicking the kitchen bar with his small feet, as many three year olds will. He was listening to our conversation but was not paying us any attention. It was then the mom said “Trey is Autistic”. She told me he was diagnosed six months ago.

I went over to Trey, knelt down to get his eye contact and asked him to give me “five” which he immediately did. This little boy has the brightest eyes and the warmest smile. He shared them with me, for a moment. That’s all it took. I felt as if I had known him since birth. His mom and I continued to talk for another half hour. I told her that Trey reminded me of Kevin at three. She couldn’t believe that Kevin also carries the diagnosis of PDD/NOS. I told her he has come far over the last five years. I read a distant hope in her eyes and I wished it for her.

It was a really nice day: Kevin had his play-date. Two moms who share similar lives became supportive friends, and a really wonderful boy named Trey smiled.

Maybe it’s silly, but everyday I try to accomplish one thing, whether it’s a household chore or adding something positive to my life. It’s my way of dealing with the world according to Janice.

This little boy made me smile today. He could have been my own, and for that one moment, he was.

Tags: Autism Blogs, PDD/NOS, Simple Pleasures

Guest Contributor: SisterDear3

On another note, Fisherman Thomas, yes, that is the career of the week, decided that he wanted to put his goldfish ”Dorothy”, in her very own bowl. He also decided that all of Kevin’s fish should live together as a “Family”.

So, somewhere around 3 am, he found another bowl, reached in and fished out poor Dorothy, who safely made it into her very own home. He then took the other two fish from his bowl and attempted to create a fish family for Kevin. I woke up at this point and put him back to bed.

In the morning, Kevin’s large white goldfish “Fred”, was not in the bowl. I asked Thomas where he was, he said, “Is he in the toilet?”

Poor Fred.

Later that day, while I was lying on the couch, Keven bent over and said, “What’s this?” Yes, it was indeed poor Fred. We then gave him a proper goldfish sendoff to fish heaven.

Oh well, I wonder what next weeks career will be?

moar funny pictures

Tags: Autism

I have convinced my lovely SisterDear3 to be a Guest Contributor to the WillThink4Wine blog.

Just let me tell you just a little bit about her. Basically, she is every psychiatrist’s dream! Her immediate family (1 hubby, 1 mother-in-law and 4 children) collectively have practically every mental health diagnosis on the planet, and few that perhaps don’t yet have a label. It is never dull at her house.

She sails through each day, replete with turbulent mood swings and various psychoses, with more love, patience, faith and grace than any one person should be blessed with. Mostly, I believe it’s her sense of humor that usually carries her through.

I hope you will enjoy her occasional posts. She cracks me up. Pardon the pun.

She also likes wine and is much too busy to be bothered with hitting the Enter key.

SisterDear3 just got a marvelous phone call! Manville School in Boston, MA would be “delighted” to accept her son Thomas into their program. Manville School is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, Children’s Hospital and other local colleges and universities. They offer a 1 on 1 program and it is a year-round program, which is really crucial for Thomas.

Thomas is an 8 year old boy who is Autistic (PDD-NOS). He also suffers from severe allergies as well as some other issues. It has been particularly difficult to find a permanent placement that was a good fit for Thomas. In fact, his current school placement has reluctantly kept him only because the SPED director had a ‘Stay-Put’ order put in place.

This is such great news! Yeah, Thomas!

Tags: Autism, PDD/NOS

I am blessed to have three amazing sisters! One of my sisters found out she was pregnant with identical twins at the age of 41 - ‘Surprise’ just does not begin to cover it! She now has 8 year old twin boys. One of the twins is Autistic. His diagnosis is Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). My sister also has a 16 year old son and a 20 year old daughter. My niece was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder when she was 14. Yes, my sister has a very full life! She sails through each day with joy, grace, faith and humor.

Before she & her husband started a family she had put herself through college, opened a successful music business and had even given some serious consideration to becoming a writer of children’s books. She sure has some material to work with, let me tell you!

The 4 sisters started a blog a few months ago, mostly to keep up with each others daily lives as a group rather than sending separate emails. It’s mostly just the boring daily grind of life, but sometimes SisterDear3’s posts leave me in stitches. Her sense of humor is marvelous.

I want to share with you a post from our sister blog that she wrote a few days ago that just tickles me to no end, not because it exemplifies Thomas’ Autism, but rather because it’s a window into the mind of a delightful 8 year old little boy. It also gives you an idea of how amazing my sister is.

Good morning all! I woke up at 11:00 last night to the sound of cooking in the kitchen! Chef Thomas apparently woke up and decided to make a pie. He had taken a pie crust out of the cabinet and a brand new jar of Folgers Coffee, full box of salt, and water and was in pie heaven. Jim woke up this am for work and wanted to know why there was no coffee. Poor hubby! No coffee before work! Plenty of pie though!!!! All of you Dears have a wonderful day, I am off to Market Basket! Love #3

By the way, her wonderful husband is a hard-working cop who works many double shifts. When my sister went to the kitchen after he left for work she found his cup in the sink. She also found a used Blueberry tea bag. Poor Jim!

Got this in an email today. I don’t know who wrote it, but I believe they may know a number of my family members…

• Schizophrenia — Do You Hear What I Hear?
• Multiple Personality Disorder — We Three Kings Disoriented Are
• Dementia — I Think I’ll be Home for Christmas
• Narcissistic — Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
• Manic — Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and…..
• Paranoid — Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
• Borderline Personality Disorder —Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
• Personality Disorder — You Better Watch Out, I’m Gonna Cry, I’m Gonna Pout, Maybe I’ll Tell You Why
• Attention Deficit Disorder — Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder — Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,