Why I Walk

The Columbus Walk Now for Autism is now less than one month away and yesterday while doing a ABA session with my niece she did something that she has never done before. She looked right at me and said Manda I love you. That is one of the many firsts that I get to experience with her because even though I know she does love me she has never expressed it with words before that she chose, she can always repeat what others say but never has she ever looked at me and flat out said I love you. So as I was logging my hours into one of the the many spreadsheets I came across something that I wrote for the Autism Speaks website and they asked us to write about why we walk. Here is why I walk:

When I was 16 years old I met a family that would change my life forever. My best friend and I became babysitters for a set of twin girls, Sophee and Skyler. Little did I know one of the twins would inspire me to find what I wanted to do in life. We started watching the girls before our junior year of high school and continued on after that the following summers. When we noticed that there was a developmental delay between the two girls no one seemed worried because it is normal and sometimes happens. It was during our junior year and the summer before that very significant differences started to arise. Skyler did not talk, react to her own name, and would have meltdowns whereas Sophee did not. After hundreds of doctors visits and hours of trying to figure out what this beautiful baby wanted we finally got our diagnosis. The first which was received in the summer before our senior year was SID- sensory integrated disorder. However, the twins mother Kandee thought there was more. Once we found out the first diagnosis we started OT and "therapy" sessions at home. The second diagnosis, I believe came sometime between October 2005 and January 2006 and this was the PPD-NOS diagnosis, but again, Kandee knew there was more. In April of 2006 Skyler was diagnosed with classic Autism. Since that day, the whole family and everyone who has ever been touched by those twins stepped up to the plate to help with any obstacles. Car rides to and from OT and speech. Therapy toys bought or made, whatever was needed was done by someone and everyone was there for Skyler and her family. The biggest challenged we all took came this past summer in 2007. The family decided to start ABA therapy and at first we were all skeptical, however I can tell you now after a year of ABA there is an amazing difference and Skyler has progressed greatly. Learning from Skyler has been my biggest development in the past five years and each time I see her not only does she grow, but I grow.
I do not walk because it's the thought that counts. I do not walk because it would be nice of me. I do not walk because it’s something to do. I walk because something needs to change. I walk because autism can change an entire family’s dynamic (good or bad). I walk to fight, to raise awareness and to raise money. I walk because a little girl very near and dear to my heart is not "able" to. Yes she can walk independently, but she cannot speak out and tell everyone who will listen how life is like living with autism. I walk as thanks to Skyler's family for letting me into their lives and helping Skyler develop. I walk because I care and want to see Skyler independent one day. I walk because I want autism to become history rather than an epidemic.

If you would like more information about Columbus's Walk Now for Autism comment me and I will reply as soon as I can.

Props to NBC and other Soap Operas

Today while eating lunch, I was searching through the channels to watch something when I stopped on NBC to see what was going on on Days of Our Lives. I use to follow this soap when I was in high school and know some about the characters. One particular scene caught my attention and I think that NBC and other Soap Operas deserve a PSA award for raising awareness about autism. A family on Days is in the beginning stages of dealing with their son who has autism. Another soap spin off that airs on SoapNet, General Hospital Night Shift, also is doing a story on a father of an son who has autism. I think it is super important to get the word out because families who are dealing with a child of autism need to understand that they are not alone and that there are other families out there dealing with the same thing. I work with two families who both have high functioning children with autism. They are completely different in every aspect but they are both high functioning and are able to communicate to anyone and everyone. With these shows showing the different characters and how to deal hopefully families will look for support groups and people who do not know what autism is will also start to understand more. I wish everyone knew what autism was, not so they can assume that when they see a child act out they think they have autism, but so there is an understanding. For example, a couple of years ago when we had just heard that my "niece" had autism we were just starting to figure things out but her outburst were still long and quite frequent. One night after her mom got home we decided to go out to eat and while standing in line my "niece" wanted a flower that was decoration, her mom was just trying to order as fast as possible so that we could avoid an outburst but that did not happen. While the outburst was going on and we were trying to calm her down an older woman ordering behind us was staring at us with hatred. Like we could not control this child and that we were horrible people. As we get through the outburst and sit down I know the woman who was behind us sat near us. She then stared, pointed at us and spoke to her husband. They then stood up and walked away from the table they were sitting at to a farther table in the back of the restaurant. I was so angry and upset that this woman had the nerve to just assume that my "niece's" mom was a horrible mother and it took absolutely everything for me not to get up and tell her off. Then while sitting there trying to calm down and enjoy dinner, I thought of my "niece's" mom. She goes through this everyday and doesn't get to get a way from it like the rest of the family does. So congrats to NBC and the Soap Operas for trying to get awareness out on autism! Also the word niece is in quotes due to the fact that she is not a blood relative of mine but her and her family are very close and are a second family to me and I refer to her and her twin sister as my nieces. :)

Travel Report: Chicago

So this past weekend I had the opportunity to travel with my school's volleyball team to Chicago for a tournament. We left on a Thursday afternoon and ended up in Chicago around 11 at night by taking a bus. We stayed in Hyde Park which is probably 20 minutes away from downtown Chicago and it was a complete and different experience than I had had the first time I visited Chicago. We got very little time outside of the Volleyball Tournament, but what we saw of the University of Chicago was really fun. The first night we spent in Hyde Park and we ate at some amazing restaurants. We started our food exploration at Medici (sorry if spelling is incorrect) and it is similar to a local hang out. Had food that ranges from grilled cheese to salmon, the prices were very reasonable and I would recommend to anybody. THe second place we ate at for dinner was a pizza restaurant. They have amazing deepdish and the toppings are stuffed inside the pizza. It was absolutely delicious and we topped the night off with triple chocolate cake :) The final day we were in Chicago we had breakfast at a Greek Restaurant which was only a block from our hotel. They had a great American variety of breakfast food and they were very speedy with their service. We ate the Tavern at the Park in downtown Chicago that night for dinner and we were stuffed with how much food we received. We ordered two or three appetizers and each one was fabulous, I order their house cheeseburger with straw fries and they were amazing. The food in Chicago is top of the line and can either be super cheap or super expensive and we witnessed that all. Our hotel looked a little on the sketchy side of things until you are in the room, but then they seemed okay and very secure on the outside. The weather was not so great, it rained all weekend but that did not stop us from having a good time. Overall I give this trip 4 out of 5 stars.

Prayer Request

I graduated from high school in 2006 and during that school year a lot of things happened. One thing that happened and touch each of my classmates lives was a fellow classmate of ours was diagnosed with cancer. This form of cancer has never been beat and the patient who was diagnosed this cancer to ever live with it, lived 5 years after being diagnosed. Well my fellow classmate was one of them who beat the cancer and went into remission. The day before his 6 month check up he had a seizure and found out that he now had another form of cancer abbreviated AML. This cancer was in his brain and spine. He has been battling it for a little over 2 years now and I got word on Saturday that there is no longer any hope of him surviving. The cancer has taken over his body and the doctors have given him days to live. He has decided to stop all treatments and come home to pass peacefully. I cannot imagine what his parents are going through or his older and little sister. My friend is only 20 years old and has not even gotten to do some of the things he has wanted. He was a XC and track runner at our high school and his mom when writing on his blog the other day told everyone who reads it to go and finish the race for him. Well if you could please keep him in his prayers especially during this time. Not only pray for his peaceful passing to be with our God, but for his family (parents, older sister and brother-in-law, and younger sister) and his classmates who have been touched by him and who have been with him through his entire journey with cancer. Pray that even though we will mourn that we have lost a great person that we will once rejoice to know that he is finally cancer free and sitting up in heaven watching us finish our race. I am going to leave you with a quote that we put on the back of shirts that we sold as a fundraiser for him and his family: "To give anything less than your best is sacrificing the GIFT" -Steve Prefontaine

Michigan!!!!

So this past weekend my cousin and I drove the 3 and 1/2 hours to Michigan to watch the Wolverines battle Miami of Ohio. This was my cousin's first real college football game and we had so much fun! We got up super early to get up there in time for the noon game and after the game we stayed in Ann Arbor and shopped at the local stores and ate there. We enjoyed our time and the weather was absolutely beautiful, the only downside to the whole days was the I got sunburnt in the face and ended up with some pretty sick tan lines due to my sun glasses!!! Hehe. I cannot wait to purchase tickets for next year I am super excited :)

Classes

So I have almost completed a full week of my junior year in college. Right now it is kind of stressful and not because of the class load but because all my classes, work study, and extracurriculars are trying to straighten out logistics. My classes right now are a lot of fun. Since I am on the path of becoming an OT I have Therapeutic Modalities, Intro to Psychology, Psychology of Sport, and Critical Pedagogy. Nothing to serious right now and I feel that it is going to be a nice work load to carry. Now if my work study would get itself figured out I would be in heaven. I work for the Athletic Training Room as a first aider for Varsity Athletics. This fall I am in charge of Volleyball. What this is entails is that I make sure someone is always down at their practice with a small cooler of ice and a med kit to take up blisters and cuts. I also have to schedule people to travel with the team which sometimes no one wants to do. I have 2 great girls that are working with me so I think it is going to be a great season, but right now we are trying to figure out who is going to what and what days everyone is working. I really enjoy working with the teams that I have been assigned and we sometimes get to travel to fun places. Like next week, I am going to Chicago!!! :)