218 people read yesterday's blog post that contained an excerpt from the Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways book that talked about Autism. Today I am offering another snip it from the same title that gives offers a different look at what life is like for autistic children when they grow up.

........I am comforted by a story that a woman once told me about her autistic grandson.
     He had lived at home after aging out of school, and when he turned 30 his parents felt that he was finally ready to live on his own.  When they approached him with the opportunity, he was adamantly against it. Now amount of reassurance about his capabilities would change his mind. Then one day the grandmother called her grandson and asked him why he idd not want to become independent and move out of his parents house. HIs response was simple. He did not want to be forgotten. If he was to leave his parents home, they woudl surely forget about him and that was more than he could bare.
                                           The grandmother gently assured her grandson that he would never be forgotten, for their love for him was too strong. They would still go shopping together, come together for family functions, and see one anotehr as often as they wished. She reminded him of all their other relatives who did not live iwth them, yet remained a vital party of their family.
                                         The grandson took this new knowledge and let it resonate overnight. When he woke the next morning, he anounced to his parents that he was ready for his own place. Transitioning first to a group home, then to a place of his own, this boy is now thriving as an adult. The challenges were vast over the years, yet he overcame each obstacle just as any ordinary person would. He may have taken the long road, but his destination was the same regardless.

To read more of this story and others, pick up a copy today from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Createspace.com, Kindle, or locally at the River's End Bookstore.


Estore:
https://www.createspace.com/3703816

Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Wind-Blows-Sideways-Quonce/dp/1466419180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321650454&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sometimes-the-wind-blows-sideways-amy-quonce/1036936317?ean=9781466419186&itm=1&usri=amy+quonce

Autism.  A six letter, often silent, misunderstood word. What is it like living in their world?  We may never know, but we can express what it is like having them live in our world. And for those family affected by the disorder they find themselves waxing and waning in their emotions.  At any given time they can be:

*blessed/ stressed
*happy/sad
*understanding/confused
*holding their loved one tight/ desperate for a little time away to regroup themselves

Today I will be sharing an excerpt from Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child that focusing on Autism, and the love that they share for their child.

                
Having a child born with special needs has been at time trying. However, also a great and rewarding experience for my family and I.  We've had opportunity to create life, nurture that life through good times a nd bad, while having an opportunity to meet some of the most wonderful people on Earth- caregivers, teachers and advocates.  We as parents have brown having children wtih special needs, which allowed us to develop lifelong friendships. Even though it took alot of effort caring for our son Collin, our lives were limited more so than if we had a typical child. It was an experience that my family and I willl never regret having.  It has been the eride of our lives, but after all is said and done, it was a great ride.        

My son Collin was our first of three children born.  ZInitially, he seemed to have been born a happy and healthy baby boy. Generally he would eat every few hours, woke maybe just a few times each evening, slept alot, but cried very little.  In fact, Collins' crying decreased less and less as time went on. Even so, after the first few months of his lfie, we as first time parents felt his crying less and less was cause for concern.  When we brought this to the attention of collin's pediatrician, we were told "That we wre just lucky parents, we had a content baby." However, deep down his father and I still felt that it was a cause for concern. Another behavioral development we thought was concering was the Collin would often fixate on objects that were round, or that went around like ceiling fans. Ceiling fans seem to consume most of his attention. He even loved the tires on cars and walk in circles.

At six months of age, I had received a frightening call from his grandmother.......


To read more of this story and others, pick up a copy today from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Createspace.com, Kindle, or locally at the River's End Bookstore.


Estore:
https://www.createspace.com/3703816

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Wind-Blows-Sideways-Quonce/dp/1466419180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321650454&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble.com:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sometimes-the-wind-blows-sideways-amy-quonce/1036936317?ean=9781466419186&itm=1&usri=amy+quonce




 

All year long, families who are raising special needs children give tirelessly to those that they love. Without complaint the needs of others take over our daily lives putting the thought of ourselves on the back burner. Today the HOPE Network recognized many of these caregivers and offered them a day of pampering...to give their caring hands a day of rest.

The goal was to take the weight of our worries and temporarily put them behind us. For once we were to focus on ourselves. With the help of the community, we were offered manicures, pedicures, massages, makeovers, and we're treated to a wonderful brunch. Seventy women to told to go have at it...and we did!

Pat enjoyed a manicure while I started my day with a relaxing massage. I would have fallen right to sleep if I didn't need to be alert for the speech that I was giving midday. So I spent the time finding the words that I wanted to say while getting a knot worked out of my shoulder. After that I was talked into getting my eyebrows waxed for the first time ever. I have one word to say to that...OUCH!

even though I had practiced The testimony that I planned on giving, I was caught off guard as I teared up talking about the struggles my daughter endured the first few years of her life. end the end it made me more relateable to the audience and I managed to get a few chuckles and a big round of applause. Every attendant walked away with a copy of Sometimes the Wind Blows Sideways, and the offer was extended for each of them to write their own story for the sequel.

A big thank you goes out to Carissa Lagoe, Lori Sills, and everyone else involved in the Northside Baptist Church HOPE Network. They work year around to offer services for our children to enjoy that they might not otherwise be able to have access to. For more information on their programs please visit Northsideonline.com.

I am stuck in a quandary of a past love and a current reality. My daughter brought home the next novel on the school's mandated reading assignment: Flowers for Algernon. One of the best books I have ever read.  In high school this story touched my heart and when I got the chance to be in the school's production I was thrilled. ( I played one of Charly's friends). At the time I thought it was great. Now the reality of it hits too close to home.

For those of you who have not read the story it is about a very kind young man named Charly who has an IQ of 68. Charly desperatly wants to" be smart" and volunteers to be the first human to undergo an experimental procedure to raise his intelligence. The treatments works so well that within weeks he has now surpassed the intellilgence of the doctors who performed the surgery on him. Now Charly has realized that the people who he once thought were his friends were really laughing at him and not with him. Life was suddenly a cruel ephipany now that he had extreme intelligence but no one whom he could trust. Watching the lab rat Algernon who received the same experimental treatment achieve greatness and then subcomb to his death made Charly wonder if he was better off prior to the procedure.

The story is soul wrenching, yet I am happy that the school district chose now to introduce it to the students. Tomorrow marks the first day of Developmental Disability Month, and this book is a wonderful tribute to all of our local individuals who are struggling with this same adversity. When I read this book in 10th grade I knew it made an impact on but thought nothing of it. Now that my daughter is reading it I can't help but to wonder two things. 

One: Will she even understand the book and make a connection to her own life? 
Two: If there was a new breakthough in science, would I allow her to take the treatment in hopes of improving her life?

I would be lying if I said I never wondered what she would be like if she didn't have any problems. But would I want to take the chance of ruining her pure sweet innocence and loving disposition just so that she could be smarter? Not likely. Yes, I would love to know that one day she will graduate from college, marry the man of her dreams, and live a productive life that included a career and family. The reality of it is that she will most likely live with me my whole life, tell me twenty times a day that I'm her girl, and give me hugs & bed bugs each night before bed. I have a forever child and I wouldn't change that for the world.

There are times when I consider myself lucky for having a child that is different.

I have avoided most of the teenage drama and peer pressures that typical children ahear to.  Never will I have to worry about my child sneaking out at night to date a boy, or that she will spend wild weekends drinking and partying. Things any mother would happily do without.  Yet there are times when having a special needs child breaks my heart.


Often I have been asked if my daughter knows that she is different. While I have wondered that myself, I have never had an answer for that.  Today I got an inkling that just maybe she is starting to realize the differences between her and her peers.

Last night my daughter announced that the next time she is at school she is going to sit at The Cool Table for lunch. Caught off guard, I remained speechless for what seemed like an eternity.  Part of me was intrigued that she knew about social status in school, the other part was saddened that she felt like she was not part of the acceptable group.  "Where is the cool table?"  I asked her. "I don't know but I'm going to sit there." she said.  I have to say I was impressed with her confidence.  "Who sits there?" I inquired. “I don’t know” she shrugged.  “But I’ll sit there by myself and eat.” Okay, she obviously didn’t grasp the concept of what a 'cool table' was. 

Dying to know she even came about the idea of wanting to sit with the 'in crowd', I pushed for more information.
“How do you know about the cool table?”  I asked. “It was on TV mom.  The kids sat at the cool table and I want to too.” she said matter of factly.  Thank you Disney Channel. 

Am I wrong to have encouraged her to find that cool table at school and sit there no matter what?  Will I be setting her up for failure if she is shunned by the popular kids or will I be building her confidence by showing her that she has no limits to hold her back?  I guess we'll find out when she returns to school. 

February 14th.  A day for celebrating with the love of your life. Many couples will be having a romantic evening out, while those who are not attached may be wishing that cupid would toss an arrow in their direction. This Valentine's Day I will be celebrating with someone very special in my life...my special needs daughter.

Last year instead of having a date with my husband, he and I spent the holiday in the hospital awaiting for my daughter to come out of surgery.  The needs of our children, special or not, will always come first before our own wants. But when when you are raising a disabled child, this often becomes more of the norm rather than the occasional habit. These parents given relentlessly twenty four hours a day, seven days a week...with no complaints.  We love taking care of our children, and wouldn't trade them for the world. 

Even when we are stressed out, tired, and our children have drained every ounce of patience that we had within, they still mean the world to us. That is why on this Valentine's Day, I want everyone to remember the little things that made you fall in love with you child. I am giving everybody a free kindle download of my book Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child.

Simply click on the link below and it will automatically download to your Kindle or Kindle app. 

http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-Wind-Blows-Sideways-ebook/dp/B00757ISSM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329096128&sr=8-2

Don't forget to return to Amazon after you have finished the book and post a review. If you have friends, family, or 
co-workers who might benefit from reading it as well, let them know about the title.  Together we can make this just as widely known as the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Interested in submitting a story for the next title?  Email me at WindingRoadBook@aol.com or find me on facebook under WindingRoadBook. 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO ALL !!!