Category Archives: autism

A Mule Named Jed

This is an update on son SuperPizzaBoy’s therapeutic riding program, “Bit by Bit” at Roger’s State University here in Oklahoma. He is still participating and doing very well and loves it even though he and his Mom have to drive 25 miles to the program after school on Monday evenings.

Recently they have switched him over to a mule named Jed. Jed is over 20 years old but still looks great. (To my unknowledgable eye at least.) Jed seems like a very calm and collected mule. SPB’s instructor says he is doing better than ever. We are big fans of Bit by Bit.

Bit by Bit has very few paid staff. The outrider’s ensuring the safety of the rider and the people taking care of the horses and the stable are all volunteers. We appreciate them very much.

We the clients of Bit by Bit are big fans. They do a lot with not very much.

Son is gaining more and more confidence with every session. He is going to participate in a Pinto Show and an Appaloosa show at the Tulsa Fairgrounds later this year.

There is no way that he could do this without Bit by Bit.

SPB has a form of Autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Hippotherapy helps with his body awareness in several different ways.

I’m sure that there are similar programs near where you live.

Give them a little love if you are so moved and able.

Camera Critters

April is Autism Awareness Month (autismsocietyofnc.wordpress.com)

Smarts and Arts 2010

The Autism Center of Tulsa had their second annual Smarts and Arts Trivia Quiz Friday Night.

A good time was had by all. My employer, the gas company, sponsored a table so I had some coworkers attending.

Left to right, Eric and Teresa, and Georgette. Eric and Teresa are fellow geocachers but they have let the recent arrival of a new grandbaby cut down their finds. I’ve counseled them about that. I don’t think they took me too seriously.

Jamee, Rebecca, and Pat. Pat brought his toe shoes to the event.

He and tried to start a new thing at work. “Toe Shoe Tuesday” we figured out that the gurgling sound we kept hearing was our careers going down the drain so we put our plans on hold pending further advisement.

The event featured trivia, a silent auction, and art by local children diagnosed with autism. Much of it is quite good.

We ended up buying the piece below. It as a team effort by several children coordinated by an Occuptional Therapist. SuperPizzaBoy participated in its creation.

I helped out at the event. I hauled stuff in and arranged it. My crowning achievement was the creation of the scoring spreadsheet.

The heavy lifting in terms of hours and intensity of work was done by four women: My wife Sweetie, our friend Jonni (of first class blog “That’s Baloney“, and the co-founders of the Autism Center of Tulsa, Jennifer and Michelle. Sweetie and Jonni were co-chairs of the event.

Sorry, I don’t have any photographs of any of them at the event. They were in constant motion all night long. I tried, they were too busy. Below is a photo of Jonni on the left and Sweetie on the right from last Spring. They could hardly stand still then for a photo.

You know, I didn’t notice until just now but their race numbers are anagrams. 718 and 817 each have the same number. Wow. I don’t know what that means. I wanted 666 for my number but it was already taken. Darn it.

The verse of the day is John 20:1, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb…”

What I think of with this verse is that while the guys were all fast asleep, Mary Magdalene got up to do the work that needed to be done. And some people think that women should not be ministers?

As a bonus, one of my favorite hymns: “God of Wonders” by Third Day. (Thanks to Driller’s Place for for reminding me.)

For more pairings of images and text check out That’s Baloney.

Ready Set Run 2010

The Autism Center of Tulsa had their annual Ready, Set, Run 5K and Fun Run today at Hunter Park here in Tulsa.

What do you think of this. I was going along the race course and came up on the Finish Line. I was thrilled, there was absolutely nobody ahead of me. Look at the photo. Can you believe it, me all alone at the Finish Line!

Of course it was an hour before the race start but still.

I did beat a bunch during the race. Below is a couple of sore losers. I kicked their butts good.

Here is the star of our team, SuperPizzaBoy and his mom Sweetie.

Another of SPB and his old man.

An action shot of SPB sprinting toward the finish.

Here is Sweetie and our friend Baloney. They were busting some moves. I think Sweetie has a leg up on Baloney on this particular photograph.

She is called Baloney because she is full of it. Check out her blog That’s Baloney. She has a major blogging mission going on. I think at last count she has brought to salvation over 140,000 people. That’s very impressive. I’m about to start calling her Baloney Graham. I try and try but about 3 people have lost their salvation reading my blog. She has setbacks also. Last year she was voted Oklahoma’s hottest mommyblogger and I personally know 7 guys that lost their salvation as a result.

The Run is the major fundraiser for ACT but almost more importantly is an annual gathering of families who are affected by autism. When they start the fun run everybody lines up. It is a very emotional site seeing how long the line is. Lots of people in northeast Oklahoma are affected by autism.

After the race SPB took full advantage of the other attractions.

There was a mascot for the new Tulsa Shock WNBA Basketball team:

And he jumped right in the middle of a bunch of cheerleaders.

Anyway, we and everybody else had a lot of fun. Thanks to everybody that contributed to the event!! We appreciate it.

Flipping Out

SuperPizzaBoy inherited his Dad’s coordination genes, which means that he doesn’t have any. He also has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism, which makes it worse. He really can’t keep track of his body in space. To help, Sweetie got him hooked up with Mr. J for tumbling lessons. SPB has been seeing Mr. J for about a year. I haven’t attended a lesson in quite some time but Wednesday night I got to see them work together. I was amazed. SPB has gotten lots stronger and better.

Mr. J is a saint. Working with kids on the autism spectrum requires lots of patience. I mean lots of patience. No, I mean lots and lots of patience. Something that I often lack. I don’t know how Mr. J does it. But whatever he does, works.

Sweetie is great at finding talented guys like Mr. J to help with our son. Way to go Sweetie, you also Mr. J, and you SuperPizzaBoy!

Logan’s Lightning Thieves and Ready…Set…Run 2010

More Info

Do you like to Run? Do you like to Walk? Do you like to help a good cause? The Autism Center of Tulsa is having their fourth annual Ready…Set…Run! 5K and Fun Run on May 8 at Hunter Park in Tulsa. The race is both a fund raiser for the Autism Center and a time for the Autism Community to get together.

You can enter the 5K or the fun run by clicking on the banner on the sidebar. If you can’t make it out that day and would like to donate as little as a dollar you can also do it by clicking on the banner. Or if you don’t feel like donating any money but want to leave a comment that is very much appreciated also. Or if you want to help volunteer on race day that would be great, we need lots of help that day and we can find you a job to do just let us know here. Either way, please join SuperPizzaBoy’s team. This year it is “Logan’s Lightning Thieves.”

If you know anybody in the northeast Oklahoma area who has a child with autism especially those who are newly diagnosed and are looking for information please refer them to the Autism Center of Tulsa. The Autism Center doesn’t provide treatment instead they are a clearinghouse of information for parents, doctors, and other health providers. They also have parent support groups, sponsor family fun nights and other events that are either free or low cost to the families. They have also done things like provide training to the Tulsa Police Department on how to deal with people with autism.

Here is some scenes from last year’s race.

The lineup for the Fun Run

SuperPizzaBoy and Sweetie. His team last year was named “Logan’s SuperPizzaPeople.” In addition to being a potential broadway star and video game champion SPB has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome.

Come on out and have some fun with us this year.

Temple Grandin on HBO Films

Sweetie and I watched the HBO Film “Temple Grandin” late Saturday night. Temple Grandin is a Professor in the Agriculture School at Colorado State University. She is famous in agriculture circles for her revolutionary concepts in the design and operation of feedlots and slaughterhouses and she is an inspiration to those of us in the Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome community. She has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is characterized by problems relating to people but goes way down deep into the inner core of people and how they think. Dr. Grandin’s unique way of thinking led her to develop much more humane ways of handling cattle. Dr. Grandin was able to overcome her social difficulties to achieve greatness. Her web site is here.

Claire Danes plays Temple Grandin in the movie. The movie does a great job trying to show how strange, frightening, and alienating the world is to a person with autism on the one hand and how strange and off putting an autistic person’s behavior and affect is to others. The movies also shows how an autistic persons’s different way of thinking and visualizing problems can come up with unique solutions to various problems.

The movie also shows how just a few people, teachers, coworkers, and friends, who can see through what’s on the surface to the core beneath and provide support and encouragement can make a huge difference. Temple Grandin’s story is an inspiration and hope for all us parents of children who are afflicted with autism.

I give the movie four stars out of four.

Jeremiah 1-5 – Baloney’s Sunday Challenge

5 “Before I shaped you in the womb,
I knew all about you.
Before you saw the light of day,
I had holy plans for you:
A prophet to the nations—
that’s what I had in mind for you.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (The Message)

Heaven’s Very Special Child
by Edna Massamilla

A meeting was held quite far from earth
“It’s time again for another birth,
Said the Angels to the Lord above,
“This special child will need much love.”

“Her progress may seem very slow
Accomplishments she may not show
And she’ll require extra care
From the folks she will meet down there.

She may not run or laugh or play
Her thoughts may seem quite far away
In many ways she won’t adapt
And she will be known as handicapped.

So let’s be careful where she is sent
We want her life to be content
Please Lord, find the parents who
Will do a special job for You.

They will not realize right away
The leading role they’re asked to play
But with this child sent from above
Comes stronger faith and richer love

And soon they’ll know the privilege given
In caring for this gift from Heaven
Their precious charge, so meek and mild,
Is Heaven’s very special child.”

For perfect pairings check out That’s Baloney.

Arts and Smarts, No More Fat Tires (no!), and What’s up with our Schools???

It has been quite a weekend. My weekend started Thursday because of my work schedule. Sweetie and I along with some of my coworkers and friends attended the “Arts and Smarts” Triva Quiz and Art Show sponsored by the Autism Center of Tulsa. The arts part was a display of art by Tulsa area students on the Autism Spectrum. The blurry picture above was one of SuperPizzaBoy’s contributions.

Our table came in fourth. Just my luck, the winning table was hosted by Oklahoma’s hottest mommy blogger, the lovely, talented, and too darn smart for her own good, Baloney. Below is a picture of her doing her victory dance.

It’s a good thing she is not competitive or anything. Her hat is some sort of victory crown or something, I’m not sure. Anyway, we all had a good time. Sorry about the red eyes Baloney. They look better than my green eyes so you will just have to be happy with the red. Don’t worry folks. She doesn’t mind me poking fun at her. You see she is my Aunt, I call her Aunt B. She bakes cookies and everything an aunt is supposed to do. One of these days I’ll tell you how she came to be my Aunt. As soon as I can think up something.

Aunt B hosts her own daily online trivia quiz. Check it out, its free, its fun.

Sweetie and I got home and I proceeded to drown my sorrow and shame on finishing fourth with my favorite sorrow and shame treatment specially bootlegged in from the People’s Republic of Kansas by a friend. It’s not a legal treatment in Oklahoma but that is a post for another day.

Anyway I finished my second dose of the medicine and I soon had hives all over me. I mean all over. No photographs, sorry, but you would thank me. Thanks to some quick thinking by Sweetie and antihistamine I recovered. I felt like crap but I recovered. So now the question is: No more Fat Tire? I’m getting depressed, Is the treatment for depression the same as for sorrow and shame? Can somebody out there in our medical community throw me a bone here?

You know, crap like this never happened when W was President. He kept a lid on it. Something to think about you liberal dupes. I saw a video by this English dude who said that O was going to Copenhagen in a few weeks and sign a treaty that is going to ban microbrewery beer. We are all going to have to drink Bud Light. Its true! Hal Lindsey says so. Its foretold in the book of Revelation. What if there is the slightest chance that it can happen? Wake up America!

So Friday, I was feeling a little puny so I tagged along with Sweetie. I’m practicing for my retirement. I plan on just following her around all day. Until the housework starts. Then I’m going to go to the post office or whatever old retired guys do when the work starts. What do you think of my plan? Its going to be a while before I retire. I mean I have a 6th grader with autism. So, give me another dozen years or so in the workforce. Enough to get the kid educated and out the door.

Anyway, Sweetie and I went to SPB’s school to deliver his lunch. I was hanging around looking at the student projects displayed in the hall. SPB’s class does a lot of interesting stuff. Miss Jo is his teacher and she keeps them busy. They dissected owl droppings and identified what they found. Miss Jo got the droppings from the Zoo. They feed the owls voles. So the kids got to identify the various vole parts. I thought that was extremely cool. Here is a display of the various kids owl dropping dissections. Miss Jo said that everything was clean and sanitary with no undue smells. The kids had a blast. They separated out the various vole bones and identified what bones they were. Cool!! I’m so jealous. I had a great 6th grade teacher but we didn’t do anything like this. What you are looking at are the vole bones arranged on paper by the kids and then they drizzled Elmer’s on them to stick them in place.

Another thing that Miss Jo had her kids do was “Cereal Box” book reviews. We had fun working with SPB on his. Basically the kids made a book review fit on a cereal box. You know, illustration on the front, summary on the back, characters on the side, setting on the other side. It was fun. Here is a picture of everybody’s work. They had to make a name for their “cereal.” SPB came up with “Frosted Mysterios.” That’s my boy!

No, SPB’s isn’t the one in front. His is the orange papered one. I just love this kind of stuff. Makes me want to be in sixth grade again, NOT!!! Maybe they’ll have this kind of stuff at the adult day care center Sweetie promises to enroll me in if I follow through on my retirement plan. That’d be fun.

SPB has another teacher for Social Studies. Mrs. W. The kids are studying Egypt right now so the kids decorated the boxes below.

Anyway, you want to know what is up with schools these days? I don’t know about all schools but at SPB’s school the teachers are working their butts off teaching our kids all sorts of stuff. That’s what.

So that’s the report. How is your weekend going?

Adam – Review

Sweetie and I saw a screening of the movie “Adam” earlier this week. Adam is a story about a young electronics engineer, Adam, played very well by Hugh Dancy, and his difficult romance with his new neighbor, Beth (Rose Byrne). Adam, it turns out has a form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome which makes relationships, especially romantic relationships, very difficult for him. The story of Adam is very interesting especially to Sweetie and I who are parents of a child with Asperger’s Syndrome.

The movie is more than a story about Asperger’s Syndrome though. I found Beth to be the far more interesting character. Beth inhabits a space between two men. Adam, who cannot tell a lie, and her father, Marty Buchwald (played very well by Peter Gallagher) who cannot tell anything but lies. The tension between the two extremes is what makes the movie interesting. Ms. Byrne does a great job.

Amy Irving plays an interesting role as Beth’s mother, Rebecca Buchwald. She regards her husband with very clear eyes, and loves him anyway.

The movie has a few awkward moments, like when they have to educate the audience about what Asperger’s Syndrome is, (it comes across like a political commercial, “Gee Bessie, I can’t believe that Senator Jones is going to take our guns away from us!”) but overall the movie is done very well and sensitively. The movie doesn’t go for the big Hollywood ending, but it does end on a high note.

I give this movie 3 stars out of 4. I could see it again.

For someone else’s take on the movie, check out That’s Baloney. She and her husband Doc were there with us watching the movie.

SuperPizzaBoy Makes the Local Paper

SuperPizzaBoy and I were in Colorado visiting family when we found out that he made our Local Paper. The Tulsa World. Read all about it here.

The paper did a pretty good job. We are very proud of SPB. He has come a long way in the last few years.

Also, his school is having a fundraiser Monday night (May 18) at the Panera Bread on Cherry Street in Tulsa. Some of the kids are going to perform, including SPB himself. The restaurant is going to donate a portion of their gross proceeds, so come have a soup and sandwich.

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