OcalaMom.com

I am a single mom of three,four if you count the toy poodle :-) The two youngest are 12 and 14 year old boys living with autism and succeeding at life. My oldest is a beautiful young lady 16 years young who has her head on straight and an awesome future all planned out. Needless to say, I am a very proud mom!!!

I am one of 3 Parent Partners in Marion County working with the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities and in my "spare time" I founded and run Parents Helping Parents of Florida, a non-profit parent support program for parents of children with disabilities. My mission in life is to make a positive impact on all children with disabilities and I am using my life as an example by practicing what I preach.

I'm happy to be able to use this medium to learn and share and reach out to moms everywhere that could use my help. Talk to you soon.

Welcome, and thanks for all you do!

Our dogs (cocker spaniels) are the fourth and fifth members of our family, too.

CARDlady, I have been to your home and seen what a tremendous job you do of keeping your home running smoothly and keeping your boys on track. Can you share some of your tips? They are awesome for those with some special needs children and for others as well!

CARDlady:
As the mother to a child with a mild form of autism, I an thrilled to see you on here. I hope you can help moms with resources both to help get the testing and to get the support they need if their child has developmental challenges.
Welcome, and I hope to see you here often!
Robyn

Welcome CARDlady! Glad to see you here!

We just added another member to our little family..... an 11 week old yellow lab named Spencer by our 4 year old!

Hi cardlady - nice to see you here!! Its been a while - but you are not forgotten!! I was just talking to Julie about you the other day! Hope you and your family are all well - love, linette

quote:

Originally posted by ocalacarole:
CARDlady, I have been to your home and seen what a tremendous job you do of keeping your home running smoothly and keeping your boys on track. Can you share some of your tips? They are awesome for those with some special needs children and for others as well!

I'm so sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this one. April is my busiest month of the year so there has been a lot of planning and prep going on so I haven't been here as much as I would like to.

With regards to the way our home is run, I do know that consistency plays a major part in getting the boys to form good "habits" that will help them to live independently. I did my best to teach the skills the right way the first time and in small easy steps that would ensure gradual success and build confidence. I also found that by taking their strongest skills and focusing on what they found easy, gave them more of a willingness to learn and do. For example, making beds: I picked the same part of the morning for the task. So, it became a part of the morning routine and marked when the first part of getting ready for school was complete. I used a visual that they could chart the completion on. I modeled making the bed and then gave them the opportunity to spread the comforter. I worked my way backwards until they automatically were making the bed and I actually used a little rhyme that for the longest time I could hear my youngest son reciting it as he did it on his own. This backwards chaining method works with a lot of tasks and visuals play an important part in them being able to know when they have completed something. A good amount of praise works as well. I will try to share more later.

quote:

Originally posted by linetteandkelly:
Hi cardlady - nice to see you here!! Its been a while - but you are not forgotten!! I was just talking to Julie about you the other day! Hope you and your family are all well - love, linette

Hi Linette. You are not forgotten either. Everyone is doing wonderfully well, praise GOD!! I hope things are going as well with you.

quote:

Originally posted by OcalaKatie:
Welcome CARDlady! Glad to see you here!

We just added another member to our little family..... an 11 week old yellow lab named Spencer by our 4 year old!

Hi OcalaKatie: Leonidas "Leo" or "Lee Lee" for short is 6 months old now and he runs the house. The boys absolutely love him, each has their own relationship with him while my daughter and I just spoil him rotten. He has really brought out the playfulness in my youngest son and they spend lots of time running around the furniture, and with my oldest, they fight over socks and his collectibles. It's great to see how their fear of animals disappeared and they have accepted him as a part of the family with no problem. Leo in turn is very in tune with them and spent an entire day laying with my daughter when she was sick. He's the best!!

quote:

Originally posted by SBEditor:
CARDlady:
As the mother to a child with a mild form of autism, I an thrilled to see you on here. I hope you can help moms with resources both to help get the testing and to get the support they need if their child has developmental challenges.
Welcome, and I hope to see you here often!
Robyn

Hi Robyn, It's been a while since I've been here, but my busy month is coming to a close and so I hope to be here more often.

Welcome back! April did seem very busy for you.
It was nice to meet you at the mall.