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autism

Wrongs Righted, with a Bonus

May 13th, 2013
by Dan.
1 comment

We got to church late, and immediately Twin 2 knew there was something wrong. Pastor was pronouncing the Invocation, and that meant we had missed the opening hymn. She looked at the large-format bulletin she prefers to use, and she saw the hymn text and music. She wanted to sing it. She didn’t get the chance, and she was upset for a good chunk of Divine Service.

After church we had a good lunch with my in-laws, and we tried feeding Twin 2 a gluten-free Sonoma “Margherita” pizza. This kind of pizza, unlike her normal flavor, doesn’t use tomato sauce, and this was also upsetting. She needs tomato sauce on her pizza, it seems.

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Dual Post: Autism Awareness Day

Apr 2nd, 2012
by Dan.
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The better half made some comments on Facebook today that I thought needed some syndication. After her comments, I added some of my own.

Today is World Autism Awareness Day as well as Light it Up Blue for Autism Speaks Day. The entire month of April is Autism Awareness month. This all sounds great, right? As the day has gone on, I have grown more angry, frustrated, and sad – the most I have been since April of 2006. Awareness and advocacy are great words, but as CDC released new numbers just days ago, it seems there is NOTHING behind these words. As I sat at advocacy training last week with other parents and professionals, the level of desperation that exuded from these parents and professionals was unbelievable. The fact that ALL of our Ohio legislators were then invited to a cocktail party and approximately 4 or 5 of them even bothered to show up shows a height of APATHY that is extraordinary. The fact that there is no help, no funding, no services, no insurance, and we can’t get more than 4-5 of our legislators to come for free drinks and snacks for 30 minutes to listen to our stories, should tell us all something.

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1 in 88

Mar 30th, 2012
by Dan.
5 comments

The CDC is now estimating that 1 in only 88 children is now being identified with an autism spectrum disorder. If you don’t already know someone with an ASD, you will soon.

As much as we would like to be able to wave a magic wand and have government fully fund any and all autism research, common sense and history tells us this cannot happen. Money is getting tighter as Congress overspends its revenues and spends 3x more money on debt interest than it does on Afghanistan and Iraq. And we don’t want to get into whether the government has been an honest broker with respect to vaccine research…

We need you. Look at your talents and help someone. Maybe you have money. Maybe you have time. Maybe you have compassion. Maybe you have an ear. Maybe you have prayers. Maybe you have a combination. :) This is your neighbor, your kid’s classmate at school, a kid in your congregation, on your kid’s sports team, in your kid’s scout troop, somewhere. If you have the means but not the target, then go to autismspeaks.org and see what you can do there. Please. :)

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Some Progress You Just Can’t Measure

Mar 27th, 2012
by Dan.
1 comment

Twin 2 and I had just returned from the store this morning. As I came into the kitchen from the garage, my back popped just below the shoulder blades, and I couldn’t hold the groceries up for a second. The incident was rather bizarre, as I regularly workout with more weight and with more range of motion than what I was doing then. About 11 hours later, there’s a little bit of pain left which I hope is gone by tomorrow.

When my back popped, I winced, because it was a little bit painful. Twin 2 saw it, and asked, “Are you hurt, Dad?”

I said, “Yes, my back popped.”

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Yours Truly on the “Parental Office” Podcast

Sep 13th, 2011
by Dan.
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I was invited by fellow Lutheran bloggers Joshua McNary and Brian Yamabe on to their new podcast, “The Parental Office,” a show dedicated to helping Christian parents train up their children in the faith. I think we may have covered 30-40% of everything we wanted to talk about, but there were some good moments in this episode of just under 38 minutes.

Topics we covered included: why supplement the weekly Divine Service, when one should start supplementing, how the Divine Service provides comfort to my child with autism, maintaining continuity among home, church, and the Church; and getting one’s kids to go along with the routine a parent wishes to set for them.

I enjoyed talking about it; I hope you enjoy listening.  The episode is available on The Parental Office website.

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Convo about Autism, Vaccines, and Guilt

May 11th, 2011
by Dan.
2 comments

Good discussion on Facebook with Frank and Matthew regarding autism and vaccine injury:

Frank:

What’s your take on vaccination and classically defined autism (not the broader definition where every kid who gets upset at the color of his happy meal toy is labeled as autistic)

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