Category Archives: Autism

Autism Angel: Cindy Pruitt

April 8, 2014 latchkeymom

Cindy Pruitt is one of my favorite people in this world. She has the patience of a saint, and is always – and I do mean always – smiling. She’s smart, inventive, loving and dedicated. Our family owes her a lot. Cindy was Bear’s teacher for six years, first grade through fifth (we chose to have him repeat 5^th grade). She was a brand new autism teacher when Bear first entered her classroom at the age of six – and he was quite a handful. I’d just given birth to my fourth child and was exhausted. Cindy knew that, so she didn’t really bother me about his transition to her classroom. As I found out later, when she finally did share all the crazy details, it wasn’t easy. I should also point out that this was Barrett’s fifth classroom in five years (moving and redistricting) and three of his former teachers coincidently took “sabbaticals” or job changes after their year with him. He was cute, but he could be trouble. By Christmas of that first year, Cindy had broken through – but not before he put her through quite a hazing period (she shares one of these stories below). I’m so grateful for this woman and we love her almost as much as our Bear-Bear does! Without further ado, I’d like to share Cindy with all of you…

Continue reading Autism Angel: Cindy Pruitt →

Autism, Writing

World Autism Awareness Day

April 2, 2014 latchkeymom

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As I stated in an earlier post, April is Autism Awareness Month, but April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. To be honest, I don’t know why we have both, but we do. I was contacted by the Huffington Post to answer the questions, “What is autism?” and “What is autism not?” Needless to say, I was very psyched to be selected. Double score, since they also picked Barrett’s picture to be published – because, of course, he’s gorgeous. You can read the article on the Huffington Post Parent’s page. I loved reading the thoughts of other parents. We are not alone!

What do you think autism is? What do you think autism in not?

Autism

Going Beyond All Possibilites

March 31, 2014 latchkeymom

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April 1st kicks off Autism Awareness month. I have lots of things planned for the blog this month. I’ve scheduled a number of interviews with teachers, therapists and parents who work with or have children with autism. I thought I’d give readers a little insight into the village it takes to raise my son Bear and other special children like him. I have two pieces coming up for the Huffington Post. One is an updated version of an old blog that is near and dear to my heart, and the other is a blog I contributed to about what autism is and what it is not. The Forsyth Special Olympics is this month, so I will be covering that ( and praying for sunny skies and warm weather). Finally I have some very exciting news to share about Barrett and his school. So be sure to check back often this month. All of these blogs with be listed under the autism category. I’m kicking the month off by sharing an article I wrote for My Forsyth Magazine, about Exceptional Children’s Week.

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Celebrating Exceptional Children’s Week

Exceptional Children’s Week is an annual celebration of students with exceptionalities and the professionals who serve them. The weeklong celebration is a national movement started by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), which is a national group that serves as the voice and vision of special education. The state of Georgia also has a Georgia Council for Exceptional Children (GCEC), which leads the celebration for our local schools. This year they designated March 10-14, 2014 as Exceptional Children’s Week (ECW). Many Forsyth County schools use the week as opportunity for education, fundraising and celebration. Continue reading Going Beyond All Possibilites →

Autism, Guest Posts, Writing

Writing News

March 10, 2014 latchkeymom

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I didn’t intend to time it this way, but this past weekend I had blogs published at the Huffington Post and Scary Mommy. They’re original pieces, so you can’t read them here, but I’ve provided links below.

A few weeks ago, I had an incident with Barrett in a California Pizza Kitchen, while on our February mini-road trip. I have petty thick skin when it comes to Bear and our escapade at CPK wasn’t my first time at this particular rodeo, but two things made it unique for me. The first was the way the restaurant manger handled our situation that night. The second was how similar the event was to an article I’d read at the Huffington Post a few weeks ago, titled To the Woman and Child Who Sat at Table 9. I decided to write about it and submit our story. Eleven months after my first try, I finally got a piece posted at the Huffington Post. Yay! Overall, the response has been positive, but as of yesterday, I received my first (published) negative response to my writing – so I’ve arrived! Surprisingly, I had a good reaction – I just laughed at the snide comment. Different strokes…

Read the article here:

To the Manager at California Pizza Kitchen

I’ve also written an Atlanta Travel Guide for the website, Scary Mommy. The guides at Scary Mommy focus on things to do with your kids. It was hard to limit it to ten places (as I was asked to do), so I emailed my girls for input. Thank you for all the feedback. You can read the list at Scary Mommy.

I also posted my for blog at the Family Legacy Center (which was featured here last week). I happy to announce I’ve been asked back, and will be featured there monthly – writing about the topic of legacy, which is very important to me.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement! I’m grateful to ALL of you!