It's IceMageddon Outside! {Wait, where are this kids shoes!?}

   So, as a lot of you all know because you're feeling it as well, a massive ice storm has hit a big portion of the United States. As far as we are concerned it wasn't a huge deal because… well… we are from Oklahoma & weather here is crazy to say the least. Tornados, 50 degree temp ranges with in the same day, & even the occasional earthquake. It was 70 degrees a few days ago & now everything is covered in a thick layer of ice. So this afternoon instead of getting ready for the Holiday Party that we are hosting tonight at the house I thought I would duck out & snap a few photos of the ice.
   It was all fun and games until I ventured over to the trampoline to see how bad the ice was & what do I see? A pair of brand new blue Chuck Taylor Converse pop sickles sitting in a chair that is now a block of ice!! Holy crap! I am so upset but MAN did it look cool! Hope you all are warm & ready for the Holiday! Thanks for reading!
   As I was typing this post I found out that what my dad always told me was in fact true!! I find, now that I'm done shopping, that I could have given my son the box that the presents came in!

The box my wife's present came in

Is now a "Sleep Pod"

Oklahoma = OklaHOME {Tornados Suck}

    In case you haven't heard we have had what some might call...a touch of bad weather!  Tornados are a way of life in Oklahoma and most everyone who has lived here for any amount of time has been through one. Most have a plan, and most know what to do and are smart about their plan but nothing can prepare someone for an F5 tornado. Brick homes, wood homes, apartment complexes, none of that matters. You are trained and raised to take cover in the center of your house, a hallway, bathroom/bathtub, or an inner closet but none of that matters with an F5. The meteorologists here say it best "if you are not underground when it hits you are dead" it's scary!

    Weather is crazy in Oklahoma! It changes like the wind. It can be blazing hot and within a few hours or a days time it will be freezing cold! There is one thing that everyone around here knows; it's that a quiet, muggy, clear looking morning you know is going to drop tornados by afternoon. That was what it was like on Sunday. The first tornado dropped in Edmond, OK where I work at a Hospital. Since the storms were not headed for our little town of Shawnee (about 45 min away from Edmond) when the hospital called for help I went! I got all the way to the ER and was told "nevermind, we don't need you!" So I got back in the car and headed home. On my way I got calls asking where I was, the storm shifted and Shawnee was in the path. As I got closer I got the call from my wife that her and the boys were in the storm shelter underground but as I tried to keep the car on the road and talk to Samantha I looked out my window to see..... Well have a look:

   

Yeah, I know I shouldn't be trying to out run a tornado while hanging my arm over the seat to snap a photo with my phone! I'm a photographer! Sorry!

   

We were missed by less than a mile! So many others were not and as I'm sure you now know by now the next day had even worse in store for our friends & neighbors just about 30 or so miles down the road in Moore, Ok.  Moore was his by an F5 and is just gone in some areas. I mean that as literal as it sounds...it's gone! Below is a pic of right before the storm hit and then the same picture right after. People have trouble even knowing where their house was because nothing is recognizable. 

   Death and destruction through it all people are coming together. Money, clothes, water, diapers, anything! People are really showing out for one another through all of this! If you feel that you can please give to the Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org. They were amazing to my family after our fire and are being amazing to the entire state now. What is going on in Oklahoma is the one saddest things you have ever seen combined with the most hopeful, proudest, and awe inspiring things you've ever seen all at once!

Here are a few photos I snapped from down the road from our house yesterday;

A look back at our Diagnosis

     After the big 10th birthday party the other day I started to think back. Things I thought were never going to happen when he was first diagnosed with Autism have come & gone while other things that I was sure would get better are sometimes worse. I have a lot of new readers & while I try to respond to every message I get some I'm sure slip through the cracks. So I wanted to post a short article I found that I wrote a couple of years ago. This is just an excerpt, I will post several parts of it throughout the week sprinkled in with some new posts! Also please check out the article about Autism being portrayed in the media that includes an interview I did with the Canadian Press. I was honored to be included & always surprised that you all care what I think! {I mean really, whats all that aboot!?! bad Canadian joke, sorry!} It's a bit about everything from Parenthood to Big Bang Theory. Fun stuff! Check out the story here.

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     Before my oldest son was diagnosed with Autism we played to his 'quarks' in order to get anything done. After the realization that yes there is something going on and yes we need to figure it out so we can try to help him more than we are already doing we found out two things:

1. He has a form of Autism.

2. Ass-Burgers, funny enough, has nothing to do with hamburgers made from donkeys!

     That's about all we learned at the time of diagnosis. Reading the twenty page report given to us by the doctor did about the same as reading VCR instructions, that's right I just dated myself with a VCR reference! Other than those two major developments no one gave us any 'Okay, he has autism, now do this' book so we just went to our local book store and started buying. If the doctor's report read like VCR instructions then the books by the experts in the field of autism were like giving an eight year old a copy of 'A Tale Of Two Cities' to read. Yeah and I'm not talking about the smart Asperger's syndrome eight year old either, I'm talking about me when I was eight years old. Half witted, glue eating, kiss your basset hound on the mouth eight year old.

     When I could find something helpful it was layered in with so much 'my son is awesome & a blessing' it was hard to wade though it all. Let's be really honest and put it all out there:

My son Jayden is now 10 years old. He eats chicken nuggets, french fries, mac  & cheese, peanut butter, sweet potatoes & that's about it. His test scores put him several grades above where he should be at yet most mornings he puts his cloths on backwards or inside out. making a split second decision is almost impossible yet he is good at action filled quick reflex video games. He is difficult, stubborn, and at times he makes me want to jump off a bridge but at the same time he is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known, when we wants to be. When he is stuck on a subject that he wants to talk about the conversation, no matter what it's about, WILL come back to his subject. Lastly to be 100% upfront & honest while there are times when I want to smack the crap out of him & just say 'Catch On Already' {Not really! Put the phone down, stop calling DHS!} I still am happy about everything I have just said because it makes him who he is & while most parents are watching icarly or something mind numbing like that, my sons favorite movie is Ghost busters. My son Jayden is 10 years old & he has High Functioning Autism.

     With Autism there are not a lot of 100%'s you can find. If you read somewhere that this one thing WILL help you child with autism, you are probably about to be sold something! You just have to try & find what helps your child. The key word here is help! Not correct, not fix, not cure, just help. I learned very quickly that all the 'cure for autism' or 'what causes autism' debate will do nothing to help you with your child when you are in the check out line at the dollar store! Ways to deescalate a meltdown or introduce new foods into the diet, now those are things that help! Two of the best tips you can get are pick your battles & find what works for your child.

Surviving Summer {The Parents Nerves Vs. Asperger's}

Mom Keeping Watch At The Park

As of Thursday school is out & summer is here! I can remember when I was a kid & this was the best time of the year but as an adult, as a parent, its....well....it's fun sometimes. Summer is a very scary time! It probably sounds bad but these kids are around....all...the...time!! These next few months will pretty much be a balancing act of our sanity & their boredom, fall to far either way & it ends in disaster, or daddy having to break into his special cabinet that is above the stove with the grown up drinks! I'm just sayin...

We have already started, our summers are full of lake days & park days & zoo days & you get my drift? First we headed to the local park for a start. Another day we went to Oklahoma City, about 35 min away, to hangout on the river walk & see a movie. All in all its been good so far! The time that's not filled with activity is filled with Asperger's most of the time. Meaning 30 min explanations of how things work, blueprints for invention ideas, new spells, information about...well, everything! It can be daunting at times! Even as I type these words I am Dad muti-tasking, Jayden is giving me a play by play & background on the Harry Potter movie that just came on TV. Yes, I know you can speak Parseltongue. No, I didn't know that the Avada Kedavra Curse couldn't be blocked by any other spell! Settling into the summer will just take us a while!

Working Together, Rolling The Earth Over Zion

Hanging Out On The Riverwalk Downtown OKC

Downtown OKC

Oklahoma & Autism {Kind of like oil & water}

     When we tried to get our son the help he needed at school we hit walls. Even though we tried everything from IEPs to working at home to meeting, meetings, meetings we never got a hand.  While checking into what to do we called our school board, Autism non-profits, & even contacted a State Representative to see if anyone could please oh please at least point us in the right direction. What we got was 4 options:

1. Relocate your family to one of the two cities in Oklahoma that have parents with autistic kids that have sued the schools & won some of the benefits that are needed.
2. Relocate to another state that has better funding for schools & programs to not only train but equip teachers with what they need. {A NY Times article showed that Oklahoma Public Schools were in the bottom 5 states in the NATION as far as how much they spend on their students}
3. Home school
4. Utilize the  Lindsey Nichole Henry Scholarship For Students With Disabilities Program Act. A program where a special needs student can be sent to a private school that may offer what that student needs, if you can even find such a school. The school/state pays for this because it is cheaper for them to pay for these few students to go to the school than it is to keep them at the public school.

     Well since the State Of Oklahoma was running behind on actually visiting each autistic child's home & in person punching them in the face they decided to just take one of those 4 options off the table! The Lindsey Nichole Henry Scholarship Act is now, according to a Tulsa, OK Judge unconstitutional. Wow! If you want to read the story feel free to visit the local Tulsa news station here. OR you could just do what I did & throw up in your mouth a little bit!
     Sorry for the rant but I saw it on the news & wanted to throw up! They say it's unconstitutional because some private schools that the special needs parents may want to send their kid to might be religious & that would be public money going to a religion. Wow! Okay...I think I'm okay.....wait no might stab myself in the eye with a toothpick....okay I'm okay now. Thanks for reading & sorry for the rant!
P.S. anyone have a 4 bedroom for rent in a state that doesn't kick you in the jimmy for trying to give your kid a better life? Sorry, guess I'm irritable tonight!

Starting Thanksgiving School Break Out On A High Note {Even if it's a fake high note!}

     As I talked about in one of my last posts we have been having a lot of problems with Jayen & school! Not doing work, not trying to do work, lies, & even some violent out bursts! Needless to say on this, the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break, I REALLY needed a win! Before he got out of the car today I gave him the "Jayden, I REALLY NEED you to do good today! Make good choices!" talk. Now normally this blog post up til now would be the lead up to a teacher stopping me & saying he didn't do anything but make sounds & spin his finger in class or just sat with blank paper for hours or what ever! Today on the other hand, dad needed a win so when Jayden got in the car & I cautiously asked him "Jayden.....how did school go today?" Both Samantha & I waited & he let out the same "Great!" in the same manner/tone he always does but today I didn't have a choice! I tried to be a good parent & pry it out of him, find out what happened, see what all went on! But..... "Jayden, how did school go today?"   "Great!" ... "Well, that's sounds genuine to me! Let's just take that at face value, shall we!"  Sometimes you just gotta give yourself a day, not every day can be super autism parent day. Sometimes you need a run of the mill, phone it in for the holiday weekend kind of parent day! Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Blog +Video = Vlog Awesomeness!

     I love You Tube, when I get on it I end up getting sucked into video after video & before I know it I've been sitting here for an hour! Why!?! Why are cat & baby videos so mesmerizing! Either way! I've created my own You Tube Channel & if you are into that kind of thing you should head over & check out a few. More & more will come I'm sure. Don't forget to click "Subscribe"!

Here is a clip from a conversation with about his feelings that is pretty funny. At one point he says "You two are the best parents a boy could ask for!" to that what could we reply except "Jayden, do you want a pony!?! Because if you want one I'll get you one after that!"

 & one more, a visit from a not so great version of Santa last year!?!

  

Oklahoma Earthquakes! {Call Kevin Bacon & Reba, Here Comes The Grab-Oids!}

     We live just outside of Oklahoma City, OK & in the last 3 days we have had 29 earthquakes including the largest in state history at 5.6 magnitude.  Now today we have tornado's & flooding rain so to say the least we have odd weather here, we always have.  80 in the afternoon & snow at night, weather changes like the wind here.  That being said, earthquakes are a new thing for most of us! I've been through my share of tornado's including some very close calls with some very large tornado's but last night when the 5.6 earthquake hit & the pictures fell, the windows rattled, & the stacks of paperwork on our desk fell my wife & I were more than a little freaked out! The photo to the left is one of my local public library that a friend of mine took.

My little town has been on the news nationally because of the damage to the local 100 year old college but MY main problem is this: Why when the news comes (all news but more so when national news comes) to Oklahoma do they always....always pick out the people that are going to best represent our state to the rest of the world! The screen shot attached to this post should explain it all! Thanks for reading!







Earthquakes? Oklahoma?