Again a huge thank you to Chynna Laird for her wonderful contribution to the blog on Thursday. It is such a treat for me to have talented authors and mothers who are willing to tell their stories, share their trials and tribulations and help to build a community of understanding that everyone can benefit from. Here’s hoping that I will be able to welcome more guest bloggers in the future.

If you were reading the blog on Thursday you might have noticed that I ran a contest and the winner will be receiving Chynna’s new book.

I asked:
BLOG Contest
If you’d like to receive a copy of Chynna’s new book I have a contest for you.
One lucky winner will be chosen.

Tell us what seeds you’ve planted that have helped your children deal with the situation. What key phrases and life lessons have you tried to teach your children.

And the winner is:
Beth who shared this with us.
In my son’s case, it’s difficult to plant seeds because he’s oblivious to so many things. Nicholas is autistic. He is incredibly bright and has an incredible rote memory (such as repeating the 30-second Hyundai commercial verbatim at random moments); however, he can’t ask or answer questions, and even simple queries like asking what color an object is will be met with counting instead.

We have to strike a balance between presenting new material, and showing it in a way that he can understand. For example, after four years of waiting, I wanted him to be able to say, “I love you.” He loves music, so I created an “I love my family” song where we sing about how we love all our family members, including the cats. If I start that song, he recognizes it within he first word and starts singing along and he knows who we are singing about.

Beyond that, so much is repetition. Tell him what he needs to say. Get at his face level to help him make eye contact. Teach him to hug and use words when he feels angry, not throw things. That even the cats deserve an apology if he startles them.

Enjoy the copy of Chynna’s book and thanks everyone for reading!