Fire and Ice Inspired Designs

As early as kindergarten there were indicators that my son Alec was a little different then the kids around him. He was always a well liked child, polite and very loving but when interacting with kids his own age he didn’t quite fit in. As he grew older the kids in his school singled him out more and more realizing there was something different about him. By about grade 4 he no longer had ‘friends’. The kids couldn’t understand why he acted the way he did and tended to either stay away from him or pick on him. It was then that I first heard the word Aspergers. For years I had heard many different people try to fit him to many different ‘diagnosis’; the most common was ADHD. Each time I would read up on the subject and know that wasn’t my child. When Aspergers was mentioned and I read the literature I was sure this was my child. There was no denying him missing the social cues, obsessing with one subject and the way the kids noticed he just didn’t fit in. Unfortunately, in British Columbia, Canada where I live the wait list to get a child diagnosed and any sort of help was so long that he would be long grown before we knew for sure.

Our only saving grace was that in 2005, when my son was 11 we moved to Vermont in the United States. Within a few month of moving there the school system had him completely tested with professionals and we finally had a firm diagnosis. Not only did he have Aspergers but he was designated gifted with a very high I.Q. I was fortunate to hear from the experts that my parenting skills had naturally worked to help raise him in a way that compensated for the area’s that he needed help in. They said that he was as far advanced as they would expect to see in a child that was diagnosed in his first 5 years of life. God must have been leading me.

After a year we moved back to BC armed with the paperwork that explained everything to the school system that they needed to hear. He has received such a warm welcome now that they know what they are dealing with and has found a love for the animation & film/television programs in his school.

Things are never easy when dealing with children…even more so with a child with Autism. He can be very trying at times as you try to make him understand how the world around him works. At 14, along with the Aspergers we have hormones and other teenagers to deal with. He is learning to fit in with memorizing social cues. I am teaching him to be a listener rather then a talker so that he can ‘appear’ more normal and with that have come a few friends to hang out at school with. It has been years since he’s had a new friend come to the house. His main relationships are with his cousins but I hope that as he grows he will find people his age that he can relate to and them to him.

I’m very proud of my son and who he is and is becoming; any struggles are worth the effort. We talk often about his struggles and enjoy listing the rich & famous people who have Aspergers so that he can see that in the end he will make it.

Please click on the photo to visit Fire and Ice Inspired Designs. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Dobbs Art

We are Joe & Becky. We have been married for 9 1/2 years and have 3 children. The oldest two (ages 4 & 2) have been diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. We both are going to college right now (although Becky took this semester off, since our youngest is five weeks old.)Joe makes the pens in our shop. Becky is still trying to get an idea for an item to make for our shop. When our children get older, they will probably make items for our shop as well.

Click the photo to visit Dart's shop. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Etsy for Autism Treasury

One of our members created a treasury of items from members of the Etsy for Autism Street Team. Please take a look and click on the photos. The more hits we receive the better chance we have of getting this treasury on the front page of Etsy. We would love to make front page and spread awareness. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=33788

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Cherry's Creations

My name is Cherry and my Etsy shop is Cherry's Creations. I am a SAHM of 4 kiddos. My son is the oldest and has an Asperger's diagnosis. He was originally placed on the spectrum with a PDDNOS diagnosis at 2&1/2 and my husband and I were fortunate enough to just be able to dig in and get him a bunch of help. He is 11 now, main streamed at school and very creative. He was part of the inspiration for a craft business along with my passion for all things crafty and creative. Beading is my primary medium at the moment but I have fallen in love with the whole idea of Artist Trading Cards. My oldest daughter has tried her hand at a few which are very cute, find them at my Etsy shop, she has even gotten an order for a set of greeting cards of one of her designs. Through the Etsy for Autism Team, we were challenged to create an item for a contest and the idea for an Autism Awareness Artist Trading Card was born. The bunny on the card is my lifelong friend, Maynerd, I have doodled him as long as I can remember, and he seemed to me to be the perfect "spokesbunny" for the job. He encourages us all to aspire to be aware, understanding, teachable, interested, supportive and "my" friend, (a friend to anybody with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.) 20% of the sales of all my Autism Awareness items in March and April will be donated to The Autism Society of America. I chose this agency because at the time of my son's diagnosis, it was one of the forerunners in the field, and offered a local support group tha I was able to attend. I would have been lost without the gudiance and support I received through it.

About Maynard: Maynerd seems to keep to himself quite a bit. He dislikes crowds and loud noises and when he gets excited or a little overwelmed, his bunny ears begin to flap a bit. Telling jokes is one of his favorite things to do, even if he's somewhat mechanical in his delivery. When eating, Maynerd lines all his carrots up in a row and they must not touch one another. He is an unusual hare, indeed, but that is because he has Asperger's syndrome, a high functioning form of Autism. 1 in 150 children now are affected by autism spectrum disorders. For information on Autism please visit www.autism-society.org.

To visit Cherry's Etsy shop click on the photo. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.