I have been so negligent at my post of duty here!  Where has the time gone?  What were we doing??

Ah, so much to do, so little time.  We have been working on the header for The Puzzle Boy website.  I think it is looking pretty good.  I have been working on adding lots of pictures to the e-book.  I have been writing my introduction and organizing my chapters to the book. 

We took off to TN for nearly a week over Thanksgiving.  We had to go visit our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter.  Did I say that again? Granddaughter?  Yes!  She is a year old now and so much fun. (time keeps moving forward in life!)  She has a quick and ready smile and is a "go-getter!"  She began walking more and more while we were there.  I was excited to watch the progress.  How fun it is to reach out your arms and watch them as they make a decision as to whether or not they want to risk walking to you.  Then comes the smile, her arms reaching out and those cute toe-walking baby steps with the arms reached up until you catch her, hug her and praise her! So much fun!

It reminds me of autism.  We look for every advance forward.  Every tiny baby step forward, right or wrong.  We like to see progress. We praise them.  It takes so much more time.  Autism progresses slowly in a fast paced world.  We are so used to things happening NOW!  We even want babies to walk earlier and earlier. ("my baby walked at 7 months! Ever hear that?  My baby talked at 4 months!)  Yes, we want to push our children way, way too fast in an adult world.  We want them to hurry up and grow up.  Be the fastest, be the smartest, be the greatest and do it NOW!  We live in such a computer age.  Such a fast, fast age. 

Our children are growing faster, taller, have bigger feet than we all did as kids.  I can't believe it!  Size 13 used to be giantish!  Now 14-15 and more is normal!  The hormones and growth factors are pushed through the dairy and meat industry because they want the cows to produce more, faster, better.  Nature is forced, pushed out of proportion because we are so impatient.  What used to be abnormal is now normal, and our kids are the recipients.

Well,  as I said, you can't rush autism!  You just plain can't.  It has a mind of its own.  It has to unfold ever so gently, ever so slowly, in its own time.  I don't know if I was blessed with an autistic child because of my prayers a long time ago or not.  You see, when I was pregnant with Seth, I prayed for patience.  I knew I did not have any.  Bad thing to not have.  I guess the Lord took me pretty seriously!  I was gifted and have gained much patience out of necessity! Arrgh!

Seth is quickly (time is the only thing that moves truly fast) moving to the age of 21.  December 11 is the big day! Ouch!  Oh, he could not wait to be an adult since the age of 5!  This is a BIG day for him! It is a big day for us!  This means that the schools will not recognize him as a student any longer.  He is done with their system.  I am so happy that they recognize that autism needs more time.  They do not quit at age 18. Everything quits at 21.  I am busy with ideas and planning for this big day.  He will have a birthday party (he only wants adults to celebrate his adulthood even though there will be a few kids here). He will graduate.  And I will cry!  My baby will be grown but not grown!

I have been able to watch so much progress over the last 21 years, albeit slow.  I am thrilled with each baby step.  I am thrilled with each smile of recognition as a lightbulb goes on in his brain.  I am thrilled with seeing new logic emerge.  For instance, after we arrived home from TN, he immediately went to writing a long 3 page letter to his sister thanking her for the time he had at her house and how he liked her cute little baby.  Then he added some advice.

"Sarah, I wanted to tell you something about washing dirty clothes.  This is a hint.  When you put your clothes in the washing machine, put the lid down."

You see, he would often go in the laundry room and check on the clothes in the washer and leave the lid up and they would quit washing. I told him several times not to do that.  It finally clicked with him, now he can "teach" his sister how to wash clothes!  How fun!  He also told her how long to dry them for! 

I guess what I am saying as I  see so many parents, especially moms working with their kids.  They do not see instant results.  It is so hard.  You can't see the future. Keep persistent, keep trying things, but don't give up!  Sooner or later their slow systems will catch up and mature and get stronger.  Keep giving them nutrient dense food that will make a difference in how they heal.  Keep on keeping on. Pretty soon your five year old will be 21!  They will be a different person.  Because of YOU!

Until Next Time,

God Bless you all!  Keep being thankful, and watch for the baby steps! Oh, and don't compare your child with another, too depressing!

Nancy Lynne!

PS  I have also been working on hunting down old pictures of when Seth was a baby, scanning them, finding more pics through the years and getting them all together to produce a movie slide show for the big day!  It all takes time! Ha!