American Autism Foundation

As I write this I am listening to Little Richard screech out "Rubber Ducky" as Cams spins around with her eyes closed, throwing in a clap or snap every now and then. Oh wow, now it's Bob Dylan singing "This Old Man" and Cams is moving her fingers around in reference to the numbers in the song and doing the "rolling home" motion. These songs are bad, I mean really bad, but they are keeping Camryn quiet and busy on this very wet and rainy day so I will keep 'em coming. It's just the two of us today. Brad is at work, Mason and Nat spent the night with my mom on account of today being MLK day so no school.So it's just me and Cam's.
Ok...I am going to apologize in advance for the pure and utter grossness (is that evean a word?) of what I am about to write but one of the things I do is keep it real and this is about as real as it gets. So as I was just typing the above text Cam managed to disappear like a vapor. One minute she was dancing, the next she was gone. I jumped up off the couch to find her and saw the bathroom light on. Oh no. I turned the corner and found her pulling some wipes out of the container talking about poop. I felt her bottom and sure enough there was a big ball of poo in her panties. She started pulling her pajama bottoms down and stepping out of her underwear and thank God the poop was not runny. Just a solid glob about the size of an orange. I ripped her panties from her hand and shook the poop into the toilet. It landed with a thud on the side of the bowl. I flushed the toilet and nothing. I flushed it again and the damn thing still stuck to the bowl like a suckerfish on a glass wall. You have got to be kidding me!!!! Meanwhile Cams is screaming "She needs a big bath!! She needs a big bath!!" So I put her in the tub and try to figure out a solution to this sticky situation. I spied the cotton swabs sticking out of the container on the sink. I could not believe I was actually doing it as I was, but I grabbed a swab, reached into the toilet and dislodged the poo, all the while in complete disgust and nausea. Cams watched from the bath as she turned the water to scaldin hot and let it run down on her legs. Oh my goodness, how did I get here???
I got her bathed, dried and dressed. She has become obsessed with wearing my bra. She loves things that hug her body, so I guess that's why she has developed such an affection for wearing a bra. Of course it's way too big for her and looks ridiculous, but rather than hear her scream about wearing a bra, I gladly slip it over her arms and fasten it on the tighest hooks. Oh and she wears it on the outside of her clothes. You know Cams is a rule-breaker. I put her in her room to play for a bit so I can write this and she is screaming from behind her gate "I need help!! Mommy!!!! Mama!!! Aaaaaggggghhhh!!!!!" Despite all her crying and begging I will not open her gate. She needs to learn how to "play" by herself and we have learned that if we ignore her cries after about ten minutes she will give up and find something in her room to amuse herself.
So I am going to do this as best I can and hope to God that she will quiet down soon. Like I said Mace and Nat are at my mom's. They spent the night while Cams stayed home. Brad and I had a sitter come watch Camryn so we could go to a movie. Getting in dinner and a movie is not always easy, so with two of the girls gone we felt better about our sitter having only Camryn and with no time limit we decided to throw caution to the wind and do a double feature. Actually, we saw "The Fighter", which was very good, went across the lot to Chili's, grabbed a quick dinner and then went back to the theater and saw "Black Swan", which was......interesting....very, very interesting. In fact, I could do a whole blog just analyzing that movie. I enjoyed it, but Brad was casting me dirty looks about every thirty seconds. It was definitely not a feel good film, nor a lighthearted one. I guess you could say it was a dark, artsy thriller of sorts. And sexual. Very sexual, definitely not for the easily offended. Anyway, my point is we got out and it was wonderful!!! And that leads me to the focus of this entry. Last week some of you know that Mason and I were guests on a web t.v. show put on by the American Autism Foundation. The founder, Michael Tucson and his co-host Rebecca Gononwich go before the cameras every week and discuss topics relevant to Autism, it's struggles, possible treatments, people's personal experiences, etc. We were on to talk about siblings of Autistic children and how having a sibling on the spectrum affects them. Mason spoke about the hardships and joys of having an Autistic sister and she did a great job! I only recently met Michael Tucson and had never heard of the AAF before. He and his wife Beth started the foundation after a dear friend of theirs discovered her son was Autistic. Not having an Autistic child themselves, but seeing their friend deal with the diagnosis and struggles that come along with it, they felt the need to do something to help and so the foundation was formed, with hopes of being able to help not only their friend, but the thousands of others like her. There are many organizations out there with Autism as their focus, but what I like about this foundation in particular is that one of their primary goals is to help families living with Autism now, as in right now, with whatever needs they are having at this time. Their main objective is not to raise money to find a cure, but to give families of the spectrum help and hope for the future. As a mother of an autistic child as well as her sisters and the spouse of a father of an autistic child I know all too well the needs of these families and it has always been my desire in life to help families like mine. But I am only one person and though I have tried in the past to start up a non-profit, it has never come to fruition. So meeting Mr. Tucson and learning about his foundation was such a pleasant surprise because his visions are very similar to mine. His hope is to be able to provide families of autism services such as marriage counseling due to the statistics that over 80% of parents of disabled children divorce. He wants to provide activities for the siblings of Autistic kids, focusing on them and only them,something they all need and deserve. He also wants to build a learning center for Autistic children where they could receive all kinds of therapies and educational services. And eventually be able to provide "Autism Angels" or people who would provide respite for parents, coming and helping in the home or watching the autistic child while the parents take some much needed time together. These are exactly the things I wanted to do with my own organization but because I have yet to get that going, I want to become involved with the AAF and work with them to provide these things. With our hearts in the right place, the one thing missing is the funds. As with many charities in todays economy, donations are hard to come by with people tightening their purse strings and less apt to give to others when they can harldy provide for themselves. But what alot of people don't understand is that there are ways to donate other than doling out cash. Giving time can be just as valuable as money. Many foundations raise money through fundraisers, but without volunteers helping at these events, they are often unable to do them. Also, donating materials or services such as food, paper goods, talent for events, etc. is priceless, as without these things the events cannot happen. And if money is all people can think of to give but can't due to their finances, even a dollar would help. It is not the amount of money people give but the amount of people giving money. If a hundred people donated a dollar a month, well you can do the math, but my point is, you only need to give a little to help alot. I know this is sounding like a solicitation for money and I guess in a way it is. What I am trying to convey is that no matter where you choose to help in society, it is important to help. If you can't give in monetary form, then maybe lend an hour of volunteer time or go through your pantry and grab a thing or two for a foodbank. There are so many ways to help and so many organizations in need. And most of us are motivated to help a cause close to us and because I am about as close to Autism as I can get without being Autistic myself, of course I support foundations helping those affected by it. I know as Camryns mom that I would LOVE to be able to call a number and have the person on the other end of the line say "I understand and we can help.Someone is on their way to your home right now to help with your daughter. And tomorrow night there is a skating party for your other two daughters so they can meet other kids in their position. And then this weekend you and your husband get four hours to do whatever you want while we watch your children." I can only imagine how that would be. But hopefully one day soon, I won't have to imagine because it will be a reality and our world will get a little bit easier to bear because of the kindness of others.

The American Autism Foundation Inc. is a 501C-3 charitable organization.
Their American Autism Show is broadcast live every Tuesday at 10AM EST and features authors, doctors, self-advocates, therapies and other resources.
Their website is http://www.americanautismfoundation.org/
Email AMERAUTISMFND@aol.com
American Autism Foundation,Inc.
P.O. Box 2285
Tarpon Springs, Florida USA 34689