Webkinz Insider

carmel_mom · 10-29-2009, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by Blackie_Lab2003

My mom always says that normal is just a setting on a dryer.

Heck, I'm definitely not normal.

I would like someone to define "normal." I can understand, possibly, "neurotypical", but ain't none of us "normal."

Originally Posted by jazzinmarch

I don't know how it is that I haven't stumbled upon this thread and joined it yet!!

Welcome! I'm a bit of an insomniac myself (it IS after midnight...). I have found that most of my son's autism is genetically based. He just wound up with a whopping combination of symptoms/quirks from me AND his father. It makes me fascinated with basic biology all over again. (Anyone else do the pea study?)

Originally Posted by tribbles

Love the new kittens that were born...would love to adopt one of the black cats...

Hey, tribbles! I am so glad you are home!

Actually, none of the kittens are all black. There's a white calico, a black calico (the runt), a tortoiseshell (the biggest), a dark tabby & white, a black & white and a tabby. The ONLY male is the tabby, so we've named him Gavroche. I stayed up until 4am re-reading Les Miserables to find names for all those girl kittens. The only named we had picked out from the book was Cosette, which is now the white calico.

There are so many new people (newer than me!) and so much going on. I really look forward to plying more information from melethana! It just seems so rare that we get to talk to an ADULT with autism/Asperger's.

On a side note, if any of the special needs kiddos did NOT get the evil queen dress, send me a PM. I also still have TONS of the entire Dwarf Mine collection. I would LOVE to make a few Halloweens extra special. I'm sure more than just Sophie will want to dress up as many of his/her Webkinz as possible!

Take care all. I'm going to get a little sleep now, put my kids on the bus, walk the dog, then get some more sleep. I'm battling a cold (sinus issues and sore throat), so I better rest while I can. Fortunately, there has been no call to work this week!

tribbles · 10-29-2009, 03:51 AM

Originally Posted by carmel_mom

I'm battling a cold (sinus issues and sore throat), so I better rest while I can. Fortunately, there has been no call to work this week!

I have been battling sinus issues this month...it turns out where I live in Illinois....there is a high mold count. You know how they issue a high pollen count well they have issued a high mold count because its been raining a lot this fall. Get better soon.

Gummy bearz · 10-29-2009, 12:25 PM

after a long month n august i had back surgury

melethana · 10-29-2009, 09:55 PM

Originally Posted by carmel_mom

I really look forward to plying more information from melethana! It just seems so rare that we get to talk to an ADULT with autism/Asperger's.

well Asperger's is more common among boys, and most of the WI members seem to be women. Finding overlap is such divergent groups would not be that common.
Also while Dr. Asperger did first observe AS in the 1940's, many medical / psychological organizations didn't start to recognize AS as being separate from autism until the 1980s, or even later. When your main symptom is not wanting to socialize with your peer group, it can also be written off as just being anti-social.
Today was not a good day. I was being very Aspie today. Sometimes i just get overwhelmed. It feels like the world is too loud, too bright, and too crowded. I know that it is no louder or brighter than it normally is. I can see that I am in a very large room with only 4 other people, all of whom I've know for 5 years or longer, and yet it feels like everything is closing in around me. All I want to do is go home and curl up in bed. Usually this feeling only happens if I am in a very busy store. In those cases, i just check-out and leave as soon as possible. Today that feeling started within an hour of getting to work. I can't just leave work after only being here for an hour. I'm a bit better now, I've just never had a fit / state / episode like that at work for no good reason.
Tomorrow will either be a very good day or a very bad day. If the lil' unicorn my mom sent me is delivered like it's supposed to, it will be a good day. Nothing makes a good day like a present!

If however, my lil' unicorn is not delivered, it will be a bad day.

Let's hope for a timely UPS man!
Anyone who does want to ask me anything to try and see things from their child's perspective, feel free!

Electrabuzz1 · 10-29-2009, 10:28 PM

Hey everyone!! Sorry I have been off for a few days. My DS is having some bad days and I have been a little under the weather with a bad on-going migraine. I am going to be brief here so sorry in advance to anyone I am not acknowledging. My thoughts may seem scattered because they are LOL!!

Originally Posted by carmel_mom

I would like someone to define "normal." I can understand, possibly, "neurotypical", but ain't none of us "normal."

That would make us all clones would it not? That would not be much fun!!

Originally Posted by carmel_mom

Take care all. I'm going to get a little sleep now, put my kids on the bus, walk the dog, then get some more sleep. I'm battling a cold (sinus issues and sore throat), so I better rest while I can. Fortunately, there has been no call to work this week!

Everybody is sick!! I have the migraine this week!! It is a really bad one and it just wears me out. It seems to be one thing after another lately.

Get some rest my friend!!

Originally Posted by jazzinmarch

I am not pro- or anti- immunization, I believe everyone has to make their own informed decision of what suits their child's needs.

This is a tough one. I am trying to educate myself as much as possible but it is hard to know what or whom to believe.

Originally Posted by jazzinmarch

In general, he's an amazingly polite, well-mannered kid, but he turned into an impossible, defiant child with screaming fits, kicking the walls around his bed at night till after midnight because he didn't want to sleep there (looking back, I can see the whys and hows of what was really going on)... and THEN Halloween, with all it's scary, negative images that he couldn't get out of his head made him snap and he would sit in my arms, rocking, repeating "comfort" words over and over and over, and when he would finally go to sleep, he would still be twitching and shuddering and whispering his 'comfort' words.

My son really struggles with all of the special occasions!! It has gotten to the point the my DH and I dread the "special" mornings. Christmas, Easter . . . they are really tough mornings for him. You have this idea in your head about what these mornings will be like with your children but it never turns out that way!! It is really tough for all of us!

Originally Posted by tribbles

Ok update on me....I'm home. *gets out the party hat to celebrate being home for longer than 2 days.* the apt complex has finished painting in the hallway and when they put the lock-box over the thermostat they left my temp alone...its currently set at 74 degrees. which isnt too hot or too cold for my lungs and body. Most thermostats are set at 70 degrees in the other apts but I have a Drs note that i needed the temp warmer. I'm still pretty busy since coming home and still haven't unpacked my luggage. But I have no time...I don't mind living out of a suit case. great way to unpack them just take the clean clothes out every day. lol

I am so glad you are home Tribbles!! There is no place like it. How does the Apartment look with it's new paint?

Originally Posted by melethana

Tomorrow will either be a very good day or a very bad day. If the lil' unicorn my mom sent me is delivered like it's supposed to, it will be a good day. Nothing makes a good day like a present!

If however, my lil' unicorn is not delivered, it will be a bad day.

Let's hope for a timely UPS man!
Anyone who does want to ask me anything to try and see things from their child's perspective, feel free!

I am really hoping you get that Unicorn. When you feel a bad day coming on what kind of coping methods do you use?

I have a question I would love to hear your perspective on. Whenever my son has an activity to go to. Even the ones he loves he is a major pain in the **** to get out the door. He will throw tantrums, remove his clothing, refuse to eat, hit, kick . . . anything and everything miserable he can think of until he walks out the door, then suddenly he morphs into Mr. Sunshine. It is literally night and day from one side of the door to the other. I could understand if we were going to someplace he did not like but he does this before going to places he loves. And when we get to the destination the people are always commenting on how happy he is and what a pleasure he is!! If they only knew what it took to get there!!

carmel_mom · 10-30-2009, 06:50 AM

Originally Posted by Electrabuzz1

That would make us all clones would it not? That would not be much fun!!

Oh Heavens, no! Insanity is like autism. There are many different levels. You KNOW people who seem "normal" have some weird little quirk that only close friends know about. Whereas those of us who are more insane don't care who knows about our quirks.

In general, though, think about everybody you know. Are any of them what you'd consider "normal"? Nobody I know is. Some people just cope with their craziness better than others. That is why I want a definition of "normal". What is NORMAL exactly?

tribbles · 10-30-2009, 11:29 AM

Hey buzzy,

Paint job looks the same as i left....but You have the fresh paint smell. I dont have much time today i have less than one hr to get up out of bed and ready to talk to a business and pay them for a $400 bill from that auto accident almost 2 years ago. That's what my personal insurance didn't pay. Just got to see if they billed my medicare yet. If they didn't bill medicare then I may not have to pay that $$ and I do have to see my attorney about this bill too. So much for a care free early payday and laundry day. As of today i will be paying $80 to the chiropractor, $70 to the Computer store to repair my laptop. (keyboard broke) And maybe $25 for the PT. and then i will be broke for the rest of the month. Now all i have to figure out is how am i going to eat a full month on $16 food stamps, after paying all those bills. Anyone want to help me run around the room for me and scream??? Both ankles are so sore i can barely walk on them. Any takers???? LOL

Also I am glad to be home with reliable internet. makes it so much easier to keep up with everyone here. My great nephew is not going trick or treating this year. so he will be helping hand out candy at the house dressed up as a monkey. So I get to drive over to my parents house...and give him the Banana cookies for the Little monkey. Next week is his 1st birthday...so he gets teething cookies from me. I have never seen a kid go ape about banana flavored foods. But if you set anything banana flavored in front of him he will eat it all down as fast as he can. My niece will be coming home today. They found the same problem as her brother. So now she will get the extra help at school. Im just glad she can do her trick or treating this year...with it being her last year to do it. Anyway im out of here have a wonderful day and wish me luck with the bills,

tribbles

melethana · 10-30-2009, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by Electrabuzz1

I am really hoping you get that Unicorn. When you feel a bad day coming on what kind of coping methods do you use?

I have a question I would love to hear your perspective on. Whenever my son has an activity to go to. Even the ones he loves he is a major pain in the **** to get out the door. He will throw tantrums, remove his clothing, refuse to eat, hit, kick . . . anything and everything miserable he can think of until he walks out the door, then suddenly he morphs into Mr. Sunshine. It is literally night and day from one side of the door to the other. I could understand if we were going to someplace he did not like but he does this before going to places he loves. And when we get to the destination the people are always commenting on how happy he is and what a pleasure he is!! If they only knew what it took to get there!!

Lil' Unicorn actually got to work today before I did, so :happy dance:
I can go from being fine to having a bad day in much less than a minute, so there's no time to do anything preemptive. If I can remove myself from whatever started the bad day, I usually start to feel better, less closed in. Going outside and just being alone for 5-10 minutes is usually enough. Yesterday it was having 3 people stand right behind me, and I mean right behind my chair, because there was something that I needed to right away for a customer. I said “I’ve been doing this for 10 years, you really don’t need to stand here and watch me” That wasn’t enough of a hint, and you really can’t tell your boss to go away. So yep, I had an audience standing there watching me work. That just makes me so nervous. When I’m nervous, I make mistakes. When I make mistakes, I get frustrated, and on it goes.
I think you and my mom would have a lot to discuss about getting children out the door. Kindergarten and first grade were very difficult. I just didn’t want to go. My mom would tell be to put on my shirt, and I would. Then she’d tell me to put on my socks, so I would, but I’d take off the shirt. If you had asked me at that time why I didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t have been able to explain it to you. My main problem was that I did not socialize well with my peer group. I was teased a lot. I was the youngest in my class. I turned 5 the summer before kindergarten, but there were several students who had turned 6 that summer. I was also the smallest. Not abnormally small, just if you get 24 children together, one of them will be the smallest. I also raised my hand for every question (instead of just blurting out the answer) and knew the answers to everything. I thought my classmates were immature, ill-behaved, and sticky. I was very concerned about people leaving dirty sticky fingerprints. My mom would tell me that if I didn’t go to school I might miss learning something new. I loved to learn new things, still do. I explained to her that I was not learning anything new. That I was the only one in my class that already knew how to read. I don’t want to sound conceited, but I taught myself to read when I was 3 ½. So while the rest of the children here struggling with the Bernstein Bears, I was already reading my mom’s old Nancy Drew novels. The rest of class didn’t start to catch up with me in reading skills until the end of the third grade. It actually is not that unusual for someone with Asperger’s to develop reading and language skills at a younger age than is typical.
All this being said, I generally did like school once I was there. I had my name on a cardboard sign on my desk. I had my own personal box of crayons, with my name on it. I was very in to having my name written on things that were mine. I think it was so everyone would know that they were not allowed to leave sticky fingerprints on it. I liked doing worksheets. I could fill in the answers to the questions very quickly, and then I would get to color in all the pictures. At that age, all our worksheets had pictures. All my teachers would send reports home that I was “careful and conscientious” Yes, that is redundant. Yes, I did point that out to my mom. It was just getting over my feelings of apprehension at leaving home and being among sticky children was a struggle. It’s like jumping into a swimming pool. It’s cold and unpleasant at first, but after a few minutes, it’s rather nice.

meowsrus · 10-31-2009, 01:11 AM

I hope that I am finding you all healthy or feeling better!!! We've been trying to catch ghosts when we weren't doing school projects and school parties, or getting ready for school parties. Sadly we have had more freezing-up and crashes than ghosts (2 of them). Oh well. Hubby is away doing the Ghost adventures show- on now, so he will be back home tomorrow night after all of the breakdown (over 18,000 feet of cable + the cameras).

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL day tomorrow and I will properly catch up after I have had some proper sleep (don't sleep when he is away because when I finally fall asleep, I do NOT wake up easy at all and that terrifies me).