I absolutely love fidgets! The students at the school in which I work love them, too! But have you ever tried ordering fidgets from one of those pricey catalogs? If so, I think we all can attest that they’re, well…pricey! One fidget alone can cost $7.00 or more. It’s enough to “break the bank" (so-to-speak), especially when you’re on a tight budget (which most teachers are)!

Product Name: Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest
Price: Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Small – $80.95
Price: Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Medium – $86.95
Price: Achievement Weighted Pressure Vest – Large – $90.95
Company Name: Achievement Products
Company Website: www.achievement-products.com
Company Phone Number: 1-800-373-4699

Apps for iPhones and iPads
We all know that iPhones and iPads are not just for wireless communication. You can use their technology for just about anything. Best of all, iPhones and iPads are great tools to work on pre-literacy, language and social skills. We also know that not all apps are great and many times, when you are trying to decide which ones to download, the descriptions end up being more confusing then helpful.

Whoo-hoo! I was out of town on a girls’ weekend where I could FINALLY relax and not think about autism.
The second night, I called my husband, Greg, to see how things were going. He sounded a little down, but that was to be expected since he was in charge of chasing our three young kids for a few days. “Ha!” I selfishly thought, “He is getting a taste of what my life is like every day, all day long.”
Greg showed great self-control that night on the phone not telling me what had happened earlier that day with Lizzie. He knew it would have ruined my ability to enjoy myself on a rare weekend away. I found out later that he had had the scare of his life.
He had taken the kids to the nature preserve to play at the park. Seems simple enough, right? Run around the park, swing a little, and maybe go down a few slides. That would surely kill an hour or two.
Only it wasn’t simple. The park was super busy that Saturday. Our youngest, Noah, had to be carried or in a stroller, our oldest, Andrew was an extremely active 6-year old, and then there was 4-year old Lizzie, a wanderer with autism, who had no understanding of danger or the consequences her actions could bring.

This is a common thing among children of all ages and many parents are told this is normal. We cannot expect children to appreciate a 5-course meal, but we can expect them to eat more than those 5-10 foods. I like to call it the “Mc Nugget Diet”, it sounds funny but it’s true. We wonder why our kids will only eat nuggets, fries, chips, pasta, and bread. Many times I see children that are “picky eaters” and they come in with other symptoms too that may include poor sleep, excessive gas, bloating, constipation, food allergies, eczema and behavior problems. How is this linked?