“I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about
I feel good, in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day
Good day sunshine”
The Beatles couldn’t have said it any better. It’s spring and beautiful outside. Let’s take advantage of this feel-good time of the year by doing something so simple, yet so effective for our children……GOING ON WALKS!

Easter’s on it’s way!
Just a couple more days until Easter. The best tip we can give families when it comes to special occasions, special events, holidays and anything that your child will experience that it not ordinarily in their day to day routine is to PRACTICE! For example, an Easter egg hunt is not likely a part of your child’s daily, weekly or monthly routine so we need to MAKE IT A ROUTINE in order for your child to succeed during that family, community or church Easter egg hunt. How do we do this? PRACTICE!

Angie attended her annual "College Girls Weekend" this past weekend and that meant a Potter Boys Weekend for me and #1 and #2. This would be our last official Potter Boys Weekend since we will be having our first daughter in May. Next year....Potter Boys and a Girl Weekend!
I had three main goals for the weekend:
1) be positive ~ I wanted to do something that would allow each boy to shine and feel proud about what they created
2) be educational ~ I wanted the boys to learn things that would be valuable (not just today) for the rest of their lives

And so it begins. It feels like we’ve been waiting for the beginning of the action portion of our diagnosis forever instead of since, well, the diagnosis. There’s a profound statement for your Monday morning.

The rate of Autism in the United States is now reported to be 1 in every 91 children. The "official" prevalence rate is up 50% from 1 in every 150 children just a few short years ago. Am I speechless? Am I surprised? Am I at a loss for words? Am I dumbfounded beyond belief? Are you nuts? Of course I am not surprised, nor bewildered, and I am definitely not speechless. You don't have to be part of the Autism Community for long before you realize that the "official" numbers have been inaccurate for a long time.

The twisted joy of watching America's Funniest Home Videos, the new Bobb'e show, and the genius of despair.com brings viewers back time and time again. Is it sharing in the universal language of "suffering caused by stupidity" at someone's expense, is it the calm we get from thanking our lucky stars it was not us caught on tape doing the same thing, or is it just plain fun to enjoy a good laugh now and then that brings us back?

Having choices in life is a luxury. Choosing what you will eat for breakfast, what career you will pursue, which friends you will keep up with over time are luxuries that some with Autism will never know. Choices.
Let's consider some of the different parenting profiles that exist and the choices parents make that give them one of these labels. Although this isn't an exhaustive list (because I made it up), it captures a fair amount of the different profiles that represent parenting styles we see every day.
There is the parent that is...
1) over scheduled and likes to tell the world

Autism Tip #2: Don't Count Me Out
It never feels good to be the one left out of a group. Being the outsider looking in is not the position most of us want to be in. Are they talking about me? Are they laughing at me? Are they having fun at my expense and I don't even know it? Where are my friends? Who will want to be with me?

Like many people on this site I tend to blog when in crisis mode. That is when I look for support and info and knowledge and a community of people who might just understand.
My aspergers daughter has a brain disorder. A neurological disorder that means her brain does not function in a "normal" way. She is very immature for her age and unsophisticated.