Great Giveaways Posted On Our Forum

Have you visited the AutismLearningFelt Forum lately? If not, you are missing out on some great giveaways that have been posted in there.

Some of the giveaways that are currently listed include a Warm Buddy Warming Pillow, a Keurig B60 Special Edition System, and Sid the Science Kid Gotta Know Microphone. Visit the forums to find the links to these great giveaways.

The AutismLearningFelt forum is a great place to meet up with other parents of autistic children. Feel free to join in on current discussions or start a new one. Do you need advice or just want to connect with another adult that understands what you are going through? I'd love to have you join us.

Connect With Other Autism Parents

Have you been over to the AutismLearningFelt Forum? I've made a couple of changes. I moved the Giveaways Around The Blogosphere into the forum. This is so that I don't have to keep up with the ones that have expired and delete them.

I am trying to pull in new members, and to get the current ones more active. Getting a new forum off the ground takes time, I know. I really want it to be a place where we can discuss anything and everything. Connecting with other parents of autistic children can be a big help. You can discuss things that they understand, because they have been there or are still going through that.

Any autism parent will tell you that, unless the other person is raising an autistic child, they can not truly understand what you are going through. Because of that, advice and support is best when they come from someone in a similar position as you.

If you are in need of support or just feel like chatting, come on over to the forum. I'd love to get to know all of my readers better. Feel free to ask me any questions, too.

UPrinting and BlogHer 2010 Sponsorship Opportunity

Are you a blogger? Are you a member of the UPrinting Network Ning Group? If you are not, that’s alright. You can put in an application to join. This is a private Ning group for bloggers that wish to work with UPrinting. They offer review and giveaway opportunities for bloggers. There are groups to join in the UPrinting Network Ning Group for interacting with other bloggers that share your interests.


I have worked with UPrinting in the past. I found them to be extremely accommodating and caring about our interactions. I’ve done a couple of giveaways for their printing services. In return, I was given the exact service for free as a thank you. I sold them advertisement space on my blog and am working on re-newing that. I enjoyed my business relations with them because it was a no hassle arrangement. I am looking forward to renewing a relationship with them.

If you are already a member of their group, where have you been? Have you checked in on what great things are going on in the Ning Group? I would like to share the latest activity in the Forums. UPrinting is trying to gauge interest from it’s members in regard to a BlogHer Sponsorship program.

“The BlogHer sponsorship package contest is being reconsidered. If you are interested in blogging for a chance to go to BlogHer (Flight, Hotel and Conference Pass Included), then please start a petition so I can try to get a budget for that contest.”

They are looking for a couple of hundred bloggers to participate in a blogging contest for a chance to win a sponsorship package. Right now, it is a no go. If enough of us reply on the petition in the forum, they will reconsider this. As you know, I am trying to raise enough money from sponsors to go to BlogHer 2010. I would love the opportunity to participate in this contest. If you are a member, and you would be interested in participating in a UPrinting BlogHer Contest, please head over to the forum and let them know. You can click on this forum link to take you right to the petition discussion. (This link will take you to the Sign-In page and then to the discussion.)

If you are not a member, you can apply to join. I encourage you to do so. I hope to see you over there.

Getting Through a Bad Week

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If you have been on our new AutismLearningFelt forum, than you know that I have had a difficult week. My son has a new teacher this year. She is pushing him to actually work, instead of just being an observer of the classroom. Logically, I think that this is good. He needs to learn to be a functional member of the classroom. On the other hand, the emotional mommy side of me wants to scream at her to leave him alone.

My son doesn’t like to work. His writing skills are very poor. He doesn’t like to use the word processor keyboard or computer keyboard to communicate. His augmentative communication device has not been approved and ordered yet. It is being purchased using his CAP services money. My son has a short attention span. He is distracted easily, and does not like to sit and attend to a task for more than a couple of minutes.

It’s frustrating for him to have to sit and do work. He is extremely intelligent, and the subjects that he is being taught are boring for him. His teacher does not want to advance his materials until he has demonstrated that he is knowledgeable in what he is currently being taught.

I’m trying to get her to understand that part of the problem is that he is bored. I have set up an IEP meeting for us to discuss everything that is going on and to find a solution. The other day, my son tried to stay home from school. He “told” me that he hates school. This was really hard for me because he has always loved school.

I have been struggling with what my next move should be. I spent a whole day crying because I felt like I was failing my son. Then, I had a discussion with my husband. He told me that we should give him some time. My husband feels that our son is just testing us and his teacher. That he needs to be pushed and that he needs to know that there are consequences to not doing his work. Having his free play time taken away at school and having his favorite items taken away at home are why he is unhappy.

We went through this with the potty training. In the end, he was fully potty trained within a month. The last two days of school have been better. His teacher concentrated on writing instead of typing. He finished his school work and has earned all of his items back. His teacher and I decided that since he was showing an interest, and some progress, in writing, we should concentrate on that.

As moms, we go through our daily lives with our families wanting everything to be perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, and we stress over it. When something happens that upsets the fragile balance that we have created, it can seem overwhelming. It doesn’t take much to through me into a tailspin. Luckily, this doesn’t happen as much now as it did when my son was younger. It helps having my husband here with me. He has a way of calming me down that I really appreciate. He sees things differently, and knows how to present his side to me in a manner that will not put me on the defensive. He reminded me that we are a team and we will deal with things as a team.

I hope you will join me over in the AutismLearningFelt forums and share your experiences. I was helped a lot there this past week. It was nice to be able to discuss with another mom what was going on in my life and know that she truly understood.