Category: Uncategorized

Looks like Autism runs in the family.

I am actively working with Parker daily to help him learn his words. I have always done this even though I might sound stupid. On one of my videos that now has almost 3000 views, I sound dumber than dumb and got some comments that said Looks like Autism runs in the family. LOL Ha Ha. The world today just really sucks and people are just not the same anymore.

Of course, there are still people out there that care about everyone and normally that is what I am all about. But with recent events that happened to us, I am totally seeing that people just suck and it is so sad.

We could all be killed one day by North Korea and none of it would matter so why not be nice to everyone. We are not all the same and if we were we would get tired of ourselves. LOL.

I think people that are mean hate themselves or are jealous of your situation and want to be more like you. I had a girl comment on my video where I acted like a fool to get my son excited and keep engaged in my conversation and it was horrible. She said so many mean things about my son. But I said oh well that’s her opinion. Others went crazy on her and she said her friend wrote that.

No matter how stupid I sound or how stupid I look I make sure I keep my son engaged in everything. It is paying off. It’s such a reward to see the results of acting like a fool in front of the world.

Here are a few videos of Parker that are amazing to us. If you saw him before this you would know what an accomplishment this is to us.

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed watching some of Parker’s videos. 

How about that one with him doing that puzzle. The puzzle is designed to have an empty peg spot but he didn’t like that at all. He figured out how to fix it and he was really thinking about it.

Follow my blog so I can check out what you do.  

 

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Dawn Meyers Author of RaisingAutism.me

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Children in New Jersey diagnosed with #Autism is 1 in 41.

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Children in New Jersey diagnosed with #Autism is 1 in 41.

Our boy is 16 and we have raised him with nothing but love and participation.

His school took away a lot of his services. He gets no Occupational Therapy and only 15 minutes of Individual Speech once a week and 15 minutes of Group Speech a week.

He is nonverbal besides the words that we teach him daily. But still, hasn’t developed a full sense of punctuation. He developed a sensory behavior and it was tough to figure out why he was doing it. But when we did we asked for Occupational Therapy back in school because he had gotten therapy in the squeeze machine and we believe this is why he is doing this behavior at home.

The school called DYFS on me instead and told me to get in-home services for him since they see no behaviors at school. They had us investigated for abuse and neglect with the Department of Children and Families. DYFS. It was found to be Not Established.

We are so disheartened by this situation. Our son has gone to school every day and is always healthy and happy. The behavior therapist told us that what Parker was doing at home was an attention getting behavior and he is begging for attention.

This is a sensory behavior caused by taking away the squeeze machine. It all matched up with his extreme weight gain and the sensory behavior he was now doing at home.
When I begged for them to just let him use it a couple times a month they said he could come down there anytime he wanted. I was also told to get a Doctor script for Occupational Therapy and I did and they denied it and said he can still use the OT/PT room on an as needed basis. He doesn’t talk and doesn’t realize he needs to go there.

I don’t understand what is going on and I am fighting for our family every day. Howard and I have always been 100 percent participating in school. Always at meetings. Always come to events, parties and would drive miles and miles to find something Parker needed to have to participate in classroom events.

We hardly look like a family that neglects our boy. You all can see here on Facebook and on our YouTube channel Parkersmom215 that both my boys have been nothing but loved and cared for. I don’t see how and autistic behavior is caused by us.

I don’t understand why someone that has never come to your home or seen anything you ever do for your child would pick up the phone and do something like that to a family.

Especially a school that is supposed to provide autistic services. I don’t see where he is even getting any services.

He wants to talk so bad and we are teaching him every day just like I always have. I am a kick ass mom and my husband is so supportive and loves his children so much. He works his butt off daily to provide for us. The divorce rate with Autism is very high and always has been and to see a man still raising his family right there should be a sign of nothing but love and participation.

I know I shouldn’t rant on here and usually don’t but I want others to know what has happened to me. I know others out there that have had the same happen to them. We are not the ones you should be looking at.

How about the families that don’t participate in anything at all or don’t show up to meetings that pertain to their children. How about the boy I saw on the news tied up and sitting next to a house in a vacant lot.

The therapists at the meeting that I asked to have with everyone who has anything to do with Parker on January 18th told me that I had to tell in home services that we feared for our lives when my son got upset and we also fear for his. We were told we had to tell them he is so much worse than he is so that we get the services we need in place for him at home. I said they would take him away from us. They said not necessarily and if they took him to crisis for a couple days it would not be so bad. When I told them I was helping my mom when I could because she had breast cancer surgery so what he was doing at home might have gotten a little out of control but now I will have to make sure I can’t help my mom anymore so I will be there all the time with him like I always am. The behavior therapist said I am sorry this is such bad timing for you.

I am still so sad over that meeting. The people you trust to take care of your kid every day at school would allow him to be traumatized at a crisis center when he absolutely does not deserve to be there. They even said he has no behavior log in school anymore because his aggressive behaviors are not existent in school. Then why do you want him to go away and why would you say I need to get in home services. Something I have begged to get for years and years when yes I would say we really needed it. But now our boy has calmed down a lot and knows what is expected of him and tries hard every day to let us know what it is that he really wants.

I spoke to the new social worker there several times since September and asked for help in the situation because we believed it was sensory. I also asked for a couple other things she could help me with and I got this instead. I am getting no help from them.

I really think someone better hurry up and figure out what is causing Autism so we can cure it. Soon there will be no one that doesn’t have #Autism.

Our Autism Experience

I wrote Our Autism Experience 4 years ago and I never shared it with the world as much as I wanted to. So here it is. Enjoy.

I thought I would write about the Autism Experience. Our Autism Experience. Sounds like the name of a ride at Disney. With the rate of Autism rising daily maybe it should be. I know my experience has been a ride. An experience that everyone should feel. To be in someone else’s shoes is the best way to learn.

Imagine if we could only feel like our children do then we would know what they need help with. Imagine if we could feel like others that raise children with Autism.

My experience so far is rather hard to talk about. Just a lot to say is more like it. Not that I don’t regret every minute of it. Children with any disability can teach us lots. Instead of teaching them they teach us.

Every time I go to a Children’s Hospital I see how lucky some of us do have it. I see Children worse off than my boy and parents that I am sure they cry themselves to sleep every night.

I feel sad that I ever dare complain that I have a child that is healthy to some extent. He may have problems communicating but he has full use of his limbs. My boy may not be able to process things like we do but I know I have a 99.9 percent chance that he will wake up tomorrow morning. Others don’t have that chance.

So who am I to complain that I have to make sure that I never sleep at night with fear that my child will creep out into the night. He has done this many times before and to my horror and my joy he has done this while completely naked. In turn was returned to us safe when a good person called the police to report what he was seeing. If my child were not naked he may have gotten farther and would have brought him right out in the middle of The Roosevelt Blvd.

I thank God every day that I have the strength to keep him safe from harm. I thank God every day I see him smile at me. I thank God every day for his Guardian Angel that watches over him when I can’t.

My Autism Experience has been nothing to complain about. I get to stay home now and grow old with my kids. If my child were not Autistic I would have no choice to stay with the career I had built over 11 years.

My Autism Experience is nothing to complain about. We save lots of money cause it is hard for us to go out. It is really hard to find support when your child could hit a person and we don’t understand why.

So you see I should not complain about a thing. But I still seem to feel so much pain. I know how lucky I have it but yet I still feel hopeless. Not sure if this will ever get better for him. Will he ever speak to me so he can tell me how he is really feeling? Will he ever stop hurting others so we can take him out more often and show him more of the World?

What seems to be happening is I am learning to live The Autism Experience with him.

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Dawn Meyers  Author of RaisingAutism.me

 

Until Someone Told Us Different (#Autism)

A video series by Dawn Meyers about the struggles of our family dealing with a situation of Autism, State, and School. It’s an interesting story if you would like to listen. It is broken up into 8 parts so you can come back to it. The story is quite long and I could have written it but I decided to record it so you can just relax and listen and see some of our family photos. I am happy to do this because it helps me and helps raise awareness of what is going on out there in the world of autism. Thanks for watching and leave comments, please. I would love your feedback.

My YouTube Channel Parkersmom215 / Facebook dawnmeyers96 /

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope you enjoyed my video series. I know I babbled. But it’s kinda like watching a movie where you need to build the characters before you tell the story. I did both at the same time. Hope it wasn’t too painful. LOL. It was a long night. I was up till after 5 am. recording this. I don’t even remember what I said most of the time but I do know what my point was.

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Dawn Meyers Author of raisingautism.me

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

Wishing that you all had a Happy Thanksgiving 2016. 

We all sure have a lot to be thankful for. 

I wonder if the Pilgrims ever had a food fight?

I wonder if they ever said I won’t be there if so and so will be?

I wonder if they ever banned a family member from coming to dinner again?

I wonder if some Pilgrims had no one to spend Thanksgiving with?

I wonder if the Pilgrims had to feed the homeless? 

I wonder if the Pilgrims ever had to work and leave their family so someone else could make more money?

I wonder if they actually cooked a turkey?

I wonder if someone refused to help clean up?

I wonder if someone took home all the leftovers?

I wonder if they had parades that made someone lots of money?

Thanksgiving is not what it used to be for sure.

People have lost sight of what it is all about. 

This year I celebrated with 17 members of my family. 

The dinner was hosted by my Mother who is undergoing radiation treatments after breast cancer surgery. 

She did an awesome job taking care of everything and I helped her as much as I could.

I raise a family with an autistic boy. 

I also run a company with my hubby and I am addicted to making money online.

Along with having my messy house to clean.

I am thankful this year to still have our dog with us. Misty is an Australian Cattle dog that is nearly 17. 

I am thankful to have my Mother here with us and pray she will continue for many more years to have the whole family together again at her house. 

My Grandmother was not there this year at the table and it was kind of weird. 

Last year we all went out for dinner because that would have been the first year of her not at the table.  

My nephew Bryan was scheduled to work at Vans.

Is it that important to buy sneakers on Thanksgiving night. 

My niece Brittany living her dream working for Disney so she was unable to come home for Thanksgiving because it’s so important to make Disney a lot more money.

At dinner tonight and all the week before I got to hear of dear friends just about to die. Others in the hospital that may never be at another Thanksgiving dinner again.

I feel for the homeless who never get to be with family.

Yet we are all dreading sometimes to be with ours.

So I hope while you were sitting around the table tonight that you gave thanks for who you got to spend it with.

Thanksgiving 2011 was celebrated on November 24th and here is a picture of one of my boys that day at my mom’s house for dinner while family we have lost were sitting at the table with us.

Happy Thanksgiving 2016

Come On Be Happy

Come on be Happy. Hard to do sometimes huh? You could be happy every day. 

If it’s to be it’s up to me. You make it happen. What you think about you bring about.  

Your brain is a powerful part of your body. You may say or think that it is your arms or your legs cause you work out. You may have muscles and look huge and buff but you couldn’t lift a car off someone unless your brain told you to.  

What you are telling your brain every day is, however, dangerous unless it is that you are a wonderful person. You are a happy person. You are a successful person. 

However, most of us don’t do that. We tell ourselves negative things every day. We can be the happiest people and still be doing it all wrong.  

When you see something you want do you say: I will never be able to afford that. I will never have enough money for that. I could never own something like that. Or do you say: someday I will own that. Someday that will be mine. I will be able to afford that someday.  

Do you call your friends daily and always say: I’m fat, I’m broke,I can’t afford to pay my bills. I will never get out of debt? 

I am sure many of us say exactly that and when your brain hears it everyday IT OBEYS YOU! So you will never lose weight or you will never get out of debt or own that big house, that nice car. 

Chances are the only reason you don’t have whatever it is you want in life is because of you. You are your own destroyer. You can bring your life down to the lowest point just by saying the same negative things to yourself. 

So come on be happy and quit saying negative things to yourself. My Team has a better day because of these couple of things.  

 

Learn How

 

           

 

     

It was just a sign, But it was a Sign…

 

    It was just a sign, but it was a SIGN… 

Election Signs

On Election Day the Trump Pence sign that just showed up there that day was stolen from me. It was just a sign but it was a SIGN…

Thanks for stopping by and checking out what I am talking about. I am never a negative person but unfortunate for all of us there are people like that all around us and they try their darndest to bring us down with them. 

I am sure we are all thanking GOD that those commercials are over. That the fighting has stopped. That people stop breaking and burning all the Trump Pence signs. 

I had two Township Committee runners stop by in the months before the election and plead their case to me at my front door. I had met one of them at my door a couple times before. They are always trying to get me to fill in the absentee ballot and they will come and pick it up. Then they ask me if they can leave a sign. I never liked to leave the ballot with them for as far as I concerned they may open them and throw them away.  

Christine Yenner visited me first and put her sign there on my lawn. Mike Pantaleo came to my door a couple weeks later. There was even a freeholder DeMarco Christy sign on the other side of my lawn.   

But I never had a Trump Pence sign until the day of the election. I would never even know where to get one. My son and I were going out and I was showing him a photo on my phone that was really symbolic and explaining to him what it means to me. Then he said Hey when did you get a Trump Pence sign. I looked over and said what the heck. How did that get there? Who put that sign on my lawn? 

Before my Grandmom died on tax day 2015 we always discussed Donald Trump running for President. We both agreed they would never let him win. I am sad she wasn’t here to see history made with me. But I know she was the reason that sign showed up. She was telling me they were going to win. 

When I came back from being out with my son I decided to take a picture of my lawn and I posted it on FaceBook stating that the battle of the politicians is on my front lawn. The signs were everywhere. Even across the street. But no Trump signs anywhere. Just in my yard that day. 

I posted it and got lots of likes and comments in minutes including a friend that said I would burn that sign but that’s just me. I answered saying I would probably get thrown out of my development if I did that. But I am sure someone else will do it for me. 

Then later I got to say to her don’t worry about it anymore it was just stolen. She said geez that was fast. I said I know who did it and they just lied to me about it. Oh well; it was funny while it lasted.

So here is the sad part about it. It was a person that works for me that had to have done it. She came back to the office that night after a hard days work and said to us so you are Trump promotors. I said oh that sign out there. It’s funny it just showed up today and I don’t know who put it there.  

Where she parked her truck she just about tripped on the sign and stated that when she saw it coming around the corner her friend in the truck said run it over. I said oh please don’t touch my sign. I want to keep it. It met something to me and my husband said besides Dawn worked for him. She said so loud You Worked For HIM WOW. Why would you work for that pig.

Back then when I was 19 it was a dream of mine to work for him and I finally got to. I really liked what I did. But that’s another story for later. Who wouldn’t want to work for the most successful man in real estate? 

When my husband walked her out to her truck he came back in and said well the sign is gone. I said what who would have done that except for the friend that was in the truck. It was there when she came in and gone when she left and I had a neighbor earlier say to me if you don’t want the sign I will take it. I said Nah I will keep it. It means something to me. He said to keep it and put it away it may be worth something someday.

I called her and said do you know what happened to my sign? Did Deb see anyone come on my lawn and take my sign? It was right there in front of her there would be no way she would not have seen someone take it. She said no she didn’t see anything and I don’t have you sign. I said wow ok that is very strange. But oh well I guess it is just a sign.     

After I wrote on my FB that I knew who did it and they lied to me she wrote a comment saying you may think you know who did it but I didn’t touch your stupid sign I would have never dirtied my hands with it. I was so hurt that she disrespected me like that. After all, I do support her entire family with a job. I answered and said I never said it was you. Why would you say something like that to me and why are you starting a fight. She said OMG I was kidding.

All I can do now is just forget about it. I wrote it down for the universe to take it away and dispose of this negative energy.  So I can have room in my heart again for people that deserve it.

It was just a sign, but it was SIGN.