Boog

Boog

Friday, June 23, 2017

You Want a Piece of Me?


If you thought the title of this blog might also be the lyrics to a Britney Spears song ....you were right! Sorry that it will be in your head all day now 😬


Anyhoo, I just wanted to chat about my opinion of the symbol for Autism, the puzzle piece. This is **just** my opinion and I am by no means trying to throw any sort of shade or spill any kind or flavor of tea. I am actually VERY thankful for the puzzle piece because it is a symbol that makes people think of Autism and isn't used by any other group. For example, the primary colors are also used for LGBTQ+ people and the color blue is used for several other types of awareness.

Now that that's out of the way, I want to explain why I'm over the puzzle piece.

Initially Autism was even more misunderstood and incredibly difficult to pinpoint or even define than it still is today. It totally makes sense - we need to complete the puzzle - we don't know why/how/what Autism really is. It's a puzzle and we need the missing piece(s).

There are so many theories and studies being done because we still don't know everything about Autism. However, we know a lot more than before and for that I am truly thankful.

I guess what I'm trying to state is, I'm not looking for a piece of my son that's missing. My son has Autism and if he didn't he would be a completely different child. I don't want a completely different Boog, so I have all my pieces - does that make sense?

Now that I've been an Autism Mom for several years, I look at the spectrum in a much different way. Yes, I do want science to continue to come up with ways that make life easier for people with Autism. Things like communication, sensory issues, socialization and more. If you think about it, that statement could be used to describe a million other things. We know it's there, we want to help, we need to go forward to help.

I choose to use "Neurodiversity" as my focus. To me it means that there are many, many people of whom think "differently" and we need to celebrate those thought processes too. Neurodiversity isn't just for Autism, it's also about supporting people with ADHD, OCD, BPD, Aspergers, and about a thousand other things that make people who they are. These diagnoses describe a part of who that person is and if removed, most would be a different person.

Here is a partial explaination via Wikipedia:



The entire definition/explaination can be found on Wikipedia here.

Look, I am no scientologist trying to say that mental illness doesn't exist or need treatment. I'm also not going to jump on Oprah's couch or call anyone "glib" either. I just mean that we're starting to understand just how many people think differently. Those people shouldn't feel they are beneath anyone else. Different does not mean less. 

I can look back at my high school and college days and think of so many kids that were just thought of as extremely shy, when in reality they may have had Aspergers and social situations were very hard for them.

So by celebrating and supporting neurodiversity you're including many types of people under that umbrella. Good news: the umbrella is massive and we have room enough for all.


So basically less this:



And more this:




***Again, this is just my very humble opinion and I have absolutely no intention of offending anyone***



Peace, Love & Acceptance,
Boog's Mommy




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Saturday, June 10, 2017

Summer Water Safety


Please share this. So many kids with Autism are attracted to water.

This is a real danger when kids play in water. It's not hard to notice, but here are the signs: 


I made an image of the warning signs you can save, print and share:



There's no such thing as being too safe!

-Boog's Mommy




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Friday, June 2, 2017

A Real American Girl



When you think of the word "bravery" several things come to mind; soldiers, people protesting, a fireman leaving a burning building with someone safely in their arms.

But actually, that's just a couple types of bravery.

Sometimes bravery comes in forms you wouldn't expect. I read about some today and wanted to share it.

There is an incredibly kind, interesting and bright girl that runs a very popular American Girl news website. She is often the first to have pictures of new outfits, information on sales and exciting details  of upcoming events. She also just happens to have Autism.

I'm going to link a post below that she made recently about being at school and someone calling her the "r-word". If I could erase one word from existence it would be that word.

We Are Special - by Sydney


I get praise from others for fighting for my son, standing up and making people listen.

Do you know what's braver than that? Facing that ignorance in the face and having the courage to know that person is wrong.

You know what's even braver than that? Posting about it on the internet so it might help someone else with Autism.


Thank you Sydney, for being BRAVE and for being YOU - the best example of an American Girl 💗

-Boog's Mommy


P.S. Don't forget to tell any doll lover in your life to check out Sydney's awesome site! She works very hard on it and it shows:







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