State parks usually offer free programs.

Are you sure your allergist is doing all he can? I might look around to see if another allergist might have a different approach. We went to an allergist who had also been a pediatrician for 20 years and he worked a miracle. No need to go any further than what he prescribed. If you live near NC I can let you know who he is.

My neighbor/friend was put on this drug for fibromalagia pain and had a very bad reaction. Suicidal thoughts and one attempt. Hospitalization with ECT treatments.

I would base my opinion on whether my child was successful with my school plan based on my child. Is he learning, does he enjoy the majority of his day, do you enjoy the majority of your day with him? If your husband does not truly understand your son's sensory needs combined with your desire to keep him on gradel-level than his perspective to me is not as valuable as yours. As long as you are meeting your son's needs for learning and downtime, your husband may just need more education from you. Base your success more on your gut feeling and your son's well-being. If he was in public school he would be alot more stessed with alot less learning. There are also alot of ways to combine his sensory diet with the learning activities instead of learning than a break. Math can involve a moving game, crunchy snack during reading time, etc... I understand your desire to keep your child from falling behind.

I am an occupational therapy assistant. Here are a few suggestions. The left-handed child needs to align his paper with his forearm. Right-handed child does too but his main issue seems to be holding the pencil too tight. The side of the middle finger rests on the pencil. I think you can model for the left-handed child and he will be okay. The right-handed child would benefit from a grip to prevent hand fatigue. A triangular grip should be fine. In case my rambling is not clear. Left-handed child: Priority is the align paper with forearm so that the forearm and paper are parallel. After he adjusts to this, model resting the middle finger on the pencil and verbally cue him until it becomes a habit. right-handed child: priority is what appears in the picture to be a too tight grip on pencil. triangular pencil grip should help this. second, align paper with forearm. :)

I remember well how it was to be a teenager/young adult and feel anger. I think it is very important to find a creative approach for this issue. Does he get the message deep down that you truly like him, the real him? Can you try to send him the message with your actions and words that you really do like such and such about him. Can you relate to him more as an adult houseguest than your child? Tell him that as an adult and a guest in your house, politeness is not optional. At the same time, find something unusual and fun for the two of you to do together. Invite him to join you. Try to send him genuine messages that you like the real him..."I have always enjoyed your sense of humor! I remember when you were 10 and...." I still remember the day as an adult my Mom had a moment of true honesty and I realized that she really did not like me, yes she loves me but had never really liked me. In fact, my younger childhood was very difficult for her because I was so strong-willed and she was so permissive without the skills to parent effectively. It is very important that you as the Mom find a bridge to your son before it is too late. Regardless of his outward appearance, I guarantee he wants and needs your love and approval although it may seem to be rejected for a while. Keep on offering love and approval more than any negative emotion. Likewise, do not tolerate rude behavior anymore than from another adult. If he is rude, leave the area. Only give him attention, very postive approving attention, when he is acting nice. You can also tell him your goal for your relationship. Example, to be able to enjoy each other as adults, communicate well etc......

I believe "good fences make good neighbors." I would talk to husband about the needs of not only you but also your child. Set some ground rules and boundaries that compromise his need for "do gooding" and your need to provide a quality environment for your child. I believe that people need limits and boundaries on poor behavior. It is in the best interest of the child for limits to be set and self-control encouraged. Your son should not have to always deals with his outbursts. Although it is desirable to be more tolerant and to get along, there is also commonsense in life about how tolerant.

I have had this problem and this was my solution. I made a rule that my son was not allowed to let anyone treat him poorly and defined what poorly meant. If someone treated him this way, he has to come home. Likewise, if he treats someoneelse poorly, they are not allowed to let him treat them that way and they must go home if they are at our house. Kids who are just plain difficult to deal with, meaning require alot of my supervsion are only allowed to come play if I am available to supervise. Kids that play nice consistently are allowed over all the time. We also have friends that are allowed in the house and friends that are just for outside. All based on their behavior.l

I remember having lots of the same thoughts you have in my twenties and early thirties. One way that I have come to understand the many different layers of Christians is the concept of stages of Christianity. Scott Peck, MD is a psychiatrist who has wrote many books from a christian and psychological perspective. He is one of my favorite authors! Reading his books helped me to understand why I wanted to run from some Christians (stage 2) and loved being around other christians (stage 4). It also explained why some christians left the church but it was actually a positive experience in their christian faith. Now, I know that God can handle all of our honest questions and critiques of the world we see. Scott Peck said the the path to holiness lies in questioning everything.

We use the spectrum workbook. ds scored well on cat this past year on vocabulary.

It is important to work on trunk stability but that will take time. In the mean time, make sure he has stability while he is writing. This means that the position of the hips is the most important and the starting place for the rest of the body. The hips should be at a 90 degree angle with a slight anterior pelvic tilt. This means that when you look at the hips from the side the trunk should be angled slightly forward. Think of good posture for yoga. The knees should be at a 90 degree angle as well as the feet. Feet need to be flat on the floor or on a stack of books. The height of the table is important. We usually have tables that are too high for the kids. The kitchen table is usually a poor choice for the child with poor trunk stability. In reality, a properly positioned child will usually look like he is at a table for a much younger child. Other choices, is to let the chilld sit on his knees, not w-sitting, at the table and provide a chair with armrests. Let the child sit on a bean bag on the floor at the coffee table on his knees. These alternatives may not work they are just ideas to try.

Try giving him small pieces of crayon to color with on a vertical surface for 5 to 10 minutes every day . The magic is the smalll pieces so you can use chalk also. Vertical or lying on your stomach on the floor will work also. For writing, try the fat pencils versus the smaller pencil with a pencil grip. Try the fat pencil with the handiwriter that helps keep the pencil angled correctly between the thumb and index finger. You can also try giving him the fat pencil but break it so that is pretty short like the pencils you write with when you go putt-putting. When he is writing, place his paper on a 3 ring binder that is turned so that the paper is on a slight vertical slant.

The website for The Pencil Grip and the handiwiter are www.otideas.com

I am occupational therapy assistant and have worked on this issue for many years. The best solution I have found is to buy a specific pencil grip called The Pencil Grip. Also, the angle of the pencil in the web space which is the space between the thumb and index fingers is important. Take an elastic hairband, the cheap kind with a clothlike texture, and place on wrist like a bracelet. Take a section near thumb and twist to form a loop. Place the top of pencil inside of loop and slide down to hold the pencil at a somewhat 90 degree angle between the thumb and index finger. I will find a website with pictures and ordering info on these items.

My son will be in the 3rd grade. We did spectrum workbook for second grade that was 1/2 finished. spectrum vocabulary third grade that was 3/4 finished. We are switching to swo. Should I start with SWO B? Do I need the teacher's manual? Thanks! Rhonda

Have you tried using a sensory integration approach to get him ready to learn? I believe that it is important for children to be in a "ready-state" to learn. Different sensory input, different for each kid, can really help organize the brain. Google sensory integration. Heavy work, using the large muscles to do work, and vestibular stimulation, when the head moves through space, are usually effective. Each child is different and trial and error will be need. When a child is in a ready-state learning is easier.

If you are a member of a 4-h club, those expenses are tax-deductible.

What does CLE stand for? Thanks! Rhonda

After much exploring and educating myself about Math programs, I have found what I think may be the most complete approach to raise a mathematical thinker. In my searching, I seemed to find programs that taught math skills or taught mathematical thinking but not both together. I feel it is very important to build a strong foundation in math with lots of generalization and mental flexibility early on. Everyday Mathematics from the University of Chicago seems to provide both. It is written for a teacher in a classroom, so it will take some time to process and understand the approach. It will not be as user friendly as other homeschool math programs but I feel that the research behind the program is the best and the end result will be a child who is very skilled in math.