Its a lose lose situation...the classroom/teachers/students lose out because the kid is out of control but in many ways the schools hands are tied because they are legally required to educate all children even the ones like this AND they have to do it in the least restrictive environment which usually means main stream classroom. Then there is the opposite side of the family which hopefully are trying their very best with this child but are burned out and don't know where to turn next. If they make any money they have to use private insurance which can be very expensive or pray they can eventually qualify for a Medicaid waiver which takes extreme efforts and the family has to have time to fill out all the paperwork. No one wins and least of all the child who is out of control and badly in need of help for which there is little or none available to them due to inadequacies in mental health (which there is a whole thread about right now on this forum).

That is what we said about the ADOS and why we ended up continuing to pursue a diagnosis...the tester knew my child and had a preconceived notion thus everything she saw via ADOS was fitting her preconceived notion and she didn't even look at the autism...about 3 months later we found out she was leaving in a very quick fashion from the hospital.

My daughter failed (or rather passed) the ADOS when she was 4 (thus according to that she did not have autism)...by 5.5 we had a HF autism diagnosis...it is one test that may or may not accurately determine if your child was on the spectrum...if that is the only thing they look for then I would not do it but in combination it could elicit some good information...ours at least told us that the person who did it was incompetent (she felt that the behaviors she saw were merely oppositional not autistic IE not playing with toys correctly banging them on the table).

Stampy has a new channel called WonderQuest that is clean in case anyone didn't know about it.

I am a former resident of Lake County (went the high school there) and I am in tears...This fire just took off so fast and it is so close to the 2 other fires they had this summer. The hardest part is that A) no one know where Lake County is and B) there are so many fires right now that its almost hard to keep track. I am praying for all those affected and sadly I think the news is going to get worse.

I adore the Mormon Mom planner...but she has a nondenominational (but still Christian) planner with the same parts. http://intheleafytreetops.com

Its not a curriculum for homeschoolers specifically but I really like Alexander's Amazing Adventures...its not religious in nature but it is based on a book Teaching your child values by the Eyres (who are LDS but nothing is in it that is LDS). It has lots of good ideas for all ages and uses audio stories to help teach the values. ETA: Its available through the Power of Moms website.

Amazon has 2 cute shows that may fit...wishenpoof and a soccer one that looks super cute...my daughter loved the H2O series.

Could you help her with a cue word?? When I taught gymnastics I would remind all the little kids to look for their belly buttons because it helped put them in the right position. Perhaps if you said belly button it would remind her what to do but also be silly because belly buttons are silly for little kids so help with the panic.

Bill I totally understand your point but sadly there is more than 1 person involved in the equation especially with medical/dental stuff. I just had this awful experience of trying to be the responsible parent and got screwed anyway. I called in June to set up my kids well child appointments, the first day they open for appointments (can only be made 90 days before but must be more than 1 year after the previous appt due to insurance rules). I set it up for before school started...then got a phone call in July that the Dr is on vacation and it has to change the appointment. So I set it up for after school hours during the 1st week of school. Well 2 weeks ago I got a your Dr isn't available anymore for you appointment and the only times we have are November or 10 am the 1st day of school or the 3rd day...yep I am pulling out both of my kids the third day of school because they can't get us in even though I tried to get it before school started and after school hours. Sadly even trying to work within the rules doesn't always work...and due to insurance rules now my kids well visits are going to be pushed back to later and later in the year. Which means continuing to miss school if the Dr isn't able to get them in after school. So yes I tried to be responsible but between insurance rules and Dr issues I get screwed and my kids are missing school.

I am a person who was never ever able to use Tampons...I had pain on insertion the times I tried. But I am able to use a cup with out any issues...so that may be a good option.

I find myself feeling the same way a lot! But I have a very very close friend now...we have connected over special needs kids...she is my close friend but it didn't really develop until I had kids old enough to play by themselves while I talked otherwise took much time in my life was spent child wrangling instead of talking and developing our relationship.

Ramadan Kareem! Thank you for posting this thread.

We live in the world of Amazon prime...and I admit I tend to be impatient a lot...mostly when I can see a more efficient way to do something and others can't (IE face painting the other day had like 8 people painting and instead of doing one long line they had 6 different lines that all fed the same 8 people and they randomly picked which line to grab the next kid from...so frustrating when my kids end up waiting longer because one of the other lines got picked 6 times in a row for no reason other than people not knowing how to line up). But we as a society are use to instant access via amazon prime (anything over 2 days is too long), instant messaging (my friend should answer right now because its instant) and smart phones (I call you must answer because I know you have your phone on you). I think its only going to get worse.

In a small way I can understand maybe sorta why she did it??? As the white mom of black kids at times I feel like I have a small window on being black and at times I feel like my experiences is filtered through the lens of my black child...so occasionally when I am asked about race I will say black and white when that would make sense but when I am asked specifically about MY race I am white...so perhaps as the sister of black siblings she was viewing the world through their lens but if it is as claimed she is white with a perspective on being black via her siblings, (spouse and children even perhaps??).

I am sorry it makes me mad for you! I am reading a book about Muslim history (my son's birthmother is Muslim) and she should go learn what the Muslims have done in the Middle East! The incredible art, music, architecture, scientific discoveries and even the beautiful writings in your holy book. I wish that I could meet you in the supermarket and show that the whole world is not against you merely because your beliefs have been excuses for politics, war and death (as many many others have including Christian beliefs).

I think that for some people they can forgive the most heinous of crimes...I think of some of the 1st graders at Sandy Hook's parents who say they have forgiven the horrible person that killed them. But because a few did forgive does not mean all should forgive because forgiveness is a personal act and is for the person doing the forgiveness (to the point that I don't think the forgiver even has to tell the person they are forgiving that they have done that) THIS!! Is the problem with the thread this spun off of...the victims were not given the opportunity to decide if they were able, ready or willing to forgive...it was expected of them...they had the largest burden and yet they were expect to absolve their abuser on demand...not OK. This is not true forgiveness its merely an act required of them.

I think part of the problem here is that some people are looking at the micro lens (just this one person and her individual tweets and the individual impact they make on said poster/individuals in the school) and others are looking at the macro lens (systematic racism, white privilege). Micro lens this woman obviously said things that concern some people to the point of being considered racist depending on an individuals definition of racism. Macro lens this woman in 140 characters said something brash that highlights some of the macro issues effecting African Americans as a whole. The problem then becomes individual or group...as a white person we tend to look at each person as an individual...but for many minorities they tend to feel judged as a group...IE well if 1 black person said/did this then ALL black persons must say/do it too. It can be hard for white individuals who respect judgement based on individual merit to see the group dynamic because all white persons are not grouped via their race (although they may be grouped based on other characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, or wealth status). Even within groupings like that many white people still look at individual merit and thus don't always understand when things are discussed in a grouping manor. That said 140 characters is a very difficult way to express even typical mundane items much less nuanced and difficult to work through ideas.

Vero Beach? There is a Disney owned property that you could stay at and get a touch of the disney and a lot of the beach.

It may depend on the school...not a BFA but I looked at it when I went to college and oddly was just checking the requirements again yesterday just to see if they had changed dramatically in the 10 years since I graduated...at my school there were basic GE's that everyone had to do...and only a couple were covered with within major classes (IE the PE credit was covered, and you could do a History of Fine Arts for the History credits)...but everyone was required to take a 101 level math (stats or calc1 or AP credit) and a basic science class (Chem 101 or 102, Bio 101, Science for NonMajors 101) but by the last 2 years most dance majors had just 1 or 2 non dance classes (a religion class each term and depending on how they spread out their GE's based on their dance/performance class time requirements). The hardest part of a BFA in dance is that the classes may meet multiple days a week for an hour or more but they only counted as 1 or 2 credits so to have a 15 credit full term that was a lot of time spent in class.

balto!!!! he's a part of the dog sled team that rushed meds during a storm in alaska...you could do sled races and other dog based things

sports heroes: Louis zamperini (of unbroken fame) jesse jackson lou gehrig

Ohanas is an always for us...this trip we did Teppan Edo and really enjoyed it. Garden Grill is so yummy. My favorite character meals are Hollywood and vine and Crystal Palace.

EXACTLY!!! But as a white person living in this society it is possible to grow up totally oblivious to this history and the connotations due to colorblindness...and it makes me sad that my education was so poor that I had NO idea about many things specifically about the black experience past and present (along with other minorities) because our history survey was artificial because we are colorblind and that is not so important any more (this is where they eye rolling smiley should go because of course this is important but it doesn't effect white society so its brushed over or ignored). I have had to work hard to educate myself as an adult and working to teach my children but I still feel behind because I don't know what I don't know :(

Just had this almost exact conversation with my daughter about movies! She asked about why all the movies had white people in them. Also part of what you teach your kids is what those of us with children of color are teaching our children. We teach our children that life isn't always fair but that we should all work to make it more fair and there are people past and present who do just that. We teach our children about the people of color and white supporters who changed the world (and there are some good picture books about that). We teach our children that their skin color does not dictate how fast they are, how smart they are, or what they will do in the future BUT it does set them forth as an individual just like their hair and eye color do. We talk about race all the time to build their racial identity, and white people have a racial identity, its a little harder to identify just because we don't think about it but there is a racial identity...its not a white pride thing but rather the idea that whiteness is part of the racial spectrum not the standard.