Sorry you have to endure this! When we adopted our dd, it took over a year longer than it was estimated when we accepted her referral. It was the hardest wait of my life - a pregnancy wihtout a due date!

The days are long, but the years are short.

Craigslist - or if you're not after money, see if you have a freecycle group in your area (yahoo groups)

I totally sympathise with the sleeping issues that ASD causes, as my ds is on the spectrum as well. And actually, in doing research about his eye condition, I read that in kids with ASD, the gland that produces melatonin is often not functioning properly). To check your dd's night vision, just try taking her out for a walk at night, at a time when you can see by the light of the moon, and see how she manages in comparison. The melatonin that I've found works best is SleepSense by Preferred Nutrition. It's a melatonin b12 combo, and you put the pill under your tongue till it dissolves. It has 3mg of melatonin, but I break it in half for the kids. We only give it as-needed. To use it on a regular basis, I would research it more before hand. I don't know if it's a problem to do so.

You might also consider melatonin to help her reset her sleep/wake cycle. Regarding her fear of the dark, how's her night vision? Does she have trouble seeing in dimly lit areas? Just curious, because it turns out my ds, who was terrified of the dark as a child, had an eye condition that explained this.

I'd really work on getting her to start sleeping at more normal hours. Is there any particular reason you're letting her keep that routine as it's something you said you'd love to see changed? If not, try waking her up earlier and exposing her to sunlight as soon as she's up, and giving her a consistant bedtime routine. If she currently often goes to sleep at 4am, I'd move it back to 3am the first week, and keep going back from there about an hour a week until she's going to bed as the sun goes down. If she wants to lay with you to go to sleep, I'd consider going with that until she's getting to bed on time, while looking for ways to make her feel more secure.

about 12

I put it in a salad. My favorite at the moment is cooking the quinoa in chicken broth, cook up a cup of sprouted bean mix as well, then mix all together with chopped up yellow peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and parsley. Then I make up a dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar red pepper flakes, garlic, salt an pepper. Yum! I also mix it with kernel corn and beans for a side-dish, or cook it up in apple juice and top with cinnamon for a breakfast. You can also put it in soups rather than barley.

I'd say no (I've honestly never heard of anyone doing this, to be honest). We've always tended to bring meals and/or flowers.

You know, it drives most hs'ers nuts when people quiz their kids to see if they're measuring up to ps standards. I imagine the opposite is true as well.

let y = people let x = seats therefore 2(x)=y so 2(17)=34

Hmmm. I recommended an expidit from ikea for your dd's room, and I think you should just buy 2!

That's a good sized room for a little one! I think I'd get one of those Ikea Expidit things, so there's lots of space for books, and baskets to hold toys. I'd also put a toybox at the end of her bed for dress-up stuff.

Nice to hear that others have problems with the phone! People look at me like I have 2 heads when I've mentioned that! I feel your pain, although I'm not quite as shy as you, I don't think. I would have definately struggled to ask a question in that large of a group though. It's lonely, and I especially am sorry to hear that your best friend moved away. Mine did a couple years ago, and honestly, I don't think I'll ever stop grieving. Because I hate phones, we've not talked. Just emails here and there. It's hard, and I think I'll probably never find a friend like her again. I guess working on self esteem is the best way to overcome this.

Oh yes. I'm bagged. And my house is a disaster, my entire yard is full of weeds, and there is clutter everywhere. I don't even know where to begin!!!

I felt the same. Turns out it was eggs, gluten and dairy. I think it's worth getting tested before trying to cut things out on your own.

Thanks for the replies ladies! I actually have tried to handle this with humour at first... there's a lot of interesting things that can be done with beer cans that I've tried to prove my point! Beer can sculptures on his desk, I've hung them all over his motorcycle, even put them in his underwear drawer. I've put up signs in the trouble spots where they seem to pile (esp. by the kitchen sink) "No beer cans here". I've also spoken to him about it in seriousness as well. So he knows. Next I'm stuffing his pillowcase with the stinky things! He'll get better for the rest of the day, then we're back to it again. I'm going to try out a few of the suggestions that I've not yet tried. Already done the strike thing, and it got so gross I gave in and cleaned it eventually. But there's some ideas here I've not yet tried. Thanks!

Thanks for posting this! I'm thinking I might take the idea, write up a short form and keep it in my pocket to hand out at the next public meltdown.

Oh dear, there's just nothing quite like dealing with such concerns for your children, and certainly all the moms on this SN board can sympathize! Despite all the challanges that are before you and your dd, your daughter is very blessed, and so much better off than so many children, in that she has you for a mom and a good doctor getting this figured out. I hope you get answers soon, and everything turns out okay for her.

Ours does that if the sensor bar isn't in a good spot. It has to be right at the front of our TV.

Poor darling. That's such a hard thing to go through.

Some things in my marraige I can let slide, and I know he does the same. All in all, things are well. My husband is a great guy. BUT, there's things that are driving me nuts, and whenever I try to mention mention something about it, it doesn't go well at all! My two pet peeves are beer cans being left all over the place for me to clean up, and constantly leaving the kitchen a mess whenever he makes something for himself or others. But just in general, my darling husband leaves a trail behind him. Nothing gets put away when he's done with it, then he's always cranky when he can't find stuff. I know these are little things, but they just grate on me constantly! I feel disrespected by being treated like I'm the maid. I don't mind all the regular stuff that I feel are my duties in being a stay at home mom, but keeping this house somewhat clean and in order is an ongoing challenge with 3 young kids, and I'm tired of cleaning up after an adult too. It didn't used to bother me so much, because I wasn't so busy so it wasn't such a big deal. So, if you have a husband with these tendancies that you've dealt with, please please give me hints on how to go about it without causing tension! I don't like being that nagging wife, but being quiet and resentful isn't working for me either! :bigear:

We have a SpringFree and love it! It's held up awesome.

If your sis doesn't clean up her act, I'd say she's not welcome anymore. There's no excuse for that! You're totally being reasonable with setting a smoking area. I'd say be kind and make it comfortable with a chair and an ashtray.

Man, that's a lot! Is he maintaining a healthy weight?