I buy at whole foods or health food stores to try it out. Then I bulk order from amazon when it's on sale or with the 'ship and save' (or whatever it's called) to save money.

My daughter is non-verbal as well. She uses pecs to communicate. She also will not respond if someone is yelling 'Stop!' or her name, etc. She's very happy but very much doing her own thing. Also, I've never been a dog person. I had always told our family that we would not have dogs. However, Trouble (our dog) won me over. :) And our daughter loves him. She is always requesting dog biscuits to feed him. I was worried when he first showed up but now I think he was sent by God.

I have a cleaning person in once a week. I don't use a company. I asked around and found someone that several friends suggested. Individual people will be less expensive than a company. On the day she is here, I plan something VERY easy for dinner. If we didn't have such weird diets here, I would probably have her cook/assemble it. I still may one day. :) Wednesdays (today!) are my 'break' day. The house is clean and dinner is simple. I also struggled with guilt because it is something that I 'can' do. However, I've come to realize that my emotional/mental health is valuable and Wednesdays are very refreshing. We use paper plates for breakfast and lunch. Sometimes we use them for dinner. I set up a picnic caddy with plasticware, paper plates and napkins. It stays out on a counter. Again, some guilt with using them, but my kids have a lot of health needs in addition to regular needs. I buy bottled water and they use that for snacks and sometimes meals. I use a sharpie to write their name on the bottle. They use the same bottle all day and get a new one the next day. If they drink all the water, they refill it from the sink. I subscribe to a menu planning site. I sit down for an hour on Saturdays and plan my meals for the next week and do my grocery shopping that night. I have found that not only are the meals delicious, I am actually saving time by not floundering in the kitchen at 5:00. DH suggested to me that on the days that kids have after-school activities and I know that time is tight, to pack them a lunch in a brown paper bag (and store in the refrigerator). They still eat it at the table after school (and sometimes will probably eat in the van), but it's already put together and 'disposable' easily (plastic bags, etc). I haven't started doing that, but I can see that it's going to work well for us. We bought one of those handy-vac things that hang on the wall. The girls love to 'spot' vacuum areas which allows me to not vacuum. They also sweep the floors. I bought a lightweight mop and if I fill the mop bucket up for them, they can mop themselves. My oldest is learning how to do the kids laundry. That is a slow process but we're getting there. They are also responsible for tidying up the bathroom. For younger kids, they can be assigned to simple things like picking up dirty clothes, putting the shoes where they belong (we have a large bucket for all kids shoes), putting coats in the coat closet (they are too small to hang them up, but just throwing them in there keeps them off the floor). Scheduled times for waking and going to bed. The kids are all in bed by 8:30 which leaves me a couple of hours for myself.

We're trying to train our dog to be a service dog. I doubt that he will ever 'officially' be a service dog, but he's been great for our daughter with autism. My daughter is a runner and our dog (a collie) will do what I consider to be an amazing thing with her. If she darts away from us, he runs in front of her and curls his body around her legs. He deliberately turns his face away from her and edges his body around her until she has to move backwards. He then guides her to us (although typically we catch up before he moves her too far). He plays with all the kids but he is especially alert to her. He became ours after someone deserted him on our road (we live way out in the country). I think he would be way too energetic to actually take into a store, but I see the value in having service animals for kids like my daughter. I really don't have a problem with anyone naming any type of pet a service animal. However, there is a responsibility that comes with proclaiming an animal to be used for service for those with disabilities. My understanding is that if a dog is snarling and growling, they can be asked to leave a public place. Service animals should almost be invisible. The ones I've met ignore other people/animals and are focused solely on their owner. They are working and they know it.

My oldest with autism has an IEP. My middle dd with Celiac Disease has a 504. I may not be able to help you with your questions, but I am somewhat familiar with different accomodations that can be placed in either to help kids. A 504 provides less protection, and is basically meant to level the playing field. My CD daughter does not have a learning disability (she actually has an IEP for gifted stuff), so her 504 contains things like the school providing a gf lunch, unlimited bathroom breaks, her own classroom supplies (no sharing sanitizer or pencils, etc) and a set of books kept at home. Things like that. What exactly are you looking for? I'm happy to help if I can.

Thanks for all the replies. My youngest is now having diarrhea with her vomiting. My middle daughter still has diarrhea. On the bright side, they have to be better by Friday, right???

I'm planning for next year, but I'm afraid to list or purchase anything yet! :lol: Sometimes they dawdle along at a certain level but then leap to the next. Reading is a perfect example. They were both delayed readers but then went from readers to chapter books to everyone's astonishment. It must be some weird genetic quirk. I plan to order in April or May and will assess at that time and make final choices. I love reading about what others are planning!

:grouphug::grouphug:

That would make sense for DD10. Hers has been since Friday and she was in alarming state at that point. The school called (they were on a field trip) and said she was pale as a sheet (she stayed that way through the next day). She voluntarily agreed to forego a friend's birthday party that was also a dance. DD7 just became ill yesterday. I would think that the rest of us would be sick, too. We all tend to eat the same stuff.

Same here. We also have another daughter with Celiac and my youngest has IBS. Honestly, I keep a stash of snacks that are just for me. I keep chocolates (high quality and plenty of them), pepperidge farm cookies (jelly filled) and cream sodas. Sometimes I need a quiet pity party and junk food break. I finally accepted that my household won't run like others. We won't stay on the same schedule - schooling will sometimes be done in pajamas - our grocery budget will be significantly more - and we spend lots of time celebrating unusual accomplishments (my oldest using a spoon by herself, buttoning something herself, brushing her own hair). I try to focus on an attitude of celebrating being different. Of course, I also have the days of feeling like an absolute failure. It happens.

Okay, I thought tummy bugs lasted about 24 hours? My middle daughter became ill on Friday - pale, lethargic and developed diarrhea that evening. It is still going strong although she feels just fine between dashes to the bathroom. She does have Celiac Disease but insists that this doesn't feel like a Celiac reaction. Our youngest started having stomach aches yesterday. She is anxious about some things and had a doctor's appointment this morning so I assumed she was just nervous about it. She woke up throwing up so severely that I had to cancel the doctor's appointment. She still feels queasy but isn't feeling 'bad'. Neither of them have sore throats, fever, runny nose, cough, headaches, chills, etc. Any idea of what this could be? They both are in a theatre production of Annie that starts on Friday and DD10 has a speaking part (she's Duffy). I haven't been to the doctor yet since this is just tummy stuff. But really, it's been 4 days for DD10. What am I missing? Dress rehearsal is tomorrow night.

Our cover church has mandatory Standardized Testing each year for 2nd grade and up. My only homeschool child at the moment is in 1st grade and is considered to be advanced for her age. If she were to take a standardized test this year and do well, it would be credited to the school. If she didn't do well, it would be attributed to her health. Next year, when she has to take the test, if she does well, all is good. If she does poorly, it's either because of her health or because I'm a rotten teacher. :) One of my other daughters is in 4th grade and took a Standardized Test last year (OLSAT). She scored in the upper 90's (our district average is mid 40's). Our school was VERY excited with her score and the rest of my family found out through the school (relatives in the district). My daughter had set a goal to score in the 90's and we told her that she made her goal although we didn't tell her exactly what her score was. The school has eliminated standardized testing so she won't test this year unless we sign her up for testing ourselves. She will be homeschooled as well next year. My question is whether I should test both girls at the end of the school year with a standardized test? I admit my concern is biased and based a bit out of worry. Since they both will be required to test next year, what if their grades are not good? How will I know if it's due to my teaching? If we test this year, we have a baseline for both of them and will know if it drops next year. But, then i think I'm being silly. Thoughts?

My experience with gluten free dough is that it pours rather than rolls. If I have something that needs to be flat, like pizza dough, I pour it onto parchment paper, well oiled pan or non-stick aluminum foil. Then I oil my hands and press it flat.

Something that may help is presentation of the food. Kids seem to like things better if it looks interesting. I bought cookie cutter shapes to cut out sandwiches. Cute plastic picks to layer fruit on. Little plastic forks (the tiny ones) are interesting to spear veggies on and dip them or to eat cheese with. I was able to increase their exposure to things by having both ranch dip and hummus on their plates to dip veggies into (and no seconds on the ranch, they had to use hummus ;) ). I put faces onto hardboiled eggs (and bought fresh eggs from my neighbor as she had tiny eggs as well as regular sized ones). I would also put small items (like olives and pickles) on their plates to go with food. Ants on a log, peanut butter balls rolled and chilled. It doesn't guarantee that they will eat it, but they will almost definitely try it. I once made a graveyard (I had seen something very similar in Family Fun magazine I think) where the base was hummus, celery stalks were trees, carved pumpkins from carrots, tombstones were halved crackers and ghosts were hard boiled eggs with olives making the eyes and mouth. They ate all of it. Obviously, it takes time and you may not have that time - but if you do, try something in an interesting shape or design. Good luck :)

For my daughter's sleep-overs, I have a long talk with the mom so everyone feels comfortable. Typically, I send a microwavable tv dinner. Popcorn (microwave is fine) for a snack. There are lots of gf chips - cheetos', cool ranch doritos (only some flavors of doritos are safe), plain potato chips, etc. Sometimes I put m&m's in the popcorn to jazz things up a bit. For breakfast, if oats are not a problem, I pack lucky charms. If the mom plans on cooking, it's either bacon or sausage and scrambled eggs. I remind the mom about cross contamination to make sure she doesn't scramble the eggs with anything that has touched the toast, etc. Any type of fruit is fine. Raw veggies are also fine. Talk to the mom, she probably already has a pre-planned routine that works great for them.

I don't know that the changes will affect us much. My daughter is severely impaired and is considered to have 'classical' autism. She was diagnosed unofficially at 13 months and officially at 20 months. We receive no services or support other than through the school system. The waiting lists here are so long that I can't even get on them. I've been told to try again when she's a teenager as the lists will be shorter and they will look more at symptoms. Otherwise, we will wait until she's 18.

I never can keep up with the laws on booster seats. I ask our pediatrician each year at our well visit. My oldest is almost as tall as I am (granted, I'm short) and she doesn't use a booster. My other two use boosters. Our middle daughter (who is 'too cool' for a booster), sits in it until we get to the carpool line, then she tosses it to the side. That keeps her 'cool reputation' intact while abiding by my safety rules.

Our family has a history of petite kids. It's known that our kids will tend to be on the lower end of the growth chart and not very tall. :) Having said that, our pediatrician expressed concerns about our daughter's weight and we discovered that she had Celiac Disease (she's also a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis). I would do the doctor's visit, but obviously I have a bias since my daughter had good reason for being low weight. We have had a lot of testing over the years, but she is 10 1/2 yrs old and weighs 52 pounds. I don't worry about new teachers, administrators, etc asking about her weight because we have medical documentation behind us that she is small for her age and that her Celiac still affects her growth in some way. YMMV :)

Thanks! Those are great!

Thanks, that was exactly what I wanted. :) Momsuz, I think I have that program, I would have to look. We're actually moving my daughter to cursive but at the same time are working on her print work. We use HWoT mainly along with homework left by the OT. Thanks :)

I know this sounds silly, but I've spent my morning trying to organie lesson plans for next week and my brain is tangled. My daughter has handwriting struggles and the OT asked that we work on the letters j, k, p, and y. (My daughter has trouble extending letters past certain lines). She suggested writing ten words and two sentences for each letter. I'm trying to put together letters for words to minimize how often she has to write (she gets hand cramps). So far, I've come up with jack, pack and pick. Any suggestions for words or sentences? My brain seems to just recycle those same words over and over.

bumping because I am organizing things and needing help. :tongue_smilie:

I've been homeschooling for about three weeks now, which makes me newer than new I suppose. :) We did afterschool during the Fall which might bring my grand total to about five months if that counts. I would consider homeschooling to start at the time when a child should be enrolled in public kindergarten or beyond, but the parent chooses to teach those skills at home instead. I've never considered myself a homeschooler until now, but we have worked with our kids since birth on many things - I've always considered that to be good parenting. We exposed them to art/music, read books to them, in some cases bought curriculum to help with problem areas and have been actively involved in academics. I'm less worried about how long I've been doing it and more worried about what the future holds in regards to my homeschooling. 1st grade is fun. Next year I'll have a 2nd and 5th grader. Can I do it? Will I have a mental breakdown? Will my 5th grader decide that being home is torture and want to go back? Will I permanently wreck their chances of ever having a career? Will math be the end of me? Will my mother be the end of me? (She's a guidance counselor). Will I ever find a schedule that works well for me? Those things.

Have you consulted with an occupational therapist? They would be able to give you an idea on how best to work with your child. Off the top of my head, I wouldn't do copywork if he will be typing. I would continue to have typing instruction unless he is confidently touch-typing. My daughter does not have dysgraphia, but we believed that she did for a long time. We pay for an OT to come to our house twice a month. She works with dd and leaves 'homework' for us to do. It might be worth having someone for you to consult.

Leave a note on the neighbor's door and explain that his dog seemed lonely and followed you home. Tell him that you hope he doesn't mind but your girls love him and you are feeding him. Tell him that if he ever wants to give the dog up for adoption you would love to have him. My guess is he will give the dog to you. Good for you for looking after him. :)