Five Friday Features

(Yay for a bake sale at school this week!)

1. You may have noticed a new button on my sidebar this week. I'm a proud AOTA member. Are you?
2. Speaking of AOTA, the AOTA store is offering a 15% discount off AOTA published books and CE until December 12. I think I will take advantage of this sale and pick up this CE on CD on transition services.
3. "The Autism Advantage" in The New York Times Magazine profiles a company called Speecialisterne, which is located in and places adults with autism in the workplace. They are in the process of opening a company in the United States. There are so many services in place for children with autism, but the resources are severely lacking after age 21. I am so happy to see a company like this succeed in helping individuals with autism. It reminded me of an article I read recently, Over-Educated, Under-Employed: The Plight of the Adult Aspergian.
4. Last week I ran a series of gift guides, including great gift guides by other bloggers. Ellen at Love That Max is out with another great one this week. Click here to check out here list of gifts that benefit kids and adults with special needs.
5. PediaStaff's blog has been nominated for the 2012 EduBlog Awards in TWO categories! Best Educational Use of a Social Network and Best Educational/Technical Resource Sharing Blog. If you haven't already, be sure to check out PediaStaff's blog and take a moment to vote for them! 

And here's a bonus link:

The National Fragile X Foundation is sharing a series of videos which contain stories of hope told by parents. Be sure to check out the Forward Thinking series of videos. I've included the first one below!

A Parent's Perspective - Life With My X-Men

Today I'd like to welcome Kristie of Life With My X-Men. Kristie and her husband, Eric, are the proud parents of two boys who have Fragile X Syndrome. Drew, age 12, and Blake, age 9, always keep them on their toes!

  

 

Our life in five words:

There's never a dull moment!

 

 

Five qualities I look for in a therapist:

1. Respect my knowledge about my kids. No, I don’t have a degree on Fragile X, but I’ve been doing this awhile, and I know my kids. I can tell you what will turn my child into a blob who just slithered to the floor to avoid doing something.
2. This is an obvious one, but I think it’s really important. The therapist has to like my child. The kids are so in tune with people’s emotions and personalities that they know when someone doesn’t like them. When Drew was a toddler, we had a therapist who didn’t like him. I knew it and so did he. He cried through every session and I cried on the way home. We only lasted about a month with her. 
3. Must be willing to learn about Fragile X Syndrome. I don’t mind if a therapist doesn’t know a lot about Fragile X. They just have to be willing to learn about it. Not a therapist, but our sons’ doctor really didn’t know much about Fragile X when Drew was diagnosed. But he was willing to learn about it and has turned out to be a great asset to our family.
4. Is ready to have fun! My kids aren’t going to want to go to therapy if it is boring repetition and work. If it is fun and the therapist is someone who actually plays with my child, my kids are going to look forward to therapy.
5. They have to be willing to share their expertise with others. If a therapist is willing to go into the school and share what works best for my child with his teachers and paraprofessionals, or come to an IEP meeting, I am going to be more inclined to sign on with them.

Three resources I can’t live without:

1. Fragile X Facebook page. It is loaded with parents new and old who have gone through or are going through the same things as us. Networking with other Fragile X parents is so important! 

Today is Fragile X Awareness Day

According to the National Fragile X Foundation,

• 1 in 250 females and 1 in 800 males are fragile X premutation carriers
• Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability and the most common known genetic cause of autism spectrum disorders.
• Fragile X can cause learning and behavioral challenges ranging from mild to severe.
• Fragile X is diagnosed by a DNA test, called the FMR1 DNA test.
• Fragile X occurs in all ethnic backgrounds.

To learn more about Fragile X before, click here and then go check out the Faces of Fragile X.

Also, please visit the National Fragile X Foundation's Hope and Inspiration page, to read stories of families experiences with Fragile X. These stories will inspire, as well as inform and educate, readers.

You can also follow the National Fragile X Foundation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/natlfragilex

 

Do you know an infant with Fragile X?

If so, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis are currently recruiting for a study of Fragile X and brain development in infants with Fragile X. They are looking for children under the age of 12 months who are suspected of having Fragile X. 

For more information about the study, visit www.ibisnetwork.org/fragilex.

Friday Features

~New blog alert! Check out A Stroke of OT to follow Bea, an occupational therapist, on her journey of raising her son, who had a stroke on the day of his birth. 

~Next Monday, January 23, 2012 is National Handwriting Day. Check out the Handwriting Without Tears website for ideas on how to incorporate National Handwriting Day into your classroom. In addition, Handwriting Without Tears is hosting a contest to win a free license to their interactive Digital Teaching Tools. What are you doing to celebrate National Handwriting Day?

~February 25, 2012 will be OT Global Day of Service. This is a day for occupational therapy practitioners and students to participate in volunteer activities. For more information and ideas on how you can participate, check out the Promoting Occupational Therapy website. Slack Incorporated will be making a donation to UNICEF. This donation is tied to participation, so be sure to register your day of service.

~Thank you to Lindsey Biel, OTR (from Raising a Sensory Smart Child) for bringing this amazing young woman to my attention. Anastasia Somoza is a 27 year from New York, who just happens to have cerebral palsy. She received a scholarship to pursue a masters degree in human rights at the London School of Economics. Due to her cerebral palsy, she is not able to live alone and needs funding for an aide to assist her in London while she pursues her studies. To learn more or to donate to her cause, click here. 

~The National Fragile X Foundation unveiled their new website this week. This is a great resource for families and anyone who works with someone with Fragile X. Be sure to check it out!