Friday, July 16, 2010

Stop FASt, give a dollar! (preview)

As I've mentioned before, there is something huge in the works in my life. God has put it on my heart and made it very known to me what I need to do. With the help of a major university, we will be launching a big FASD awareness campaign!!!! This is still in the VERY early stages but I've been given the green light by this university to go ahead with my plan. There are so many details to work out. I have no business background, no marketing background, no public relations background but I somehow will be tackling all of these things and more as I embark on this new chapter of my life. I keep saying "my" but it really is about "us". It will include my family, friends, strangers, my blogging friends/acquaintances and anyone else that is passionate about FASD awareness.
Our vision has several goals.

1. To bring awareness of FASD to every person in the US and
potentially worldwide.
2. To educate Social Services, Physicians (particularly peds and dev. peds),
hospitals, children’s clinics, DCFS, WIC offices, Social workers,
Educators, Administrators, LAW ENFORCEMENT, etc on the
REALITY of FASD. (ie: What does it look like? Treatment?
Prevention? Prevalence?)
3. To raise enough awareness that would generate funds for an FASD
research/treatment center at UCLA.
4. To bring together all grassroots operations around the country who
have the same vision of getting awareness out into their communities.
5. Uniting the fight against FASD with the simple idea that anyone can
help end FASD by simply donating a $1.

Now I realize someone living in a different state than Ca. might not see the benefit of donating money to opening a research and assessment center so far away but these centers are so desperately needed everywhere. There are some great hospitals and universities around the country right now that do offer diagnosis of FASD's but they are few and far between. The need is great and the time is now.

I do not want to see my son fall through the cracks anymore. I do not want my son to become another statistic. I do not want my friends children to be a statistic either. 80% of inmates NATIONWIDE have been through the foster care system at one point in their lives. Up to 70% of foster children have been affected by alcohol. These stats are frightening. Alcohol exposure in utero leads to permanent brain damage. Brain damage that includes but is not limited to: loss of executive brain function, poor impulse control, hyperactivity, poor memory, lower IQ, learning disabilities, stunted emotional growth (fewer than 10% of people with FASD are able to achieve success with working and living independently).

So where do we go from here? Well, I'm praying that God will pave a clear path for me and honestly, I'm doing this one step at a time through Him.

If you have a child with FASD and are reading this, please let me know if you would like to help (even praying is GREATLY appreciated). Right now we are in the planning and development stage and I am unclear on a lot of things. I am very excited to be doing this and will share at a later time how it all came to be in the first place.

That's all for now since it's nearly midnight and I still need to clean up the house a bit before I hit the sack. Until next time.......

Monday, July 12, 2010

It's like trying to wash your windows during a hurricane.....

As I said in my last post, I'm working on cleaning/organizing/simplifying. It's a process but it's been consistent. I'm proud of the work I've accomplished so far because I'm seeing results and am so happy with the changes I'm making. However, the title of this post says it all.
While I'm working on cleaning out a cupboard, Boo is raging over something in another room, making a huge mess. He needs one on one time nearly constantly. He needs reminders, redirection and someone who knows how to "change the channel" in his brain when he gets stuck on something.
I'm typing on my laptop that has several missing keys because Boo was mad and ripped them off the other day. This was after he raged in his own room and dumped every toy out of his bins/closet/etc. It's tiresome to constantly deal with unreasonable little brains. It's exhausting.
So I have to give myself grace and realize that Rome wasn't built in a day. The house will get cleaned and organized but it will get messy and disorganized again.
Baby steps. Just like Boo learning to control his rage and Bo learning braille. Two steps forward, one step back.
Until next time.....

Monday, July 5, 2010

Busy Busy Busy.....

So much going on lately! Aside from the big "thing" that I'm working on and talked about in a previous post (which I promise will be revealed soon!), I've been trying to get our house in order. It's summer and I'd like for us to enjoy some down time but I also know that Sept. is right around the corner so the time for organizing, cleaning out and reconfiguring things is now. I'm also in the process of figuring out curriculum for next year for the kids. One of the benefits of homeschooling is the freedom to choose curriculum based on a child's needs. This is great but of course it takes tons of time hunting down that perfect curriculum for each individual child.

I was able to score some great supplementary materials last week at a garage sale. I found a finger puppet theater with puppets, a felt board with felt people/animals, some super big Magic School Bus books (floor size), some foam puzzles, a Lakeshore Teacher planner (brand new), an elementary art curriculum book, a large pocket chart with stacks of words to make sentences, a stack of Brain Quest cards, a stack of dinosaur books for Boo (he picked them all out and they even threw in a large dinosaur time line poster for free!), and a huge Sterilite container full of Play Mobile toys!!! I spent $20 on all of the above and my car was loaded up with great treasures! Now I have to try to organize it all so it's easily accessible and doesn't add to the clutter!

But of course like I said before, we're trying to take some time to relax too and refuel so we're ready to plunge back into school come Sept. with a refreshed mind and attitude.

We're going to head to the beach one day this week and Bo starts Judo too so we'll be having some fun adventures! Until next time.......