Re: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

June 12, 2012

I am originally from Daisetta Tx. My mother and her husband as well as my

brother still live there. My sister li es in Bayton Tx. I live in Ft worth Tx

but I do wish I could help you. I know how you feel. I spend a lot of time in

the house. However next week I am going down to visit my family for the week.

--- Original Message ---

From: marilyna@...

Sent: June 12, 2012 8:19 PM

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

Subject: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would

like to be friends?

Â

Hi,

Â

Are there any parents very, very close to Dayton, Texas who would like to have a

friend?Â I am so tired of being alone in our path,

other than online.Â Weâ€™ve been at this 5 years, and Iâ€™ve never had a friend

that can relate.

Â

My son is 7, moderate autism.Â He is a delight and the joy of my life.Â We

homeschooled this year.Â Weâ€™re doing an in-home ABA program with an emphasis

on Verbal Behavior.Â We donâ€™t do biomedical at all.Â

Â

My son has periodic aggression and is big for his age, so weâ€™re not

necessarily looking for play dates, because they are hard for him â€“ unless

your child is big and aggressive, too!

Â

My email is marilyna@....

Â

Thanks,

Marilyn Arnold

June 13, 2012

First off I have no clue where Dayton is as I live in the fort worth area. We have lived here for 7 years and I know the feeling my family and friends are in California and I don't have much here.My son is now 19 and about to graduate from high school and hopefully we can find him a group home to live as he wants to be with his peers not his parents. He is and has been quite a handful but he is high functioning and hopefully will be able to handle living with supports on his own. It has been a tough battle but we finally see a better future for him. Maybe we as parents will get more relief soon as we always found it our to find time for ourselves.I wish you luck and we will send prayers to you and your family to help you get thru this. Always keep you

chin up as there is a light at the end of the tunnel. To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:40 AM Subject: RE: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

I am originally from Daisetta Tx. My mother and her husband as well as my brother still live there. My sister li es in Bayton Tx. I live in Ft worth Tx but I do wish I could help you. I know how you feel. I spend a lot of time in the house. However next week I am going down to visit my family for the week.

--- Original Message ---

From: marilyna@...

Sent: June 12, 2012 8:19 PM

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

Subject: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

Hi,

Are there any parents very, very close to Dayton, Texas who would like to have a friend? I am so tired of being alone in our path,

other than online. Weâ€™ve been at this 5 years, and Iâ€™ve never had a friend that can relate.

My son is 7, moderate autism. He is a delight and the joy of my life. We homeschooled this year. Weâ€™re doing an in-home ABA program with an emphasis on Verbal Behavior. We donâ€™t do biomedical at all.

My son has periodic aggression and is big for his age, so weâ€™re not necessarily looking for play dates, because they are hard for him â€“ unless your child is big and aggressive, too!

My email is marilyna@....

Thanks,

Marilyn Arnold

June 13, 2012

is dayton near fort worth? we live in marble falls, outside of austin. if you are anywhere nearby, i would love to have a friend. i have two boys on the spectrum, ages 4 and 2, and i feel super isolated and alone!!((hugs)) laura Weâ€™re all a little weird. And life is weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdnessâ€”and call it loveâ€”true love. ~Dr.

SeussTo: "Texas-Autism-Advocacy " <Texas-Autism-Advocacy >Sent: Wed, June 13, 2012 6:17:57 AMSubject: Re: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

First off I have no clue where Dayton is as I live in the fort worth area. We have lived here for 7 years and I know the feeling my family and friends are in California and I don't have much here.My son is now 19 and about to graduate from high school and hopefully we can find him a group home to live as he wants to be with his peers not his parents. He is and has been quite a handful but he is high functioning and hopefully will be able to handle living with supports on his own. It has been a tough battle but we finally see a better future for him. Maybe we as parents will get more relief soon as we always found it our to find time for ourselves.I wish you luck and we will send prayers to you and your family to help you get thru this. Always keep you

chin up as there is a light at the end of the tunnel. To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 12:40 AM Subject: RE: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

I am originally from Daisetta Tx. My mother and her husband as well as my brother still live there. My sister li es in Bayton Tx. I live in Ft worth Tx but I do wish I could help you. I know how you feel. I spend a lot of time in the house. However next week I am going down to visit my family for the week.

--- Original Message ---

From: marilyna@...

Sent: June 12, 2012 8:19 PM

To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy

Subject: Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

Hi,

Are there any parents very, very close to Dayton, Texas who would like to have a friend? I am so tired of being alone in our path,

other than online. Weâ€™ve been at this 5 years, and Iâ€™ve never had a friend that can relate.

My son is 7, moderate autism. He is a delight and the joy of my life. We homeschooled this year. Weâ€™re doing an in-home ABA program with an emphasis on Verbal Behavior. We donâ€™t do biomedical at all.

My son has periodic aggression and is big for his age, so weâ€™re not necessarily looking for play dates, because they are hard for him â€“ unless your child is big and aggressive, too!

My email is marilyna@....

Thanks,

Marilyn Arnold

June 13, 2012

Dayton is down near Houston. I know how she feels, too. Sheryl, why is your son graduating from HS at nineteen? Did you know he is entitled to attend HS until 21? Has he met all the state requirements to receive a real diploma, or are they just handing him an alternative certificate of attendance? Be very sure to have his reading, writing, and math skills checked before allowing him to " graduate. "

Far too many of our kids are not being taught academics enough to survive in the world. If I had a nickel for every parent who thought -- because of the grades on a report card or IEP - that their child was doing great and had these skills - only to find out later they cannot rad well enough to pass the written portion of a driving test, I'd be a rich woman.

As for a group home, I heard there have been some adult communities coming up such as http://www.rmr.org/. I don't know a lot of about them, but they might be worth looking into.

I am of that mind that we need an autism community -- we are all so spread out. Can you imagine how different things could be if a large groupd of us lived and worked in the same community? Can you imagine what the community school would be like? If members of us made up the school board, how would things be different? Can you imagine the difference if people like Marilyn and myself and so many of us did not have to feel so isolated?

With the growing rates these days, I think this vision I have is not an impossible reality. I just wish there had been such a community while my son has been growing up. Imagine not having to fight for early, intensive ABA programs nor having to fight to get people to realize the need and value in teaching children with autism how to read, write, compute, and spell. Can you imagine a school with a real social skills program?

Someday, if the general population comes to its senses and school choice becomes a reality, then schools such as the one I describe above can become a reality. There will be much less wasting of special ed dollars. I can dream can't I?

June 13, 2012

Well is in private school. KISD failed him and we are waiting for the decision from our due process hearing. We pull him out of KISD 1 1/2 years ago because they say he don't have AU in school and refused to give him the accommodations he needed. I don't know if you remember the case of the sleeping judge, well that was us. If you don't remember you can go any of these and see some of what we have been thru:http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/11/texas-judge-resigns-after-reportedly-caught-sleeping-during-testimony/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLN5vhAsi1Yhttp://youtu.be/XXDePq9ilSshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzK4h7bFC_k & feature=mfu_in_order & list=ULTea did issue us a new hearing officer and we went thru 4 more days of die process and we should get the decision on July 2nd. The only problem is this new hearing officer didn't get to eyewitness our experts, she is only able to read the transcripts from the first 4 days, but she did get to see the schools which I believe is totally unfair!!!! Hopefully, this hearing officer will make the right decision!!! Please prayer for our family as it has almost broken our family but we are fighters and will come out strong in the end.As far as my son graduating, well at this point I won't send him to KISD and the

private school we have him in is in Dallas and very hard for us to make that commute anymore. It cost 25 dollars a day and 4 hours plus a day on the road and that is not including the cost of the school and we simply can't do it anymore. I wish I knew a way to keep him there but we can't!! To: Texas-Autism-Advocacy Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 7:30 AM Subject: Re:

Any parents very near Dayton, Texas who would like to be friends?

Dayton is down near Houston. I know how she feels, too. Sheryl, why is your son graduating from HS at nineteen? Did you know he is entitled to attend HS until 21? Has he met all the state requirements to receive a real diploma, or are they just handing him an alternative certificate of attendance? Be very sure to have his reading, writing, and math skills checked before allowing him to "graduate."

Far too many of our kids are not being taught academics enough to survive in the world. If I had a nickel for every parent who thought -- because of the grades on a report card or IEP - that their child was doing great and had these skills - only to find out later they cannot rad well enough to pass the written portion of a driving test, I'd be a rich woman.

As for a group home, I heard there have been some adult communities coming up such as http://www.rmr.org/. I don't know a lot of about them, but they might be worth looking into.

I am of that mind that we need an autism community -- we are all so spread out. Can you imagine how different things could be if a large groupd of us lived and worked in the same community? Can you imagine what the community school would be like? If members of us made up the school board, how would things be different? Can you imagine the difference if people like Marilyn and myself and so many of us did not have to feel so isolated?

With the growing rates these days, I think this vision I have is not an impossible reality. I just wish there had been such a community while my son has been growing up. Imagine not having to fight for early, intensive ABA programs nor having to fight to get people to realize the need and value in teaching children with autism how to read, write, compute, and spell. Can you imagine a school with a real social skills program?

Someday, if the general population comes to its senses and school choice becomes a reality, then schools such as the one I describe above can become a reality. There will be much less wasting of special ed dollars. I can dream can't I?

June 13, 2012

did you live here with your child with autism? I've found the other parents

around here that I've met through the school to be

very unfriendly and uninterested in meeting other parents of children with

disabilities.

Sometimes I wonder if there's something wrong with me, since the other

parents don't seem to need any support or friendship.

Marilyn

June 13, 2012

Thanks so much! I hope it all works out for your son and you get the school district mess finished with a happy ending.