Re: Introduce ourselves

March 5, 2007

Welcome!!!

God bless you guys.

You sound like true inspirations to your kids. Glad you are getting SSI and

school " help " .

Good luck with your website - it is definitely needed. Let us all know when

it 'comes out'.

Do you have family / friends in the area to vent to and to get help when

really, really needed (or at least get understanding)?

autism_bites <autism_bites@...> wrote:

My wife and I are the parents of six children diagnosed with the

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

(Bobby), male, 13, - High functional Autism

Emma, female, 9 - Aspergers

Nephi (nee-fi), male, 8, Aspergers

, female, 5, Classic Autism

Ammon, male, 3, Classic Autism

, female, 2, PDD

Each day is a challenge, something happens EVERY day. It was

recommended that my wife be evaluated. She discovered she is

borderline clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder (we

weren't too surprised about that one). She is taking Zoloft to help

her through each day.

When we married we wanted a larger than average family. When each

baby came we felt there was still one more little child waiting in

Heaven to be a part of our family. After that feeling was gone

and we felt complete as a family. We didn't know something was going

on until after the last baby was almost one year old. Also, we did

not have an official diagnosis for all the children until November

of 2006.

In February 2007 we watched an episode of " Extreme Makeover Home

Edition " , we enjoy it as a family to see if the family's story is as

tough as our own. The show said that the family, they helped build a

new home for, had the most documented Autistic children (5) for one

family in the United States. My wife and I looked at each other, we

have SIX documented Autistic children. It looks like WE have the

most in the country, who knows maybe the world (isn't THAT special?!).

The 3 youngest are still in diapers and the 3 and 5 year old are

completely non-verbal, they are also our biters (chomp!). We have to

put them in backward one piece outfits to keep them from stripping

and smearing their poop everywhere. Our 3 year old climbs on, breaks

and rips EVERYTHING. His nickname we've given him is " Ammon the

Destroyer " (like Conan the Destroyer).

We're trying hard to be the best parents our children need.

Unfortunately our lack of space at home and our finances make it a

bit difficult. Our 2 year old is receiving early intervention once a

week in our home. The 3 and 5 year olds go to a preschool for 3

hours per day; 3 and 4 days a weeks respectively. The 8 and 9 year

olds are currently being evaluated at their elementary school, we are

hoping to put an IEP in place for them soon. The 13 year olds

situation is similar at his Jr. High school.

We feel we should be doing more but we're just not sure of what and

where to get more help. We recently started to receive SSI for the

three youngest. I as the Father wish for a situation where I can

stay home to help my wife cope, but I have to work of course. I've

been trying to put together ideas for a website that will be a place

where we can help other parents of Autistic children and hopefully

earn a small income. The progress is slow. But by the grace of God

we are hanging in there and hope that our example can help other

Autistic parents.

---------------------------------

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March 5, 2007

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME!!! Six times over! I am particularly interested

in your 13 year old boy.. He sounds like my boy. Age11

Glad to have you on this fantastic group!

for awesome autism gear look HERE!

http://www.cafepress.com/autismawarenes

For Fun Fashion gear look HERE!

http://www.cafepress.com/stronggear

For Fun Animal Activist Gear go HERE!

http://www.cafepress.com/vegetarianrus

and don't forget Ribbons of hope! Show your support

and show your ribbon.

http://www.cafepress.com/ribbonsofhope

-- ( ) Introduce ourselves