Welcome to the SSAM blog! Terri and Stephanie are two moms of Aspie boys. We met at a social group at OT where Gus and Owen were playing. After discovering a need for a support group in the form of other moms who share our philosophy (we are not interested in "curing" our children of Autism), we decided to form our own group. We welcome other parents and caregivers who share our philosophy of meeting our children where they are and helping them learn to navigate our world from theirs, giving them the coping skills and tricks they will need to become independent adults.
We intend to create a forum where there is an open exchange of ideas, tricks, strategies, etc. to help our children understand themselves and the world around them. We are here to share trials and triumphs, challenges and celebrations, struggles and successes with each other. Each week, maybe two, we will post a topic of discussion, which will also be posted on our Facebook page. In order for this to be a true support group, we need input from other moms (and dads, and other caregivers) like us. Please feel free to comment and add to the discussion. Discussion topics can also be suggested. To do this, send your suggestion to southsoundaspiemoms@gmail.com.
Meeting times will be determined in the near future. We are looking at the third weekend of each month to meet up someplace and talk, just us adults. Some months we will just meet to exchange ideas and share stories, other months we will try to have a special guest speaker come in to talk with us. Meeting specifics (location, time, etc.) will be announced the week prior to the meeting. Most will be Saturday in the afternoon or evening. If you have a friend who is interested in joining us, please bring them! The more, the merrier!
I would love to join a support group. As a single mom I find it hard to get away. Perhaps we can meet somewhere with a playspace once in a while.
ReplyDeleteIt's very trying when I keep reminding (nagging) him to do a chore, like take the garbage out. Repeating and repeating hasn't worked. But if I say a specific mand once and wait about a minute (forever), sometimes he'll get up and do it. Or I ask 'Did you understand me?'
ReplyDeleteHe is a rule-follower and thrives on loopholes. 'At 5:00 take the garbage out to the curb.' works a lot better than 'Garbage Night.' and relentless nagging.
Bryn -
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, welcome to the group and thanks for posting!
Most of our meetings will be the third Saturday of the month. Hopefully this predictability will make finding child care a little easier. We are hoping to have times this summer to get together at a park or something with the kiddos and let them play while we chat.
I don't know how old your little boy is, but for my son, having a task list or task cards is really helpful for getting him to do things. And we have the same issue with the auditory processing taking soooo long, but given a little time to hear, understand, and act, Owen will also usually comply.
How did you find out about us? If you haven't already found us on FB, we have a group there as well, same name: South Sound Aspie Moms (SSAM).
We look forward to seeing you next weekend!
Hi! I'm Zee and I'm a friend of Stephanie's from ANOTHER site! (We're both music teachers) I live in NE Georgia, outside of Atlanta, recently moved from Brunswick.
ReplyDeleteMy Aspie is 23... so I'm here to tell you that YOU WILL SURVIVE AND YOUR CHILD WILL AND CAN GROW UP WITHOUT YOU KILLING HIM FIRST!!!! The hormones years are difficult, I'm warning you now, but on the whole, Aspie kids are AMAZING gifts!!!!