Koopman Kraziness

I've been thinking a lot recently about what ticks me off.  lol  I know, great topic to meditate on, isn't it? If you know me at all, you know that I am pretty laid back and don't get too upset about things in general.  However, compared to a few years ago, I'm actually much more high strung.  My fuse is shorter, the kinds of things that irritate me now in comparison to then are quite different and for the things that are the same, I am much more likely to speak up on the topic quickly rather than to sit back and ignore it like I would have before. While I do still sympathize with people's daily struggles and concerns, things that I would have been extremely empathetic toward in the past I now find myself fighting the urge to say, "You do realize it's really not THAT big of a deal, right?"  See, that makes me sound like a complete jerk.  It isn't that I don't care about those things.  My entire perspective changed the day I found out Kaidi ...

I was looking back over the posts I've made recently, and I just wanted to clear something up.  I'm not depressed all the time.  From the way I've been writing I'm sure it somewhat seems that way.  I won't lie, my life right now is more stressful than I think it has ever been, but I'm not unhappy. I enjoy school.  It's time consuming, but I'm good at it and I really feel like I'm truly learning my craft and will be successful at what I've set out to do.  Kamden is a challenge.  We face something new every day it seems like.  Then again, what parent doesn't?  Every day for every child is a "first" day for them.  There are new challenges, new things to be learned, etc.  I just am realizing with Kamden that what is "normal" for one of his friends may not be his "normal" and that it's completely okay.  His sweet and caring times FAR outweigh his hard times, and even if that were reversed, he'd be worth ever...

It's been a long time since I have written to you, my sweet girl.  I've been pushing aside my feelings about you for months and I can't anymore. Your brother is going to be 5 next month.  He still asks me about you, but not nearly as frequently.  We had to stop taking him to the cemetery because he started asking when we could bring you home with us and would get extremely upset when I told him you never got to come home. The thing is, I know you are HOME.  I know you are complete.  I just can't explain that to him.  I really wish that I could. So many people are having babies lately.  It makes me miss you more than I could ever let on.  I miss knowing you are growing inside my belly...feeling the tiny kicks and movements I was told I would never be able to feel because of your condition.  I wake up many days thinking, "Oh what would I give for some morning sickness!"  However, we know the time isn't right and is far from being. ...

Ironically, we've been talking about the effects of stress on the human body a lot in my Anatomy class.. I didn't expect to become a visual aide. I feel like I should disclaimer this with the statement that I KNOW things could be worse and that people out there have it much harder than I do, but this is my blog, I need to vent any there's an "x" button in the upper right corner if it gets to be too much. That being said... I've made it through school to Spring Break. That's right, spring semester is half over. Most classes are going well. I really messed up at the start of my semester with Sociology. Thanks to that fact, I've got extra work over Spring break. Here's my spring break school work run down: 1. Watch or read and write a play analysis over any Shakespearean play BUT Romeo and Juliet. (Due tonight) 2. Math test (due tomorrow) 3. Read two teacher written books, do one mandatory 30-page assignment over book one, and an extra c...

 The more that I read and talk to people who are familiar with autism and the education side of things in the autism community, the more I am learning about picture/word association.  The biggest issue a person with autism faces is the ability to communicate effectively.  It may be that they are unable to adequately express their own feelings, desires and needs, or it may be that they are unable to completely understand what is being communicated to them.  Think about how many times in your own life someone has said something and you either thought or said, "That's what I meant!" or "You took the words right out of my mouth."  For a person with autism, pictures can do the same for them.  When they cannot find the right words to express themselves, it is much easier to point at  or draw a picture, a color or a symbol instead.   I've included pictures in this post of things we are beginning to use in our house.