quick note:

 wow. looks like i havent posted since 2020. 

i guess we will just go on pretending that the last 3 years didnt happen then. :P 

i had another baby in the meantime, and lost my sister to cancer which was found in 2021. my baby was named after my sister, she was born only 15 days after my sister passed. we knew she was going to lose the battle, it was a rare cancer and quite advanced when it was found. but we didnt really think it would happen in a year and a half. she didnt wither away like one would expect. 

baby had some complications with severe jaundice, and was in the nicu 10 days. it was very scary. they are still watching her for any of the damage caused by the severe jaundice, even things like cerebral palsy. but shes an amazing little girl, and she is so bubbly and happy compared to the other kids. shes much more content most of the time. and she works hard in pt and ot! shes a fighter and nothing is going to hold her back it seems!!

ive gotten an email from a reader about some internet safety. theres a lot to think about when it comes to autism and our safety. from my perspective, we tend to think people are always telling the truth and being straightforward, but there are a lot of creeps out there who are not, and are actually predatory. we sometimes would have trouble seeing the signs. 

anyways, heres a link that will help you or your autie child with internet safety. 

https://www.wizcase.com/blog/internet-safety-guide-for-people-with-autism-spectrum-disorders/

one thing we have learned in our family is that NO child should have access to the internet, especially via cell phone. it isnt a matter of whether you think your child will look up bad stuff, its that the bad stuff is hunting down your kid. im not even kidding. we did all the things. we still ended up with a kid getting into trouble. even under screen time and parental controls, he still found a way around it all. so please, dont get your child a phone. there are phones out there that are much safer, have built in restrictions and whatnot. i forget what they are all called. there is internet watchdogs, please invest in those. but dont get your kid an iphone, and dont let them on youtube. its almost like the bad stuff pays money to make sure its accessible via phones and internet no matter what protections you try to put on. please be careful

thanks

any ideas for things you would want me to write about, just let me know!