.................Kids are kids!

Recently, a friend asked me what I was looking forward to most about my trip to Bulgaria.  Without hesitation, I blurted out..."getting there and playing with kids, of course!"

I have such great memories of my time in Kazakhstan spent with the children (who weren't even destined to be mine).  The other special needs children in the orphanage whom I would have to sneak in my visits with, the children being adopted by parents at the same time (Kinley, Victor and Yanika) whom I could openly play with, and the neighborhood children....all brought so much joy to the experience.  And it was easy to see that after stripping down the cultural differences, the language barriers and developmental expectations...kids...all over the world....are pretty much the same!  This includes kids from the "country of Autism"   We don't have speak the same language to understand what a reach for a toy means....we don't have to receive eye contact to know a child wants our attention....and the simplest play things make the most wonderful toys (water...baby powder....hair clips...).

Some of you who followed my Kazakh blog may remember my experience of how the neighborhood kids coerced me to jump into the dirty public fountain with them on a hot summer day.  Without the use of a joint spoken language, the social context of knowing each other and in defiance of a social rule (certainly by Western standards) I had one of the best August afternoons ever....because I remembered what it was like to be a kid.  And hence...I am really looking forward to BULGARIA!

measuring...

Measuring growth or success is not universal.  It is dependent on many variables...some including where you started from and how you respond to challenges along the way.  That being said, I wanted to share with you some of the successes I have witnessed over the past week:
- a child heading home from school in the SAME unsoiled clothing that he came to school in.
- a note shared from a parent that her son was able to sit through a whole church service!
- watching a child "cheat" at a game....no small feat for a kid on the spectrum.
- hearing a student say his name when asked.
- a quiet hallway.
- a noisy hallway of chattering voices.
- meeting the $210 mark on my fund raising effort....
....and it's only Tuesday!!

...reaching far and wide

This was a particularly emotional week for me.  I found myself comforting the mother of a very young child with Autism who is really struggling with some very significant behavior challenges and she hoped to someday be in a position to advocate for services that would meet the needs of other families in Western Mass.  Then she added, "at least we live in the North East!"  Which, is fortunate. This very same mom turned and asked the question, "Do they have Autism in the bush of Africa?  and what do those poor families do?"  Knowing the answers that...yes, they DO have children with Autism in remote areas of Africa and they likely do all they can just to survive...we both took a few moments to grieve over that situation.  Somehow, sometimes displacing what we face as difficulty to compassion for other people in similar situations give us (as Moms...as professionals...as humans...) a little bit more room to breathe.  We breathe...we ponder...then we do something constructive about it.  While this particular mom can't make the Autism her son faces on a daily basis go away, she can make strides in improving his daily life in small steps.  AND SHE DOES!  And while I really don't know how the educational system for children with special needs works in Africa, I am learning about Bulgaria, and do think that is a very fine place to start.  I just needed to get started.

...On our way

Last night, after posting, my very first donation came in...THANK YOU LYNDA!  I kind of cried at first, well, that's a lie...I sobbed...and then I had a hard time explaining to my five year old that yes...people do cry like this even when they are happy.  So happy!  And another donation was received this morning...THANKS CYNTHIA!  It's really happening, and we are really going to make a difference.

So...like every good ABA therapist, I realized I have to show you the progress as we go along.  I couldn't find the "graph" widget I had in mind, but I think the fund raising thermometer will do.  It's what everyone can read easily (even though I can't drop any phase lines).

Welcome!!

The Karin Dom Foundation, a special needs treatment and training facility in Varna, Bulgaria, has recently accepted my request to volunteer my time and skills for two weeks this coming fall. More specifically, they are inviting me to conduct classroom consultation and training using applied behavior analysis as a treatment model for children with Autism and severe communication deficits. I am honored to have been chosen and have scheduled October 10 – October 21, 2011.

I have been very fortunate to have received excellent training in applied behavior analysis from some of America’s leading specialists in Autism. I also applaud the efforts that the professionals at Karin Dom are making in the way of wanting to implement research based treatment programs and integrate children with Autism with their peers in the learning community. Hopefully, my offerings can provide another piece to the puzzle for a growing educational program.

Although my housing will be provided at the Karin Dom facility during my stay, it is my responsibility to arrange and pay for my flight, which totals $1,000. Please consider sponsoring part of my trip. Any small contribution will bring me closer to raising the total funds that are needed for my flight. I would also like to invite you to continue to view this blog as I journal my way toward and through this goal.