World #Autism Awareness Day FAQs – Day 1

To honour World Autism Awareness Day today, I posted the following on my personal Facebook:

“April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day; April is World Autism Awareness Month. What do you want to know about Autism and how we live with it?”

I received FANTASTIC questions from my personal friends and thought I would post each one with my response, one per day until they stop asking questions. So, the first question is a two-part question, which I will answer separately.

 

“I want to know why it’s on the rise.”

So do I!! Until we know the cause of Autism, we won’t know for sure why the diagnosis rate is rising. Personally, I believe that it’s a genetic predisposition with a potential environmental trigger that “releases” Autism in someone. It’s a fascinatingly complicated disorder, that is filled with tons of highs and lows.

 

Is it only in the “western world” that we are in with this or is it being noticed also in other places (EU, China, etc)?

Honestly, I had to research to answer this question. I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve been very North American-centric in watching diagnosis rates increase. When we started on this journey, the rate was 1 in 150 in the US (don’t remember what the stats were in Canada at the time). Now, almost 6 years later, the CDC just released stats of 1 in 50 in the US (whereas last year, it was 1 in 88 in the US). The latest numbers I’ve found in Canada are 1 in 100, from a few years ago.

 

So, after some research elsewhere in the world, here are stats I can find:

According to Autism Europe:

• 1 in 150 children diagnosed in Europe
• They estimate 5 million people live with Autism in Europe
• Can’t find a date for these numbers but they are the same dates in the media information the organization is releasing for World Autism Awareness Day for 2013.

 

China has proved to be very difficult to find information and I’m not sure what information source is considered to be “valid” or reputable. But, I have found some:

• According to china.org.cn, the rate is 14% of population born, which is an estimated 1.8million children in China. This number is from 2004.
• According to EzineArticles:
  • Autism is called “zi bi zheng” in Chinese (doesn’t state which dialect).
  • No one was diagnosed with Autism until the 1980s in China
  • There are 100 doctors in China who are qualified to make an official diagnosis of Autism
• According to Autism World:

- Rates could be anywhere from 1% to 4% of the population, which ranges from 1.3million to 7.8million children with Autism

 

According to the National Autistic Society in the UK, the rate is 1 in 150.

 

I haven’t been able to find an internationally recognized assessment tool to actually diagnose Autism. I know what the assessments are in Canada, having been through the process twice now. I’m not sure if the same assessments are used outside of Canada, let alone in non-English speaking countries.

 

A couple words about the most recent CDC findings, estimating the rate in the US to be 1 in 50…honestly, I question the legitimacy of these findings. From my research when it was released, 57,000 households were called in the US, asking them to participate in a survey about children’s health. 1 in 50 was determined from this survey. I wonder why stats weren’t compiled from actual diagnosis numbers throughout the country so, until those numbers are released, I personally will quote “1 in 88 in the US” as the rate.

Birth Story Will Trump Child’s Rebellious Stage

An amazing story in the news this morning and frankly, women who give birth are amazing: a lady gave birth on the side of Canada’s busiest highway…Hwy 401. So many amazing things with this brief news story. She pulled over on the side of a probably 10 lane (at least 8 lanes at that point anyway) highway, lay down a blanket and gave birth.

 

Police arrived first and they had to improvise to tie off the umbilical cord by using crime scene tape!

 

Oh, and did I mention that we’re in a cold weather alert here in Southern Ontario?  With windchill right now, we’re experiencing around -20 degrees Celsius!

 

Can you imagine what this mom will say when this daughter goes through the rebellious stage in her teens?! “I gave birth to you on the side of the highway, in -20 degrees!” I think that trumps any rebellion she might go through.

 

What’s your birth story? Mine is one that people hate: I didn’t know I was in labour. Had an appointment at my obgyn that day (weekly if you get to 30 weeks with twins), she checked me, discovered I was having a contraction while she was checking me and I was already 5cm. I had no idea. Didn’t feel anything until right before “the needle” came into the room, around 8cm. There were two jacuzzis in the labour and delivery department of the hospital I gave birth in and waited while one of them was cleaned (the woman had moved to recovery) because I didn’t feel any contractions. Three other women came in, in obvious distress and were taken to other rooms. I was calm and just waited. I figured that I was giving birth to twins so I deserved a jacuzzi.

 

My (then) hubby and my stepdaughter kept asking me if I was ok, if I needed anything, etc. I’m sure they were expecting me to be in a lot of pain, but I wasn’t. A few hours later, I told my (then) hubby to “go get someone because something’s happening”. That’s when I started to get uncomfortable. As it turned out, my son was crowning and they had to rush me off to the Operating Room (when you have twins, you have to give birth in an OR in case something goes wrong). Off course it was shift change in the afternoon so there was a bit of chaos. Half an hour later, my babies were here and I was blessed with being a mom to two amazing children.

Tips to Protect Yourself

Time to get serious here.  This is good information to protect yourself, whether you are male or female (although this blog is female-oriented). It’s compiled from an interview of rapists and date rapists in prison on what they look for in potential victims:

http://sorenthan.tumblr.com/post/26113337415/larrystylinsoneternal-opal-leaves-through

Please pass along to everyone you know.

Valentine’s Day Scrooge

I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a Valentine’s Day Scrooge. Please don’t assume that because I’m no longer married, that’s the reason I’m a Valentine’s Day Scrooge.  I am partnered with a wonderful man.  I just don’t understand Valentine’s Day, and here are some of the questions that run through my head every year:

• Why are we expected to pay more attention to our significant others on one specific day of the year?  Shouldn’t we be making those we love our priority all the time? Personally, I spoil my kids on Valentine’s Day.
• Why does society view buying flowers, chocolate, jewellery, and dinner and a show for women as a demonstration of a man’s love for her?
• Why does it usually rest on the man’s shoulders to prove his love? Are women “not allowed” to be the one to spoil her man?
• What about same-sex couples? Is there an acceptable “standard” as to who is the one to demonstrate their love?
• Why do we prioritize relationships over being single? Why is it “better” to be married than single?
• Why do we forget about the BIGGEST and MOST IMPORTANT relationship we will always have…the one with ourselves?
• Biggest question of all…why does everything cost so much more??!!!!

Having said all that, I will admit that I look forward to the day AFTER Valentine’s Day…to break my New Year’s Resolutions with all the chocolate that’s on sale.

 

Same-sex marriages not able to divorce in Canada…?!

 

I was reading my NewsFeed on Facebook recently and discovered the title of an article that lead me to do some Google research: “Canadian Gov’t Dissolves Thousands of Same-Sex Marriages (Including Dan Savage’s)”.  I found some additional articles from “mainstream” Canadian media as well:

• Conservatives Suggest Divorce Law Could Be Revised To Help Same-Sex Couples
• Same-sex divorce options explored by Harper government

So many thoughts are swirling around in my head (some in the “what on earth?!!!” frame of mind) that I thought I would share them, just because I can.  Frankly, seeing the title of the article ticked me off. What do you mean same-sex marriages have just arbitrarily been dissolved?!! How is that “right”?!!!  How would I have felt if one day I had woken up while I was married, and found out that my marriage was dissolved overnight. I don’t think my (then) husband and I would have been very happy about that.  Now, it doesn’t matter, but it would sure make divorce proceedings a lot easier! LOL!

Upon further research, I discovered that it’s actually same-sex marriages of foreigners who chose to be married in Canada because their resident State or country doesn’t recognize their union.  OK…BUT, as the daughter of a “foreigner” who has been a legal citizen of Canada for decades (she speaks funny and everything! ;) ), what does this mean, and why does it matter? Could this mean that my parents’ marriage could arbitrarily be dissolved because my mom was born elsewhere but my dad is Canadian-born?  More research…

As it turns out, Marriage Law in Canada does not require residency inCanada, hence so many same-sex couples who live elsewhere come here to get married.  Canadian Divorce Law however requires a minimum year of residency in Canada.  Hmmm…seems to be a discrepancy here. 

So, my question is, are heterosexual couples who got married in Canada but don’t reside here able to get divorced?  I guess that isn’t really an issue considered heterosexual unions are officially recognized everywhere in the world, however I see that as being a whole different issue.

I don’t know what financial impact foreign-based couples who were married here would have on the Canadian government, let alone what impact their divorce would have, but I would hate to see the Canadian government no longer marry same-sex couples, no matter where they reside.  I would imagine though that the Canadian government was able to enjoy the money they received from these couples getting marriage licenses.  Are they going to refund that money now that they have dissolved these Unions?

When will we live in a society where either we ALL or NO ONE needs “declare” our sexual preference, or everyone just accepts that there is someone for everyone, no matter their gender? 

I would love to hear from you regarding this topic.

 

Cancelled Remembrance Day Service in Ottawa School?!!!!

If it wasn’t for Facebook or Twitter, I wouldn’t have any idea what is going on in the world!  Having said that, I read about a Remembrance Day Service being cancelled in Catholic school in Ottawa.

 

The reason given is because replicas of war-items are brought in from the local museum.  From what I can gather, the event has been happening for 20 years and the students look forward to it every year.  Can you imagine being able to look at and touch replica items, and interact with and learn directly from veterans about their experiences and the tools they had at their disposal, while defending our Rights? 

 

I was fortunate to get both of my grandfathers back from WWII…some of my friends weren’t so lucky.  One of my grandfathers retired at the age of 75, moved across England and went to university.  One of his courses was History of War, and he happened to be taking it on the 50^th anniversary of WWII.  Basically, the professor (who was about 40 years old) just sat back and let my grandfather talk about his experiences in WWII…can you imagine the learnings those university students took from that class, hearing it first-hand??!!! 

 

Thankfully the reporter included part of the School Board Weapons Policy in the article as well.  Some questions are circling around in my brain after reading this article and the Policy.

 

• If “any knife” is not allowed on school property, are there cafeterias in any of the schools in this school board?  Are knives available in these cafeterias?

 

• “Any device which can propel a projectile, i.e., slingshot, compound bow, crossbow, paintball gun, etc.;”  Does this include elastic bands, hair elastics, bras (you have to get creative with this but it can be used as a slingshot), etc?  I remember other kids using elastic bands to shoot paper across rooms, when I was a kid.

 

• “Any explosive device or the materials used for making an explosive device.” Does this include fertilizer that may be stored onsite by Maintenance? If I’ve learnt anything from CSI, one can use fertilizer to create a bomb.

 

• Is this a brand new Policy?  If not, why is this event an issue now?

 

• I wonder if all the textbooks and library books in the school have also been checked for war-items because perhaps a picture might not be acceptable either. 

 

• Do any schools in this school board go on field trips to the museums that have any of these war-items on display, including the museums they receive the replicas from for this event?

 

It seems to me that the School Board has covered their due diligence by stating “any unauthorized person…” in the beginning of the Policy:

“The Board shall not tolerate the use, threat of use, or possession of weapons or replicas thereof by any unauthorized person on its property or in buildings or at Board-sponsored activities. The Board shall not tolerate the presence of weapons or replicas thereof in lockers, schoolbags, handbags, vehicles,or in any other place on its property.”

 

Give these amazing Veterans written “authorization”, send home permission forms for each student, and let these kids learn about something they hopefully NEVER HAVE TO EXPERIENCE FIRST HAND.

 

Must be nice to have the freedom to discuss this type of issue, rather than have to worry about whether we’ll be killed by a landmine on our way home from school or work. 

 

Lest We Forget

Sharing a Chuckle or Two

Every once in a while, I catch “bits” on the radio that I find interesting, and wanted to share for no reason other than sharing a smile and a chuckle.

The perfect formula for a lasting marriage

I tried really hard to hold back from laughing too much…call me cynical but I’m happy to be out of my marriage.  So, according to the study the radio show hosts were quoting, the perfect formula for a lasting (heterosexual) marriage includes:

• The wife being 5 years younger than the husband
• The wife has to be 27% smarter than the husband
• Similar cultural backgrounds
• The wife should have a college degree, and the husband should not

According to the research coordinator of the study “If people follow these guidelines in choosing their partners, they can increase their chances of a happy, long marriage by up to 20percent.”

Ummm…ok, who are these scientists and why is it that they are able to get funding for this kind of a study over something else (poverty, famine, world peace…and my personal preference…funding for services for Autism, but I’m biased)?!!  So, of course I Googled the study.  Here’s the link, in case you need some bedtime reading: “Optimizing the marriage market: An application of the linear assignment model”.

Personally, I just want to know where the 27% smarter data comes from!

What men’s hairstyle says about him

I have no idea which radio station I was listening to (yup, I channel hop my preset radio stations in my sexy mini-van), but this perked my ears.  I just Googled it and found the list, but on a different radio station site…oh well.

Part 1 – http://987ampradio.radio.com/2011/06/27/what-a-mans-hairstyle-says-about-him/

Part 2 – http://987ampradio.radio.com/2011/06/28/what-a-mans-hairstyle-says-about-him-pt-2/

And yes, I sent a completely random without any background text to my man, telling him what his hairstyle says about him. Why do you ask?

So, of course, out of curiosity, I Googled what a woman’s hairstyle says about her.  I’m pretty happy with my hair saying “Sexy, ultra-feminine, pretty” and “Sensual, flirty, low-maintenance, playful.  Best of all, long hair is best suited for women who are 5’7” and taller – good to know for this 5’10” gal!

 

Remembering 9/11

 

There are always days in one’s life where you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news…of course 9/11 is one of those days.  I was driving to work at a private school, coming in a bit late because I had been working late the night before.  Radio broke into the music and said that one of theTwinTowershad been hit by a plane.  My first thought: “Well, someone in the flight tower is going to be fired”. 

 

Then the second plane hit and I knew there was something wrong.  I was so shocked, I took the wrong exit from the highways.  Fifteen minutes later, I walked into my office, and told my manager what had happened.  She thanked me and went to the Director’s office to tell him and everyone was in shock but continued working (well, our manager thought we did – she was not the most compassionate person).

 

Working at an exclusive private school meant we knew that many of the students had family members working in theTwinTowers.  I was impressed that school officials took all those students with a known family member in New York into private rooms, gave them a phone and told them to make whatever phone calls they needed to to find their family members. 

 

After they were removed from classrooms, other students were told what had happened, all TVs in the school were tuned into news and the kids were supported through what they were seeing by all teachers, staff and school officials.

 

In our department, unfortunately, our manager told us to continue making our calls to alumni to see if they were attending the upcomingReunion(did I mention her lack of empathy?).  After 5 or 6 calls, one of my colleagues told her that he refused to make any more calls because everyone was glued to the TV, waiting to hear about their family.  Our manager was not impressed but couldn’t do anything when we all banded together and had a mini “coup”, went to the Director, told him what she was doing.  He just gave her a look like “you know better than that”, and then we were “allowed” to watch as long as we made our calls the next day.  Umm, yeah.

 

At the end of the day, I was so drained and stunned that I couldn’t watch anything other than watch a silly chick-flick and drag myself into bed. 

 

I had a cousin living and working in New York (she still lives there) and her parents had asked my parents to keep trying to find her as her parents live in England and international calls weren’t working as well as we thought our might, being in relatively close proximity.  Thankfully, she and her boyfriend were both fine.  They are now married and have two beautiful children.

 

I still get goosebumps thinking about the day.  As much as I like Nicholas Cage, I can’t bring myself to watch “World Trade Centre“.  Whenever I see the Twin Towers in older shows and movies, I feel awkward.  On one hand, I want to go back toNew York and see Ground Zero, but I also like the memories I have of it when I went as a teenager with school.  I am saddened that the decision was made that First Responders were not invited to the Ground Zero ceremony.  I hope one day I will be able to be less emotional about it, but on the other hand, do I?

 

To all emergency responders and their families:

firefighters, paramedics, police officers, victim’s services, 911 operators, medical staff…

THERE AREN’T ENOUGH THANKS FOR WHAT YOU DO!

 

My “Understanding” of Current Events

 

 

 

Being a SAHM to 6 year old twins can be a bit isolating, especially when we just moved back to the family farm and one of my twins has Autism.  Having said that, one always needs to find humour or the positive in every situation so I thought I would share with the world my interpretation on current events.  Please note, pretty much the only sources of information for me is Facebook, Twitter, a music radio station we listen to in the car, and kids’ shows.  So, here are my ramblings without Googling the items first…

 

PRE-GOOGLING

Norway – with the greatest respect, I know something horrible has happened but, couldn’t tell you any details other than people have died. 

 

RIM is laying off 2,000 people – so many families affected…wait, how big is this company?  Crap, I just upgraded to a Blackberry.

 

US Debt – ummm…how is this “news”?  Haven’t they always been in debt?

 

Somalia – what’s going on? I’m guessing it’s related to famine or AIDS.  Either way, it can’t be good.

 

Ontario weather – I’ve stopped checking the daily weather report.  It’s hot.  Hotter than hell.  High temperature plus humidity makes it about ten million.  Glad I have naturally straight hair.  Sorry curly or wavy haired girls…

 

Amy Winehouse died – too bad.  So young. Unfortunately, with the amount of partying she did, I’m not all that surprised…wait, how many times has she been in rehab?  Didn’t help her apparently.

 

Fabio has become the new Old Spice guy – he’s alive? I really need to see this!!

 

JLo & Marc Anthony split up – oh no! Another fellow family with twins bites the dust. So sad.

 

POST – GOOGLING

Oh Gawd.  I suck.  I really need to start paying more attention to the world outside of our little family but…wait, excuse me while I stop my son from pulling at the blinds again, and my daughter from climbing on the back of the couch again…

 

However, I gave myself a little pat on the back this morning to discover that I was already following all but 3 of this week’s 20 Mommy Bloggers List from SweetSpot.ca.

 

I know. I need to get out more often.

Rapture Ramblings

So, the world is supposed to end today… “Rapture” as they call it. Honestly, I had to Google it to find out more and, as I was reading all this doomsday crapstuff, a new headline popped up “Rapture deadline passes, world still here”. What?! It’s 10am here! More research. Ahh…there are supposed to be powerful earthquakes at 6pm in each time zone. So, as a highschool friend of mine posted on his Facebook, it’s supposed to be a “rolling Rapture”. Australia has now experienced 6pm and they are still alive. Yay!

More research has turned up that apparently those of us left on Earth, will suffer Hell until October 21^st when God will finally pull the plug once and for all. Wait, it took God 6 days to create Earth, but 5 months to destroy it? What am I missing here? I thought it was faster to destroy things than create them, after all it takes builders YEARS to build a huge skyscraper, but only a few minutes to blast it down.

Came across this article entitled After the Rapture, Who Will Walk Your Dog? As a dog-lover, I just had to check that out.  It’s a pet service offering to look after your pets post-Rapture for $135, no money-back guarantee if there’s no Rapture. My favourite quote is from the owner of the service: “What we try to do is reassure our clients that they can trust us, number one,” he says. And if that isn’t good enough, Centre suggests clients “find a friend who may be a Jew, a Hindu, a Muslim, an Atheist, a Wiccan, a Catholic, an Episcopal, anyone they think is not going to be Raptured and appoint them as their post-Rapture power of attorney.” LMAO!! One of the comments on the article sums it all up in my mind: “If my dog can’t come with me then I am not going.”

Then there’s the Rapture Ready website. WAY too much information but scrolling down the website (apparently they skipped Website Design 101), came across the “Featured End of Time Writers” section. Firstly, how do you include that on a resume or explain it in an interview post-Rapture? Yes, I was a Featured End of Time Writer, but it didn’t happen so I need a job. Secondly, I was shocked to see my grandfather’s name there! Even more shocking that he passed away a number of years ago.

The best post I’ve seen though about today’s Rapture is from a Twitter friend @BloggyMoms: A Rapture Forecast.  I LOVE IT!

At the end of the daytime, I hope I’m going to Heaven because I know my kids will be there, but if I’m staying to ensure Hell on Earth, then I’m keeping all of you with me…much better party that way!