Shock and aWedding

Darren made a huge mistake by not inviting Hannah to his wedding and not telling her about it until a week later. When he did tell her, he described it as this beautiful, intimate, family affair, which is lovely for all who were involved. When he was speaking, I could see her heart breaking. He could not have hurt her more if he had pushed her down and stomped on her. After 10 years of first abandonment and then disinterest, Hannah has had enough of him, at least for now. She's in some formative years, and she's very smart. I cannot cover for his deficiencies in the dad department anymore, because she sees through the excuses that I create for her benefit. She sent Darren an email asking him not to contact her for a while.

I've been nothing but accommodating to Darren where the girls are involved. Even after he took me to Friend of the Court to get his child support reduced and the Court Referee came back with a decision to raise it, I didn't have it raised because I did not want to make it harder for him to visit, for the sake of the girls, for Hannah really. If Darren had told Hannah about his plans to marry, I would have made arrangements to get Hannah to the wedding. Darren offered to take Hannah to meet Kim, but Hannah is sensitive to her sister and feels that meeting her means to meet Sophie too, which would mean a trip here, which would have been absolutely fine with me.

Hannah is a smart and sensitive young lady. Darren's exclusion of her from such an important event is his life really hurt her.

Notes about want I want to talk about at Savvy Seminar for Autism

Mary Hellner:(class of ’88) of Chelsea, mother of two, one of whom is Autistic. She wears a button on her purse that says “ask me about Autism” so she can bring a wonderful perspective. provide a brief story, or explanation of who you are, what your connection is with Autism and what you bring to the panel discussion. At that time I would like to open it up to the audience for questions. I would ask that each of you bring at least 2-3 of your own “questions” you think would prompt discussion, in case we are looking out at a group of people who might not know just what to ask….

Initial Diagnosis = No one wanted to tell me that it was autism. Doctors didn't. Parents of autistic boy because autism varies so much), she did not think that Sophie had it. Nurse Practitioner that I've known since kindergarten or 1st grade "looked" at me and said that the Mom knows best.

Educational = IEPs...changing schools = just me with about a dozen school staff from 2 different schools. Be nice to school staff. They work with your kid. They know your kid better than stupid researchers.

Emotional = Seek help and support from anyone that you trust.

Check my blog (old and current) for anything that I've mentioned about autism.

You cannot take what others say personally. They are ignorant. Talk about Mrs. Osentoski in the parking lot.

You will not take anything that your kid does for granted.

It's a blessing. It brings your family together. It gives siblings the opportunity to learn patience, compassion, etc. Hannah is the sweetest person I have ever met. I am blessed to have a wonderful support system with my sister, brothers, and their families. I have confidence that if anything happens to me, they will care for Sophie.

See autism wherever I go...someone is on the spectrum.

When I first started working in sales, 3 of the 6 people in my aisle had kids on the spectrum.