Special Needs — Coupon Kristin

Focus on Special Needs – Sensory Friendly Films

Once upon a time, I posted about these Sensory Friendly Films featured by AMC theaters. It’s been a while, so I thought this was worth a repost.

AMC offers a “Sensory Friendly Film” in partnership with the Autism Society. Lights are left on, sound is turned down, and you can move around! But these shows aren’t just for children with autism. They are meant for anyone who has a disability that impedes them from watching a movie.

Focus on Special Needs - Sensory Friendly Films

You can find more information on it here, including participating locations. The closest one to me is AMC 30 Gulfpointe.

The second and fourth Tuesday and Saturday.
Family-friendly movies will continue to show Saturdays, starting at 10am local time
We’ve added Tuesday showings at 7pm local time that may appeal to others on the autism spectrum.

Instead of just once a month, the screenings have been expanded to four times a month! You can see a great family friendly film with everyone. This is a great program that I don’t think enough families know about.

Focus on Special Needs – Caring Santa

Nov 6 by Kristin Duncan

Focus on Special Needs

I have a thing about visiting the mall after December 1. I just don’t do it. If I can’t buy it online, or if I can’t do it before December 1, I must not need it. However, when you have a little one who wants to whisper in Santa’s ear, you have to make exceptions. And if your little one with special needs wants to see Santa this year, but is unable to handle the crowds, long wait lines, or typical mall atmosphere, take a look at Simon Mall’s Caring Santa program.

Jamey with Caring Santa, 2014

You can take your little one to visit Santa before the mall opens in a sensory-friendly environment, with the lights down low and the music off. Last year, we participated in the program at Katy Mills Mall, and it was the first time Jamey had been able to visit with Santa. Our experience was so seamless. You walk in, sign in, and wait just a couple minutes for Santa. I’m happy to say that our tickets are reserved for this year as well.

See more information here.

New Pencils, New Books…

Aug 22 by Kristin Duncan

It’s almost time for school to start.

New pencils, new clothes, and if you’re Jamey, a new school too.

Jamey was excited about picking out his own clothes.

That’s right. In less than 3 years of school, he’s on his third school.

This new school is even further away from our house, but it has a unique program. It combines his PPCD classroom with a regular ed PreK classroom. There will be lots more kids, but also more support in the way of paraprofessionals and an additional teacher. We’re hoping that this will help Jamey with his social skills as well as his reading readiness skills. He knows the alphabet, his numbers to 20, colors, shapes, and he’s killer with directions. He also knows how to spell his first name, and knows his “other name” starts with D. We’re working on it.

His speech still needs some help, so they’ll be pulling him out for speech therapy. We’re hoping that exposure to more regular ed kids will lead to better speech as he tries to keep up with them. It’s worked at daycare. He has used less than a handful of signs over the summer. Remember, we’ve gone from less than 20 words, to hundreds. Somehow, each new word still feels like a victory.

We’ve also requested a new full evaluation. His teachers, speech therapist, and I agree that “autism” isn’t his primary diagnosis. Jamey is too social, too outgoing, too…

Something.

I feel that there is something else hiding behind the autism diagnosis. Is it ADHD? Is it just normal boy energy? Is this just who Jamey is?

I don’t know yet.

So, we’ll see what the school psychologists think. In the meantime, I’m taking recommendations for a pediatrician that won’t scoff at our dye free diet and won’t pester me for Gardasil for my teens. If you know of one, let me know!

Does Raising Cane’s Chicken have MSG?

Jul 22 by Kristin Duncan

Does Raising Cane’s Chicken have MSG?

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is in a lot of processed food. Why? Because it tastes good. However, Jamey can’t have it. Through much trial and error, we’ve discovered that it makes him hyperactive and cranky, and impedes his language to the point of him not being able to find the words he wants to use. After we eliminated all artificial dyes from his diet, MSG was the next thing to go.

Raising Cane’s is one of our easy drive through options. Well, until recently. I emailed Raising Cane to find out if their chicken had MSG.

Does Raising Cane's Chicken have MSG

You guessed it. MSG in the chicken. In the brine, no less.

MSG can hide in many forms. Here’s a partial list.

MSG
Gelatin
Calcium Caseinate
Monosodium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP)
Textured Protein
Monopotassium glutamate
Hydrolyzed Plant Protein (HPP)
Yeast Extract
Glutamate
Autolyzed Plant Protein
Yeast food or nutrient
Glutamic Acid
Sodium Caseinate
Autolyzed Yeast

And this is just a partial list of the places MSG could be hiding in your food. Many people are reactive to MSG and don’t know it. If you get frequent headaches or tingling sensations in your arms after eating processed foods, you’re probably sensitive to MSG.

We have had to completely eliminate it from our house and it’s a pain in the neck. But totally worth it.

A Jamey Update

Jan 20 by Kristin Duncan

It’s been a while since I did an update on my sweet silly Jamey, who is diagnosed as autistic, speech delayed and also just a wee bit spoiled. We’ve been doing a dye free diet for a while now, and we also added in some high powered vitamins and fish oil.

Who is now 4!

Who is now counting to ten!

Who is now…talking?

What is this? What happened to the boy who had about 20 words when he was tested for PPCD?

Well, he found some new ones. About 140 more, to be exact.

Jamey now has a functional vocabulary of over 150 words. With new ones coming every day. He doesn’t rely on sign language any more. If he knows the word, he says it.

Not always so well, but he tries.

His teacher, Miss K, and her assistants have done such a good job with him this year. I mean, it is just remarkable what being in a class of other talkers has done for Jamey.

I spent some time in his classroom for their holiday party and I am just in awe of what the teachers and assistants are able to do with these kids. Let me tell you, I’ll be sticking to coupon clipping because I couldn’t make it..

I can’t wait to see what’s next for my sweet boy. I do know we’re going to continue with his dye free, MSG free, preservative free diet. Not exactly a Feingold diet, but close enough. I’m always happy to talk about what we’re doing with Jamey, so if you have any questions, let me know!

Kristin