Clay's Law

Fox 13 did a spot about how Clay's Law would affect families with children diagnoised with Autism. This is my school. I work with these parents at Spectrum. I know their kids. Garrett is in my class.

http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=8304002&version=1&locale=EN-US

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYtDN2PrTBk

I don't know if this is the right law to pass, but at least it is a start. Something needs to be done. I can't believe insurance companies say they don't know if the services help these kids. I see it helping first hand EVERYDAY.

Loves of my life...

Erick is amazing. I am so blessed to have him in my life. We've been through a lot these past almost 3 years, but it's been completely worth it. He is my best friend. He is so supportive (even when he doesn't want to). He works his butt off so I can work at a job I love. It's hard that I only get to see him about 2 hours a day. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

I love my church. I love the Savior. I love the Book of Mormon. But most of all I love that I love what I believe. I'm not just there because I've been attending church my whole life. I'm not there just because I have a church calling. I'm there because I want to be. I'm still young and I don't understand all the doctrine that is being taught, but I love being able to look at what I do know and see how that makes my life happy... better. People view religion differently. Some people have accused me of following blindly. I know that what I believe has shaped me into the person I am. I am happy. I love the Lord. I am ME.

I love music. I'm not the greatest singer or the greatest pianist. I'm getting better at leading the music during sacrament meeting. I'm too intimidated to lead for the ward choir. None of that changes the fact that I LOVE music. I love listening to the radio and hearing lyrics that are amazing. Maybe it's because I'm not an eloquent writer. Who knows? Playing the piano sort of rejuvenates my soul. I play when I'm happy, when I'm emotionally worn down... It's been a huge blessing in my life. Now that I have an iPod, I'll be able to collect the songs I love to hear (some of which are on my blog! yay!)

I love my job. I love knowing I am making a difference in someone's life. Working at Spectrum has been the best decision I could have ever made. I love the kids I work with (often referred to as "my kids"). I'm learning GREAT skills for when I have my own kids. I love my co-workers, I love almost everything about my job. I'm sad there has been a huge cut in education funding. We are providing so much help to students with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their parents/families. I am so excited to plan summer camp this year! I had so much fun being the coordinator last year and I'm glad I get to do it again!

I have a new found love of reading. It started when Erick's school & work schedule became so crazy that I never see him. I'm home by myself a lot (especially on Fridays & Saturdays). Since August, I have read about 32 books. I know that is disgusting, but I'm happy that I have been able to find something that helps me get through all those hours.

Is There Such Thing As Car Heaven?

So, I've had my new car about a month and a half, and I LOVE it! Here are a few of the reason (in no particular order)...

• the heater doesn't stink


• the volume knob doesn't have a short it in (going from 1 to 17 in one click)


• electric locks


• electric windows


• the throttle doesn't get stuck open when it's blizzarding outside


• I can wear high heels and not worry about the heel getting stuck on the clutch petal


• did I mention I have an automatic now?


• four doors


• the seat belt insert (the side you grab and pull across you) doesn't fall to the floor every time I take off the seat belt


• the trunk can fit AT LEAST two suit cases


• there's not a dent in the side from hitting my grandpa's car


• the CUP HOLDERS are cup holders, not cup dumpers


• I don't have to sit so close to the steering wheel (no clutch petal to pound in)


• a key fob that actually unlocks the doors and not one that just makes a sound like a barking dog


• the steering wheel is wrapped in leather (and man, could I tell a difference. I actually thought "Wow, this steering wheel feels REALLY good!" haha)


• I don't have to borrow Erick's car when I need to haul kids in the back seat


• No one will ever have to worry about which lever to pull to make the front seat fold down


• I get GREAT gas mileage (way better than my little yellow car did)


• there's lots of places for change, sunglasses, or anything else I might want to stash


• I have a center console


• Erick LIKES driving my car
• it has a sun roof

and...

• (actually the most important reason)... I HAVEN'T GOTTEN STRANDED A BLOCK FROM WORK WHILE IT WAS RAINING!

Isn't it interesting the things we put up with.

(picture isn't MY car, but it sure does look the same...)

ABC chain

ABC . . . Antecedent Behavior Consequence

This has been DRILLED into my brain because of my job. To break this down, an antecedent is something that happens before the person chooses their behavior. An example of this is like Mom says, "Go clean your room." Child's behavior could either be to clean, or not to clean. Then the consequence is based on the child's decision. Sometimes it is hard to remember consequences are both positive and negative.

Many of the kids at my school don't understand this. So every aspect that we can talk about this we do. We are trying to drill it into their brains because it is such a fundamental social skill they MUST know to succeed in life.

I've been thinking about this a lot outside of working at Spectrum. Everything we do revolves around this ABC chain. I've also been thinking about what I believe and how this all works together. This is an example of what I mean. I am against abortion. If someone chooses to have sex (behavior), a possible natural consequence is pregnancy. If you don't want to get pregnant, don't have sex. You can always choose your behavior.

Now I find myself analyzing everything with this almost every aspect of my life. That's different because I'm usually an emotional thinker, not a logical thinker. It's easy to see how everything fits together. Hopefully I can help my kids think "What consequence do I want? What behavior do I need to choose so I can have that consequence?"

Recipes

Would anyone be interested in swapping recipes via blog? Let me know your thoughts...

Interesting Turn of Events

I have had an interesting week. I have learned a lot about myself
and my husband.

Erick is amazing. He took REALLY good care of me while I was recouperating from my surgery and my tragic ER visit. Anything I needed or wanted, he did (even though he ended up with a sinus infection). He even helped me wash my hair (a foreign concept "You need conditioner too?")

Tonight we had dinner at my parents' house (our usual Sunday routine). My parents have a Wii and some pretty fun family games. We were playing Mario cart and Kristyn whacked me in the forehead with her steering wheel. Then when she went to hug me to apologize, she GRABBED
MY FACE. So, to get even with her for grabbing my hurt face, I recorded her playing Cookin' Mama (She is stirring something, and her arm got REALLY tired... it's funny but there is no sound. I recorded it from my cell phone so it's not a great quailty.)

I'm finally feeling better! And I get to go back to work tomorrow! It will be great to get back into a normal routine after having Christmas Break off!