As you may or may not know, Autism has struck us pretty close to home, our son Anakin (pictured above) was diagnosed with it when he was two. It’s been a struggle for the whole family, and especially Anakin. He’s 9 now and still non-verbal although his communication is coming along every day! It’s a huge joy to see him overcome and grow. He has an amazing personality and never ceases to keep us laughing.  I’m so proud of him and his older sister who deeply cares about her little brother and is always looking out for him.

Now for the informative part, I post this every year in hopes that more people will recognize the signs of autism. Early intervention is the best treatment for autism, so an early diagnosis is important.  Also the more people who recognize autism hopefully means fewer dirty looks at the grocery store when tantrums start (Sensory overload can be a huge problem for people with autism, and grocery stores are almost a nightmare).

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

If you would like to make a personal donation to Autism speaks you can do so here or to the ASA.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group – http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info – http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

April is Autism Awareness month. Autism has struck us pretty close to home, our son Anakin was diagnosed with it when he was two. It’s been a struggle and a blessing. He’s 8 and non-verbal, but he’s learning new signs all the time. He’s starting to pick them up faster and it’s so awesome to see the progress he makes everyday. He’s such a little sweetheart & his laughter is almost magical.

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

To help the cause for every wedding package booked in April I’m donating $50 to the Autism Speaks.

I’m also giving away a free portrait session* to a Quad-City area child with autism. The winner will receive a 1 hour portrait session in a location (in the Quad-City area) the child is comfortable in, a disk with High resolution digital files from the session and a free 8×10. To enter just send an e-mail to tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com with the following.

• Name
• Phone Number
• E-mail address
• Age of the child

A drawing will be held May 5th to select the winners. If you have any questions e-mail them to Tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com.

Here is an image of last years winner.

If you would like to make a personal donation to Autism speaks you can do so here or to the ASA.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group – http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info – http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

* Portrait session will be based on availability. No substitutions.

Cory & I got to go shoot little Skyler today at Vanderveer Park in Davenport.  He was one of the winners in my Autism Awareness contest back in March.  Isn’t he just the cutest? He was such a sweetheart!

Cory took this one, I love it! He does so well with kids!  I had to use a new processing style I’m trying out.

More to come…

April is Autism Awareness month. Autism  that has struck us pretty close to home, our son Anakin was diagnosed with it when he was two.  It’s been a struggle and a blessing. He’s 7 and still non-verbal, but he’s learning new signs all the time.  He has some wonderful teachers who work very closely with him and whom I feel genuinely care about him.  As hard as it has been watching Anakin struggle with communicating, he is a bright little boy with an infectious laugh & a wonderful sense of humor.  I love seeing how my daughter acts with him, she’s so caring and loving. I think our family is stronger because of everything we’ve gone through.

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

To help the cause for every wedding package booked in April I’m donating $150 to the Autism Society of America.

I’m also giving away 5 free portrait sessions to Quad-City area children with autism. The winners will receive a 1 hour portrait session in a location (in the Quad-City area) the child is comfortable in, a disk with High resolution digital files from the session and a free 8×10. To enter just send an e-mail to tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com with the following.

• Name
• Phone Number
• E-mail address
• Age of the child

A drawing will be held May 14th to select the winners. If you have any questions e-mail them to Tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com.

If you would like to make a personal donation to the ASA you can do so here.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group – http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services – http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info – http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/

Halloween was a blast. We have this huge football rivalry going on. My husband Cory is a huge Green Bay Packers fan, and he’s pretty much alone, everyone else we know are big Bears fans. So every week the guys have phone calls back & forth depending on who’s won. At one point my mom & step-dad Jay bought my son a full bears outfit & got his pictures taken in it. My daughter Crystal is also a Bears fan (although when she started talking my husband got her to say “kick da bears” to everyone), and they write messages back & forth with the fridge magnets. So it was no surprise when my mom, Jay, their son Stephen (who changed before I could get a picture) and even their dog showed up for trick or treating in bears costumes.

Crystal went as a “Bratz cheerleader”, which I wasn’t really excited about, but it turned out pretty cute.

Anakin went as Spiderman. He wasn’t really loving the mask, so he only wore it long enough for me to get a picture. He really liked the jumpsuit though.

Cory went as the guy from the Saw movies (I think it’s Jigsaw maybe?), creepy.

I wussed out this year and didn’t wear a costume for trick or treating, although I did dress up to go out with a few friends later. I don’t normally go out much, but Halloween is so much fun. I love the bizarre crazy costumes people come up with. I was wishing I’d brought my camera the whole time. Shannon took this with her camera phone, yeah we’re dorks.

Crystal had to get glasses this year. She did pick out some pretty cute frames though, & now she wants to wear them everywhere. Of course if you know any 8 year old girls, you know we had to pick up the “Hannah Montana” case to go with the frames. You can’t go anywhere without seeing some kind of “Hannah Montana” products. Jeez.

We elected a new president, I’m feeling pretty good about it, all though it’s too soon to tell. I’m really excited we live in a country where we can vote, so I get pretty jazzed up when we have an election. Hopefully we can get things going in a positive direction now.

Cory & I recently finished reading Jenny McCarthy’s two books on autism, Mother Warriors & Louder than words. Really informative and inspiring. There is so much research that needs to go into potential treatments for autism, and it’s great to see someone who has the ability to get some of the information out there. We’ve had our son on a Wheat & Dairy free diet pretty much since he’s been diagnosed with Autism, and it’s exciting to hear about some other dietary interventions that might help him out. After the holidays we’re going to be trying some of the interventions she used in the book and hopefully seeing some more improvements. I’m feeling really optimistic about the whole thing. I will say I was a bit disappointed that she didn’t go into more detail about possible treatments, but there is a huge message of hope there & I think that’s what’s important. If you know anyone with autism I really recommend these books & checking out the TACA website.