What's with YouTube?

I have been trying to upload a video of Alex onto YouTube to share with you but it just wouldn't want to know. I tried a few times last night and then again this morning - just have to try later.

Alex learned to hum the intro of "Eye of the Tiger" and it's just so funny.

Anyway, we had our third Early Bird course today and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I would definately recommend anyone whose child been diagnosed with ASD to attend the Early Bird. This will be more beneficial to parents in the early days of diagnosis. The course really give parents the confident to work with their child/children and to understand how, what and sometimes why things happen the way they do.

Alex was diagnosed in May 2007 just after one of the Early Bird courses started. We had to wait until September for a new course to begin but there weren't enough families to start a new class. So, from September was delayed to November and then finally a confirmed date in January 2008.

While waiting for the course to start, Christina Watson one of the Early Bird trainers gave me many tips to work with Alex. That helped quite a bit and I know she wanted to tell me more but she knew I would not benefit from the course if she said too much.

Back to Early Birds, I have been practicing most of the things discussed in the first three weeks for sometime and I knew it worked. All these were either read from various books, research from the internet or tips from Christina. It seemed like a long time ago since the diagnosis and because of the knowledge we acquired from various sources, our life with Alex improved tremendously. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the last three weeks of the course and look forward to the rest.

Note to parents with children recently diagnosed with ASD:

It's not an easy thing to accept that your child is autistic but through our experience and the joy Alex gave us, I wouldn't want it any other way. You may feel sad and you are allowed to be down BUT pick yourself up as soon as you can because your child needs you.

There are three things that we have to remember:

START Accepting (Accept that there are no cure for ASD, accept all the help you can get because we cannot do it all alone);

STOP Expecting (Don't expect too much from your child. The lower your expectation, the more you get out of your child. When he's able to do the things you want him to, it gives you extreme joy)

START Believing (Have faith and believe that the days ahead will be better)

At Early Birds, we are able to share our experiences, what works for one might work for you. If it doesn't, there are always other ways to explore. The possibilities are unlimited.