My kids are only 2, so I'm still not fully in the loop of kid-culture. Frozen largely stayed off my radar during its run in theaters, because I am NOT crazy enough to take these two to a movie in a theater yet, and I didn't even see trailers because we don't have cable and they don't show ads for movies on Hulu very often. I'd see posts in my social media feeds from moms of older kids complaining about watching it for the umpteenth time, or having the songs stuck in their heads, and I even saw a few videos shared that related to the film, like those self-declared good-looking parents lip-synching. (Tip: unless you're Derek Zoolander, never talk about how good-looking you are.) All that said, the other day we bought Frozen and tried to watch it as a family. The girls had had a long, late nap that day, so we were looking for a low-key evening activity. And I'd been kind of curious about a movie I heard was about two sisters -- I have a sister and am raising a pair of sisters and YAY SISTERHOOD, you know? I popped popcorn, and all four of us snuggled on the couch and we pressed play. Elmo? the girls asked. And kept asking. Basically, through the entire movie they wanted to know where the heck Elmo was, and if Elmo wasn't in this movie, why were we watching it at all? We didn't even finish before putting them to bed. To read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-sweatt-orsborn/watching-frozen-with-my-daughters_b_5105525.html
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Nick Lachey once exposed his life for the reality-show cameras, but there was one topic that was kept off limits: his brother with Asperger syndrome. "It's a personal issue for me and my family," the singer tells PEOPLE of his brother Zac, who was adopted. Now 19, Zac was diagnosed at age 7. "It's something we've all been helping him with for a long time," his big brother adds. Lachey, 40, is speaking out as he launches the fifth-annual Lindt Gold Bunny Celebrity Auctionon Friday to raise funds and awareness for Autism Speaks. (The auction features porcelain gold bunnies signed by Lachey and such other celebs as Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson and Harrison Ford.) Zac, who lives with their mom Cate in Cincinnati, was diagnosed when he began having trouble learning in elementary school. "He wasn't learning in the same way as the other kids at school," says Lachey, who now lives in New York City with his wife, Vanessa, and their son, Camden, 18 months, for his new hosting VH1 gig, Big Morning Buzz Live. "They originally thought it was ADD. It took a while to narrow it down." At the time, Lachey was touring the country with his other brother, Drew, and their band 98 Degrees, and no longer living at home. It was stressful for his mom. "She was looking for answers more than anything else," Lachey tells PEOPLE. "Once she had them, she could learn to deal with it. It was more stress but at the same time, she could now understand how better to help him." As a teenager, Zac enrolled in the Cincinnati School of the Performing Arts, the same school his elder brothers had attended. "He studied technical theater and learned sound, which suited his interests," says Lachey. "And he made friends in the department." Still, he admits, "Social interactions can be a challenge for him. When he's focused on something, it's tough to get him off of it." Zac, he adds, "is highly functioning and very intelligent. A little introverted, but he's a sweet kid." To read more click here: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20803153,00.html A young schoolgirl touched the heart of her teacher when she wrote an essay wishing her brother could be “healed of autism”. “Every person needs a Rachel in their lives,” wrote Co Meath teacher Kathryn Lenaghan, after she read the impromptu essay by nine-year-old Rachel Cahill. Although written in February, her mother Caroline Cahill asked for the letter to be highlighted for World Autism Awareness Day, which is tomorrow, April 2nd. The third class student began the essay after she had finished her day’s work at St Paul’s NS in Navan. Titled “I wish, I wish, I wish,” she begins: “Since my little brother Matthew was two, I have always had the same wish. When Matthew was two, he was diagnosed with autism. Autism has no cure. Some children with autism can talk, understand and communicate, but Matthew can’t. “When you have autism, your brain is different. Matthew would hear things more loudly than us, he feels things more differently and sees things we don’t. So ever since Matthew was diagnosed with autism, my wish was for Matthew’s autism to be healed.” Click here to read more: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/i-wish-i-wish-i-wish-my-brother-could-be-healed-of-autism-1.1745836 Sara Mae Hickey knew she wanted to be a difference maker for a long time. She considered the Peace Corps after she graduated fromSkidmore in 2012, but she soon realized her most important cause was at home — her sister Emily. And so at 23, Hickey is the owner of Puzzles Bakery & Cafe, which is set to open sometime between April and June at 515 State St. in Schenectady and will employ adults on the autism spectrum and who have other disabilities, a group studies have shown to be severely underemployed. She's also the president and founder of the nonprofit The Autism Initiative, which helps provide educational and recreational programming to those in the autism community. Hickey's sister Emily, who is on the cusp of turning 21, has autism and is considered low-functioning. She requires constant care, has a limited vocabulary for her age and is unable to live on her own. When Hickey was in kindergarten, she toted a pamphlet about autism along to class, a result of her parents' longtime involvement with the local chapter of the Autism Society of America. In a lot of ways, Emily's disability shaped Hickey's path. "My whole life she's always been a big inspiration to me. I've always seen the bigger picture. We know so many families who are affected by this disability," says Hickey, who has bachelor's degrees in anthropology and government from Skidmore College and a master's certificate in nonprofit management from SUNY Purchase. "I don't think everyone really understands it's a lifelong disability. These children become adults, and they live a very long time." To read more: http://www.timesunion.com/default/article/Puzzles-to-fill-a-special-need-5261216.php#photo-5931224 For more on The Autism Initiative, visit theautisminitiative.org. For more on Puzzles Bakery & Cafe, visit www.facebook.com/Puzzles.Bakery.Cafe Contact Sara Mae Hickey about either organization at saramae@theautisminitiative.org. There is so much to say to you all, you fierce soldiers of breakthrough. You grow up in the same house as one they call “special,” and that carries more weight than we understand. It means that your parents’ eyes look past you. That we take it for granted that you are whole even when you are not. It means that you give and give and give. Every big sister shares with her siblings, but most of them don’t give away their entire portion. You do it. Often. You watched your brother grow bigger but not older. We had that talk, introducing you to that mysterious word, “autism,” but you already knew something was wrong. When did you figure it out? Was it when you saw other boys trying to play with him? Or when he threw himself on the floor and screamed in the lobby of the bank? I hope it was something like that, and not something we, your parents, did. Because I’m sure you saw the change in us, too. We traded in our laughter for dark clouds and chronic busyness—not just from the doctors’ appointments, but from the other appointments, too. The ones that took our joy and concentration even when we sat next to you on the sofa. To read more click here: http://www.jasonhague.com/2013/02/25/a-salute-to-the-siblings-of-autism/ Dylan Siegel, 7, would do anything for a friend -- especially if that friend is his best one, 8-year-old Jonah Pournazarian. The pair has been inseparable ever since they met in preschool, when Dylan learned that Jonah faces a rare battle their other classmates didn't -- glycogen storage disease, or GSD, according to LEX 18. The condition causes Jonah's blood sugar to drop to potentially fatal levels, forcing his parents to follow an inflexible, round-the-clock schedule of feeding Jonah through a stomach tube in order to keep his metabolism stable, according to ABC News. GSD does not have a cure. And, to Dylan, that is unacceptable. So, back in 2013, when he was 6 years old, Dylan wrote a book to help his friend and others struggling with the disease. But, it's not your typical page-turner, every penny from sales of "Chocolate Bar" -- a term used by Dylan to mean "awesome" -- goes directly to a lab at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, Fla., which is working on a cure for the disease. "It is now reality. It's not just a dream that these children can be cured," Dr. David Weinstein, who runs the University of Florida lab, told Fox 17. To date, Dylan has raised more than $750,000 in the fight against GSD. Before the money began pouring in from book sales, funding for Weinstein's research was falling flat, ABC News reported. "Chocolate Bar" has given those suffering from GSD renewed hope for a better tomorrow. To read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/boy-writes-book-for-charity_n_4949967.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl28%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D453593 Please visit website Dylan and Jonah's website: http://chocolatebarbook.com/ When Gabby Abramowitz was younger, she was cautious about inviting new friends to the house. She wasn't sure how they would react to her younger brother, Ben, who is autistic. And she didn't want a repeat of the Simpsons incident. That was the time she had a friend over for dinner, and Ben sat at the table reciting the entire "Treehouse of Horror" Simpsons Halloween special. Gabby pleaded with him to stop, but he persisted. "My friend was like, 'What's going on?' and then started laughing," she said.At that time, she was in elementary school and lacked the words and understanding to explain her brother's condition. But with the help of her parents and through her own study, Gabby, now 16 and a sophomore at Tenafly High School, has grown to understand the nuances of autism and often speaks out to teach her peers while growing closer to Ben, 14. Through her research, she found that her experiences, and those of others like her, often are overlooked. "I think the effect on siblings is underestimated. We get pushed into the background." Read more: http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/autisms-effect-normal-siblings-09277321#ixzz2v2F3NBHL |
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