SOOC Saturday: CATS Friends

Ten weeks have flown by, and yesterday we were treated to a fantastic, End-of-Semester party as part of the wonderful CATS Program.

We got there late, for a variety of reasons, to find plenty of food, a great play room set up for the kids, and a raffle in full swing. The amazing Katie, our student partner, had not only saved out raffle tickets, she'd put them into baskets for us and was watching the numbers as they were called out.

James greeted her with cries of "Katie!!" and a huge smile and hugs. Katie is veeeery popular at our house. As soon as my daughter got her hands on the raffle tickets, we won twice: a cool pack of sports balls and a ginormous toy Black & Decker tool set that James had already zeroed in on. I think that girl needs to play the lottery for me.

It was a great evening of support and fun surprises. Here are two photos from the event -- James, with his good friend Katie, and James with a baby.

"Cheeeeeeeese!!!" (in stereo)

First time James has held a baby.

He was soooo excited and sweet with him. My thanks to the Mom for sharing her precious little one with my guy.

Several heart-felt thank yous to Lorna Catford and all her wonderful students in the CATS Program. You really do touch peoples' lives and make them better. And that means the world to this family on the spectrum.


Only a little cropping (in the interest of respecting privacy) for this week's SOOC action at Marvelous Mommy's blog. Come on over to see more or join in!

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: CATS Walk, First Ever!

This past weekend, James, his sister, and I participated in the first-ever CATS (Community Autism Trek, Sonoma) walk. We walked to raise awareness not only of autism, but also that the wonderful CATS Program exists to help so many in our community. And raise a little money to support the students and the program too.

The CATS Program a great source of information and learning for students, parents, and professional who work with children and families of special needs people. It's also a great resource to socially connect with other families, which is tough for us.

How did the walk go? Just look!

 

 

And yes, we've been in the program and it has been a great resource!

For more great images or to join in the fun, Visit Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs.


and ... Wordless Wednesday

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: Thank You!

Thank you, everyone! Because of your support, Powell's in Windsor had one of their most successful fundraising event days ever!

Even though James stayed home from school, finishing up a cold, he did enjoy getting a chance to be out in the warm morning sunshine, and enjoy a vanilla gelato on a bench with his mom and a friend.


For more great images or to join in the fun, Visit Wordless Wednesday

Special Exposure Wednesday is on a break this week. Sending good thoughts and prayers to a special little one this week instead.

Tackle It Tuesday: Fundraising Day!

We are soon off to Powell's, to take part in the fundraiser that's happening at their Windsor store today. It supports the CATS Program (which you can read more about here, or check out the link at the top left corner of this page).

If you're in the neighbourhood, please stop on by! You can download & print a flier by clicking on the image below. Please bring the flier with you and present it to the cashier at time of purchase.



Do we love the CATS Program? Oh yes, we do! Do we love Powell's? You betchya! Are we ready for gelato and easter/spring candy?


Oh. Yeah!

I have learned a lot as I helped set this up -- now I am off to tackle the shopping part! What is your mission? Read and be inspired at Tackle It Tuesday on 5 Minutes for Mom. Post your own story to share with other Tacklers.

CATS Program & Why We Love It

During our first year of Preschool with James, my husband and I were still struggling with the whole concept of our son being on the spectrum with autistic disorder, as well as what that meant and what we could do to help and support James. His teacher told us about Dr. Lorna Catford and the CATS Program at Sonoma Statue University (SSU). We decided to give a call and find out more about it and what it could do for us.

A lot, as it turns out. The Collaborative Autism Training & Support (CATS) Program reaches out to professionals who work with children and families of children on the autism spectrum, as well as the children and their families. A series of seminars are made available to the public. The speakers are professionals in the field as well as families who are dealing with autism and other special needs. Students sign up for a semester of courses, seminars, and working in the field with families who signed up to participate. As a participating parent, I was welcome to attend seminars and could use the SSU library to do some research of my own, if I wanted to.

I got very excited when I found out about this. I talked it over with my husband, who agreed, and signed us up for the next semester that Fall. Our student was wonderful. She initially took the class because it was a good schedule fit and in line with her intent to become a teacher. She already had several years of working with children in a swim program at the local YMCA.

We ended up learning from each other, and had a great time taking the kids out to the heated, indoor pool at the YMCA to get them used to the water and to get James feeling a little more in touch with his body and comfortable about being in the water. It was nice for me to get some help.

An unexpected wonderful experience was being in a room full of loving and concerned parents, talking about our kids. We just whooshed with relief to be able to talk with people who had some very similar experiences!

The End of Semester Party the students put on was AWESOME! James loved it, and actually started participating in some of the activity centers they'd set up. My daughter won a raffle and staggered home under a gigundous bag of craft supplies. I was actually out after 5pm, sharing good eats and socializing. It was a wonderful feeling.

The program gave to much to us that we'd like to give something back ... so tomorrow there will be a fundraiser for the CATS Program at the Windsor Powell's on the Town Green. If you're around, please consider downloading and printing out a flier. All day tomorrow, 3/16, when you present this flier to Powell's at the time of your purchase, 20% of what you buy will be donated to support this wonderful, community-based program.

Easter candy, gelato, Mad Libs, clucking mechanical chickens stuffed with treats ... Powell's has literally thousand of good reasons to come in and browse. The CATS Program is a great reason to buy a treat or two tomorrow.

SOOC Saturday: Life Balance

How techie are we? This week's picture was taken by James' wonderful SHAPE assistant during his PE class at the second preschool. I love it!




His godfather and uncle are both surfers. It's great to see him having a ball, trying this.

Meanwhile, I am trying to balance, well, life. Work, cleaning, volunteering, home and marriage stuff, school things for the kids ... I am almost biting my nails because somewhere in the next two weeks we will hear if they got into the small charter school that I think would be awesome for us all.

Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, I have organized a fundraiser for the fabulous CATS Program, a local autism organization that supports families and provides information for caregivers and professionals. If you will be near Powell's Sweet Shoppe in Windsor on March 16th, download and print a flyer (click on the image below and print at 90%) and stop on by!

Happy to connect with Melody at her Slurping Life's SOOC! Won't you visit too, and share a connection of your own? SOOC Saturday/Sunday entries are wonderful moments of life



-- have a balanced and relaxing weekend!

  

Making Plans, Saying 'Bye

Today was filled with busy conversations. We may be zeroing in on a preschool/daycare location for James to attend three days a week next year, with his SHAPE assistant in tow. The biggest hurdle will be the tuition, because I am not working. However, we may be able to get some assistance from the Regional Center, which could help make this a reality.

Especially nice for me is the fact that the assistance becomes available if I go back to work or school. I am definitely interested in going back to school. It's been almost two years since I was actively out there doing web developer work on a regular basis. I am sure there's a lot to get caught up on, although thankfully enough remains the same for me to keep my head above water.

Paperwork has been filled out and submitted to help get our daughter on a better track at her school for first grade.

This afternoon we had our end of term party for the CATS Program. While it was sad to goodbye to some of the wonderful people who were part of our lives for several months, how much we all learned! And some great connections were made. I am hopin to participate again next year.

And now, James has just come up to me and used his pop sickle stick as a tongue depressor on me. He made me open my mouth and go "Ahhhhh", and then he said "Doctor." OMG, he is play acting!!!!!