Therapy Thursday: Stuck on a Ride We Can Never Get Off- Tricare’s ABA Policy in the News Again


We, as parents of children with special needs, boarded this roller coaster of emotion sometime back, assumed at one point we could get off. Ok, maybe I am the only parent who thought this and now reality has adjusted my once jaded view, but I am getting tired of these hills and valleys we ride. And I am not talking in reference to my children. I am talking about what we all must do to provide them with the treatments they might need.

So prepare yourself this coming July 25th when Tricare once again throws another 360 loop onto our rails.

In an article published June 18, “Tricare is consolidating its disparate autism therapy programs into one Autism Care Demonstration Project for children of active-duty, retired and reserve component personnel starting July 25.”

So there you have it folks. Make sure that seat belt are tightened and all arms and legs remain inside the cart at all times. Although it appears for now the ride won’t get much more bumpier; it’s never smooth sailing.


Mommy Mondays: Count Your Blessings; no ER Trip This Time





It went something like this:







At least no one ended up in the ER

Tip{py} Tuesday: Tips to Help Teach Your ASD How to Wash Themselves


Sniff. My children are growing up. All those cute little quirks they used to have aren’t so cute anymore. I’ll admit some are annoying, aggravating and time consuming. At the end of the day all I want to do is have some clean and happy kids. However, it took awhile for those two little unassuming words to be used in the same sentence. I’m talking years people! How did we get there? By force.

It all started two years ago when we had to move to a new house on post. As luck would have it we got a HAH (handicap accessible house). It was a one story with lowered light switched, toilets and a zero entry shower. Up until this point our children had only taken baths. Yes, we could have continue to give them baths in the master bathroom, but to me that wasn’t an option; it was an opportunity. At some point in their lives they would eventually have to take showers. They would also have to take them unassisted. Issue was they hated showers; loathed them. They would all scream in unison when we would try. Baths were just easier on the ears.

But I was determined. I wanted those few precious minutes of my life back eventually. So we threw them in cold turkey.

Tip:: At first, pick one night a week to do a shower; the rest baths. Gradually add more nights as shower nights and lower the number of bath nights.

We basically lied. Yup. We are great parents. We told them they had no option. We did make it fun though. Here is how we did it:

We treated it like a play time at first. We had the kids shower in their swimsuits!

They thought it was a so cool we let them shower in them. It honestly took a little persuasion getting Bug into the shower. Why? Because you aren’t suppose to wear clothes in the shower. Duh! Sometimes this kid….

Next we used bath toys. We went to the store and had them each pick out a few different ones. We then got some shave cream and made colored shaving cream.

We also used music. Our children love music and to dance. So we had a little dance party in our swimming suits.

I realize some peoples showers may not be as oversized as ours. At that point in time we were lucky to be able to shower all three at once. Now, due to age, we shower Bug alone. However, you can easily use all these tips for showering one at a time.

So the actual washing part- this is an example of how my kids washed themselves: 0.1 milliseconds of actual scrubbing time.

Of course that will not work when they are 13 and are a walking deodorant stick. So to keep my children from public embarrassment, I need to teach them how to actually clean themselves.

Basically, it is the same set up at washing their hands. I said they lick music, so…. They now sing the washing your hands song to clean their bodies. Of course we adapted it a little.

“Wash, wash, wash you arms
Get them nice and clean.
First the bottoms, then the tops,
And everywhere in between.”

Yea, we are cheesy. But it works. So we sing that about three times. More when dirtier. Then interchange the words for each appendage.

Lastly, you want to look at your shower space and see how it is set up. If you are sharing a shower with you entire family, you will want to move dangerous items out of their reach. I suggest buying a few of the bathroom caddys that suction cup to the wall. Then you can place your razors and other dangerous objects high out of their reach. I also suggest to but additional ones for each child. Place them lower within their reach. Add in such items as their toothbrush, toothpaste, wash cloth and other items.

We are not yet to independent shower taking, but at least we have set up our kids to succeed.

Wordy Wednesday: Social Stories


New experiences are scary. I get so nervous and frightened when I have to drive somewhere I have never been and approach someone I have never talked to. Yes, me who loves to talk, gets nauseatingly nervous to talk to new people. Knowing how I feel, I can’t begin to imagine and feel the anxiety and fear that builds up in my own children when they are experiencing something new. This similar thing happens a lot to our children. Luckily, there is a answer and a solution to help make new experiences a positive one. All we have to do is take away to fear of the unknown.

In comes the social story. It is just as it sounds; a story. What is great and impressive of this little aid is it can become completely customizable and a fun DIY project.

So what exactly is it? It is much along the lines of the Bearinstein Bears books. Each story can have your child as the character or another person. You write the story explaining all the steps (in simple detail) of all the events that will happen before, during and after the new experience.

There a multiple ways of creating one. Here are just a few:

1. Snapfish, Blurb, or any photo publishing site that allows book printing.

2. Purchase a cheap small 4×6 photo book and you but the author, artist and publisher.

3. Find clip art or other images online, copy and paste them into a word processing program and add text. Next print and I suggest additionally to laminate them. You can bind them with punching a hike in the corner and clamping with a binder ring.

4. Use a app or computer program, such as a Windows template for creating social stories.

Our ABA introduced them to use years ago to help with experiences from toilet training, air plane rides, new siblings and more. Since then, I have been using the above methods to create my own.







I pictured a family with an ASD child like this:








