delayedtoddler

Here is something that works for me.  B is a sweetheart who has no fear.  She tends to bolt when we are out in public.  Just this weekend at the library, while I was checking out our books, she went over to the elevator, pushed the button and got in.  Thankfully, I caught her before she was able to push the button on the inside!  My tactic for this is a harness.  Seriously.  I bought her a pink leather harness that goes on over her arms and buckles over her chest.  She never fights me to put it on.  She always puts it on like it’s a coat.

We went to the mall today as a family.  I got a lot of stares and double takes, but only one comment.  And the comment was positive!  An older gentleman smiled and told me he had one for his son when he was younger because he would just take off.  I nodded and told him that is exactly why we had it.  Some people look at me like I’m cruel, but really, I’m allowing my daughter to explore and see things and walk at her own pace without having to chase her or tug her along.  Sure, she still had a mini meltdown, but that’s to be expected when you’re in the mall the day before Christmas!

Just a note today.  When I first heard the word autism as a possibility for my daughter, I did what many of us do.  I went to Google and started searching.  As you can guess, I soon got over loaded.  There was way too much information and some of it contradicting.  I took a step or two back and tried to relax a bit.  Rather than try to read everything, I found a couple of reputable sites that seemed to have good information.

I’d recommend looking at sites from hospitals or organizations that support the special need.  Check their links for other recommendations as well.

Here are two sites I have found to be good:

http://specialchildren.about.com/
This is a blog about special needs parenting.  Written with a good sense of humour

http://www.firstsigns.org/index.html
Good basic site if you’ve got concerns or if you’re not sure if you should be concerned.

If you’ve got other sites to recommend, please let me know!