Also there is a new 13 minute video that I think truly captures what living with an autistic child is like and I wanted to link to it here on the front page with the new information I've added about RDI. The film is hosted on Autism Speaks.Org and is called Autism Everyday. It's really a brutally honest and eye opening look into what our lives as parents of kids with autism are really like. I hope that this video will help people understand just how difficult it can be to live with autism every day, just like the title says. If you haven't seen this or heard the buzz about it, it's definitely worth checking out
It's been a horrible week for people in Florida. Personally we were literally powerless for four long hot days. It was so terrible and now we're looking at yet another category four hurricane. Since this is happening so much I figured I would outline the categories for everyone here, since those of you who don't have to deal with hurricanes probably don't know what they stand for.
Tropical Depression - Winds less then 38 MPH and no Storm Surge
Tropical Storm - Winds 39 - 73 MPH and no Storm Surge
Category 5 - Winds above 155 MPH Storm Surge more then 18 feet above normal
So you can see just what Florida is in for yet again with Hurricane Ivan barrelling across the Carribean towards us. Many people are still without power and schools are still closed up to at least Monday unless the track of the storm changes dramatically. As you know my son is autistic and we decided not to evacuate for Hurricane Frances, which was the right choice for us since we are not in a low lying area or mobile home. The idea of taking an eight year old autistic child to a emergency shelter was just really not something we wanted to do. This time around we might have no choice if this hits our area directly.
We went three days with no ice after what we had in the freezer melted during the first day after the storm began hitting our area. Other counties of course had things alot worse because of having Charley hit them harder then it affected us here. Only having a battery powered radio for information was really hard. The EOC (Emergency Operations Center) for our county did a really great job of being there for me when I called asking for updates and just to find out what time it was. I was glad that the volunteers gave their time to help out others who were feeling lost by the after affects of those two Hurricanes.
I don't know what the next few days hold for us here in Florida, but I am so worried about whether or not our home will withstand another strong storm like Ivan. I hope that Ivan weakens before is hits us. If the worse case scenario happens then I won't be able to update again for as long as it takes us to try to start our lives over again. I am glad to have the power on again and to be able to update again now. The hardest part about getting though something like this is the waiting. Waiting for the storm to hit, waiting for things to get cleaned up and restored afterwards-it is really very hard on everyone.
August 14, 2004
So much has happened since the last update it's hard to know where to begin. I sit here the morning after Hurricane Charley hit Florida and I feel so terrible for the people that are affected by it. It could have hit us here and had it I am sure we'd be left with nothing-it was a category 4 hurricane by the time it made landfall. My heart goes out to all the people who are trying this morning to start the long journey of rebuilding their lives. One thing I know from living in Florida is that we do sometimes get really strong storms and that is just a fact of life. But knowing that is really small comfort when facing a mandatory evacuation and not knowing what you are going to come home to. I am planning on writing an editorial about this soon and will add a link here when it has been added to the Book Rack area here on Cyber-Soup.
As for other things that have been going on, I plan on updating Jackie's Pages soon because he is in second grade now and doing so well it's just fantastic to see and I am anxious to share some of that with all of you. I'm really excited to see such fabulous progress in his development so rather then detail it all here on the News page I will just add a new update on his area here on Cyber-Soup as soon as I can. One thing my family and I have been doing for just under six months is making the switch to a Low Carb lifestyle and I have had really great results with it. I have lost close to fifty pounds and am going to make a Low Carb 'My Story' type page to add here too at some point in the near future. I've created a new message board you can check out here: Cyber-Soup's Low Carb Zone and welcome anyone who is interested in low carb dieting to join us there to share feelings, experiences and favorite recipes.
I hope to get some work done on the site and appreciate everyone's support over the years that Cyber-Soup has been up and running. Until next time this is Pamster, your Cyber-Soup webmistress signing off!
March 29, 2003
Things are going pretty well for us. Jackie and I are going to start some 'behavioral analysis and which will then lead into some behavioral therapy. We have great hope for him and the progress he is continuing to make. He starts going to a special school here in town Monday the 31st, so more news will be posted soon, after we see how well things go. He seemed to really like the new school and the classroom was wonderful. The other children greeted him warmly and were very excited about having him joining the class. So cross your fingers for us that all goes well!
October 23, 2002
I finally got to updating and making some changes to the main page and the others. I hope everyone enjoys the changes. My friend Joey was nice enough to set me up with this light blue background, it is like the red satin one I have for the memorial pages, but a lovely light blue. Hope you like it! If you are into Nickelodeon you might want to check out his site and message board.
I have made this news area to archive the older
update info blurbs and will continue to add to this page so check back if you're interested in the Cyber-Soup goings on. Thank you all who have take time to sign the memorial walls made for my friend Pam and for Kevin Smith, the incredible actor. If you think something needs added to Cyber-Soup drop me a email and let me know. Jackie's Pages will have a new addition shortly too, so if you want to hear how things went over the summer with him check back soon!
August 3rd, 2002
I am deeply saddened to announce that my wonderful friend Pam W. passed away. I have her Memorial page up and a Wall of Love is forthcoming, but I am still grieving the loss of my friend. The main page here will be revamped and all here before will be moved to Cyber-Soup 2002 News.
May 12th, 2002 - Mother's Day
I am happy to share that my son's pre-k class had a wonderful Mother's Day tea Party Thursday that was very enjoyable. When I came in he was sitting with the other children, listening to a audio book. His face lit up and he smiled from ear to ear when he saw me. He pointed at me, smiling the reat of the time they were listening to the audio book. We had tea and cookies together and he showed me around his favorite centers. The housekeeping one seems to be one of his current favorites. It was very nice to spend an hour & a half with him and his classmates and their moms. He is doing really well in school and things are looking up with his behavior, which really makes me happy for him.
I'd love to hear from you about what you think of the site's new look and just to let you know I am thinking of revamping it again. So if you have any feedback, now is the time to send it off to me. The boards are doing really well and if you've not yet registered a Best Boards username, what are you waiting for? The new system has some really great features and to fully unlock the potential of the new boards, registering a username is the only way to go. We are not having regular scheduled chats for awhile because with summer coming on it is just too hard to get everyone in the chat at the same time, but look for them to return in mid August. I thank you for checking out Cyber-Soup.com and I look forward to adding more to Jackie's Pages soon.
Febraury 23rd, 2002 Cyber-Soup.Com News
With things moving along smoothly, just updating Jackie's page and after moving the site's message board to its new home on Best Board, I went ahead and redid the main page here. Offering visitors who use the email a smaller sized page to look at. Sadly not all news this first news update is good. Actor Kevin Smith died recently, Feb. 16th, 2002, and I was compelled to make a memorial page for him and set up a Wall of Love fans to leave a message on the wall about and to Kevin Smith. Thanks go out to God of Scifi for graciously donating a photo for me to use on this page that he took of the actor at a Xena convention.
Hope you enjoy your Cyber-Soup and hope to see you on the boards! And if you haven't already, Please take the time to sign my NEW Bravenet Guestbook & thanks for coming to The Cyber-Soup Shack! Hope to see you on the Forums!
All photographs and written content are copyright protected by the site owner. Any unauthorized use is prohibited. To ask permission to use content or if you have problems with accessing parts of the site, email Pamster.
