Social Skills Songs

Our children love the social skills songs by Jeanne Lyons on her cd called "Gather the Stars."  They are learning about flexibility, changing the subject, and not talking on and on and on.  My personal favorite is the song which encourages patience and faith with people on the autism spectrum.  "Christina", "Flexibility," and my children's favorite, "Perseveration Station," can be heard by clicking the star next to the lyrics here:

http://www.bitlink.com/jeannelyons/samples.html

To hear the funny "Personal Space Invaders" and "Long-Winded Lou" and a few others you'll need to buy the cd.  :) 

I wish Mrs. Lyons would make an updated version with just her beautiful voice and a guitar.  This cd was created over a decade ago, but the lyrics and music are fun and helpful anyway.  My guess is children up to the age of ten would enjoy singing along with these social skills songs.

Aspergers: Live Chats

Another positive aspergers forum (which can serve as great, FREE counseling sessions if you ask enough questions!) over at Dephi Forums is "AS and their Partners":  http://forums.delphiforums.com/asandpartners/start  Be careful not to confuse it with another similar sounding one (which is full of aspie bashing).  "AS and their Partners" is moderated by a very insightful aspie male named Gerry who is married to an NT woman. 

Search the archives and then when you have questions that you need to get some insider aspie wisdom on, join the Friday night chats from 9-11p Eastern time and ask away.  Gerry is great at answering questions in real-time.  He ought to get paid for sharing so much "better than gold" advice, but I promise, it is free.  Just remember to be nice.  :)  No aspie-bashing allowed.

 http://forums.delphiforums.com/asandpartners/start

Roses, Cacti, and now Daisies

Anyone else getting sick of the roses and cacti symbols that are so often used for NT/Aspie relationships?  Personally, I don't even like roses anymore.  They are beautiful when in bloom, but they wilt so quickly and so easily without tender care.  Too painful to contemplate the similarities.  So I'm done with roses.  If you noticed my new profile pic, I'm now particularly fond of daisies. 

Daisies are hearty little flowers that can take a lot of neglect and still stay pretty.  Then of course there's the symbolism of the "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" petal-picking game.  Quite fitting description for the emotional ups and downs in an NT/Aspie marriage, don't you think? 

Straight-lined petals (like their pattern?), often plain and white (and we must think in black and white so often!), but they can sometimes be found with cheerful splashes of color:

DAISY IDOMS:
"Fresh as a daisy" = full of energy and enthusiasm
"Pushing up the daisies" = to be dead 

Two extremes for one little flower. 

I like it.  :)
And it fits.