Deanna Said:

What do i do now, how can i cope or handle it?

We Answered:

Your strongest position is your power of choice. Gratitude is the open door to abundance. If you want more in your life and more of your life to make sense, give thanks for the parts that already do make sense to you.

We get all kinds of things dropped off at our doorsteps, but how we respond to them and how we take it is up to us. We have the wonderful power of choice as to whether these things are going to be opportunities or disasters.

It is very controlling of anyone to saddle you with a bad mood. We must learn to side-step others when they do not treat us well. Our self-esteem has to be solid enough to enable us to realise we deserve more, somehow. Every single time you do something to improve the quality of your life you free up a place in the Universe where more prosperity can find its way to you. This is a universal law: Nature loves a vacuum. If you have anything in your life which is "stuck," get free of it, give it away, put it out there, let go of it, and then watch the Universe respond to you.

By Enduring, We Conquer.

Sometimes, there is no fixed answer. All we are called upon is to simply to get through the circumstances we are in. By Enduring We Conquer. Just get through it. No fancy answers. Answers can sometimes be like doors slammed in our faces. The idea is to keep your life wide open so you allow yourself the freedom of deciding what you will put up with and what you will not put up with. This places you squarely in the centre of your own life again, and no longer a victim.

By Enduring, We Conquer.

I met and wrote a few answers for you all the way back in 2006, when I first signed on with Yahoo! Answers. It was actually in February of 2006. I will tell you now what I told you then: believe in who you are; believe in your inner visions; believe in your own precision. The rest of the world can come and go, and all you need to be is like the Rock of Gibraltar. You strike me as the kind of a person who walks in when the whole world has walked out. You are one of a kind and the reason your life is so difficult is because you are so strong. The reason you have become so strong is because your life is so difficult. You are being forged. When the swordsmith is finished making the sword, he drops into water and it sizzles for a few minutes, making a wonderful sound. It is finished! Your only task is to make sure your sword is very sharp. That way you will never have to use it. The power of choice and of personal containment give you the freedom you have been looking for all these years. You have nothing to prove and no one to impress. Also, when you do not announce your strengths, you have the added power of anonymity. This is to be special.

BY ENDURING WE CONQUER

(This was Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton's family motto.)

Brandy Said:

Six month old baby has high muscle tone and still clenches fists most of the time. Outcomes?

We Answered:

I am an OT so I can tell you, expect good things! You started her therapy early enough that you will get her caught up and in a few months, the problem will decrease. The outcome also depends on the underlying cause...what did the neuroloigst think the reason for this is? why was he seeing her? AT 6 months, 2 months behind is barely a delay. Did they recommend any splinting (she may or may not need this to decrease tone)

Fernando Said:

How hard is it to grow up with Autism?

We Answered:

His future depends on where he is on the spectrum. If he's high-functioning, he'll probably be able to go to regular schools, drive, live independently, have a career, and form connections with others. It may take more time, effort, and support for him to get there, but he will get there. I have Asperger's syndrome, which is basically high-functioning autism. I am a full-time college student, I live away from home, and I have friends. After I finish my degree in psychology I want to go to grad school. There are things I struggle with that I will always struggle with - loud noises, unexpected touches, just not knowing the right thing to say. I've dealt with anxiety since I was 8 and depression since I was 12. But these things don't stop me, and I never wish I were neurotypical. Autism isn't a wall that keeps a normal person trapped inside - it's an important part of who I am, and who your son is.

If your son is on the lower-functioning end, then he may not ever be able to live a fully independent life or be completely mainstreamed at school. He'll require a lot of guidance and support. I don't know if he's verbal now, but about 15% of autistic people remain nonverbal for life. If this happens to your son, then you'll need to work with him to find a different way to communicate, perhaps using pictures. If he does become verbal, which is more likely, that will make it much easier to teach and understand him. And he'll be able to talk to people through the Internet, which is much easier than the outside world.

Regardless of your son's level of functioning, the best thing you can do for him is support him. He has the advantage of being diagnosed young - I wasn't diagnosed until I was 17, and I missed out on various services that could have helped me. The younger an autistic child starts with therapy, social skills training, etc, the better. It's okay to cry about it. I think you're a little bit in shock, and that's understandable. This is a detour from who you thought your son was, and from any future you might have imagined for him. Some parents think of their child's autism as something separate from their child. Don't. Autism isn't like a disease. There isn't a "me" and an "it". Your son is autistic, he always has been autistic. Nothing has changed since the diagnosis except that now you know the name of what's going on, and that's a good thing because now you have something to research. Read up on autism, be patient with your son, keep taking him to therapy, and always remember that without autism, he wouldn't be the same person.

Dean Said:

is this how ADHD is diagnosed?!?

We Answered:

Sorry to bring this to your attention as I sense you may not be ready to take this all in but developmental peds., neurologists, psychs, usually pick up on these things pretty quickly. You've just explained my child. When the developmental ped., and neuro diagnosed my girl it took me a minute to understand. I have to say that I was under the impression ADHD was strictly a hyper-activity disorder--its not. The testing that was done with her showed she zoned out during the tasks being asked. The questionnaire her teacher completed told more about her non-hyper behavior that also matched my answers. They look for specifics in children and also take our concerns into consideration as well. My daughter is shy as well, but the point of it all is this, accept the diagnosis, let the school incorporate O.T and see where he is in a year. My daughter is getting O.T, no meds though and she's coming along. Best wishes

Gregory Said:

what do i do now, how can i cope or handle it?

We Answered:

Sorry to hear of your distress.

Here are some ideas:

1. Try Byron Katie. Her worksheets are on her website and her videos are on youtube.

2. If you get panic attacks, sign up for the free emails on the panicaway website.

3. Keep two journals. One for writing down all your feelings, this is really good for clearing out your anxieties and getting all your war onto paper, you can delete it straight after if you need to, it's just good to really see your stressful thinking. And the other can be your gratitude journal - write down all the things you are grateful for that happened today.

4. Read "Happiness is a Choice" by Barry Neils Kauffman. Here is a link about a girl who was suicidal and came out of her depression. http://www.option.org/custom:single,595

5. Read "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. He discusses what he calls the mitote - the thousand voices in your head that can cause so much fear and confusion in all of us. He teaches how to deal with these images, voices and fears.

6. Try reading Patrick Holford's "Low GL diet" - blood sugar imbalances can cause havoc with your body and symptoms include depression, mood swings, tiredness, drowsiness after eating, cravings for sweet foods, headaches, heart palpitations, anxiety, irritability, agrressive outbursts, crying spells, excessive sweating, dizziness and trembling.

7. If you are lacking in Vitamin B, You can suffer the following symptoms:
Feeling unreal, Hearing your own thoughts, Anxiety and Inner tension, Inability to think straight, Suspicion of people, Good pain tolerance, seeing or hearing things abnormally, having delusions and frequent mood swings. Read Patrick Holford's Optimum Nutrition for the Mind or Low GL diet - this might help!

8. Talk and seek out any people you can confide in. Helplines are usually free and usually leave no mark
on the phonebill


Best wishes.


xxx