April 2: World Autism Awareness Day

Hello Parents,

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Per the CDC in March of 2012, the disorder affected 1 in 50 school-aged children. There are varying degrees of autism, for a parent with a child diagnosed as autistic it is difficult regardless of the point in the spectrum their child is in. It is equally difficult to answer all the questions other people have about autism. Huffington Post had many articles today on the subject, but one in particular caught our attention, 7 Myths About Autism by Hannah Brown, expert on autism and author of If I Could Tell You. Not only is dealing with autism hard, but dealing with misconceptions makes it harder.

Here are the seven myths Hanna points on in the HuffPost Parents article.

1. People with autism are all “Rain Man” geniuses
2. People with autism are all mentally disabled
3. Autism comes from bad parenting
4. Autism is just a kind of eccentricity
5. People with autism feel no empathy or affection
6. There are many treatments that cure autism
7. Scientists understand what causes autism

Click here to read the entire article.

If you’re interested in learning how you can help raise autism awareness, see Autism Speaks‘ Light It Up Blue (LIUB) campaign, now in it’s 4th year. Sometimes all you have to do is turn on the light.

Fun Learning!
CBLC Midtown

Happy Family

Hello Parents,

We hope everyone had a pleasant long weekend and are already getting back into the swing of things. Before you know it the weekend will be here again, and we came across an article on HuffingtonPost that intrigued us, so we had to share: 5 Secrets to a Happy Family. Curious? See the five points below and head on over to HuffingtonPost to get the details.

1. Let your kids pick their punishments.
2. Don’t worry about family dinner.
3. Tell your family history.
4. Ditch the sex talk.
5. Change where you sit.

Some of these had us scratching our heads, but when we read on the rationales were pretty obvious. For the background on these five pointers, click here.

Now we leave you with a photo slide show that we are sure will bring smiles to your face, whether or not you decide to follow the five secrets suggested by the HP.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fun Learning!
CBLC Midtown

Challenge to Stressed Parents

Hello Parents,

Who’s up for a challenge? HuffingtonPost Parents is launching a stress-free parenting “club”. Taking into consideration all the trials and tribulations of parenting, and the staffers’ combined years of expertise, they’ll be putting together weekly challenges that will help parents de-stress.

Parenting is not easy, but it doesn’t have to be hard either. Sure we all have days when our head spins on its own, but the beauty of it comes in saying “we all”, which means you’re not alone.

Check out this post from HuffingtonPost Parents, inviting you to join them in the weekly challenges. If for nothing else, because everyone needs a little break in routine and this seems like a pretty simple and good way to start.

Introducing The Stress-Less Parenting Club

Fun Learning!
CBLC Midtown