How to Get Your Kid With Autism That Wonderful iPad

So, you have a kid with autism and you know iPads can be awesome for kids with autism but your family budget isn't accommodating expensive right now, no matter how much of a difference an iPad could make for your child's ability to learn and play.

Basically, you know your kid with autism needs an iPad but you can't afford one. What to do? I'll tell you.

First, download an application from HollyRod Foundation's holiday iPad donation campaign to see if your child qualifies -- the two primary bases are family income and communication delays. (Everyone else: please donate to the HollyRod iPad campaign, either on their site or on CrowdRise.)

If your child doesn't qualify for the HollyRod campaign, don't fret. Instead, consider harnessing the combined powers of the holiday season and the Internet: set up an iPad fundraising campaign for your own child on ChipIn.com or GiveForward.com. These campaigns allow people to contribute whatever they can, directly to a fund that you set up. Then blog the campaign, tweet it, post it on Facebook, email friends & family -- enlist as many people as you can, cite as many articles as you need to to let everyone who cares about your child know how much your kid could benefit from an iPad.

Going hat-in-hand may not come naturally to you, but consider that you can ask as many or as few people as you like, that any contribution will make a difference -- and that you may actually be helping out all those relatives who wrestle with what to get your child for Christmas, Hanukkah, or birthdays. Remember: people can always choose not to contribute, but they can't contribute anything if you don't ask them.

Please trust me on this one: people are generous, the Internet is powerful, and your kid needs an iPad. It's a great combination. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.

P.S. If your child already has an iPad, iPod Touch, or access to an iPhone, tell friends & family who ask that nothing makes such kids happier than an apps-enabling iTunes gift card.

Postivity Explosions: Autism Events and Milestones

Sometimes I feel like we're living in the middle of an events tornado. It's exhilarating, but sometimes it's hard to catch our breath. Things the wind's blown our way that you might want to know about:

Photo (c) 2010 Kelly Nicolaisen

Do you want to get your child with autism an iPad? The HollyRod Foundation has started a holiday campaign to give iPads to kids with autism from families in need. You must understand why I think this is a marvelous idea. If you'd like to get your child an iPad, download an application now to see if your family qualifies. I also appreciate Kristina's explanation of why she supports the HollyRod campaign, and why iPads are so important for our kids in general. If HollyRod isn't an option, at least two wonderful parents, Niksmom and Julie Harley have successfully raised funds (themselves, or via their friends) to get their kids iPads using my favorite online fundraising site, ChipIn.com -- another idea for autism parents who are wondering how to get an iPad into the hands of kids who could benefit.

Here are some very cool upcoming autism events, iPad-related and otherwise.

• November 20th: Mellow Militia, developers of the Tiki Toss 3D app, will be donating an iPad and six art boards for auction at The Surfers Healing Art Benefit and an iPod touch to The Surfing Santa Contest on November 20, 2010 in Southern California.
• November 20th: TPGA contributor Susan Walton will be speaking about her new book Coloring Outside Autism's Lines at Kepler's in Menlo Park, at 7 PM. I am totally going.
• November 27: Come see pianist and autism dad Stephen Prutsman in a benefit performance for the Azure Program, San Francisco's Summer Camp for Children on the Autism Spectrum. I am very much going to try to go.

I'm hosting a bloggy pre-holiday potlatch & potluck tomorrow, which is like an in-person Freecycle. We'll be passing on/swapping good but no-longer-needed things to friends and folks who will actually use (or re-gift) them. And socializing and nibbling on tasty treats, of course (I may even share my wonderful, finally ready limoncello). This event should be so helpful for someone like me who is never going to have time to sell things on eBay, and who wants no-longer-needed items to go to people who want and will use them. We'll be taking any leftovers to a local church. I'll let you  know how it goes.

Everything is coming together for The Thinking Person's Guide to Autism book. I keep writing how blown away we are by the content -- both in quality (damn!) and quantity (hence the delays). We're going to be announcing the contributors on Tuesday November 30th, so stay tuned.

I interviewed three wonderful parents of wonderful kids with cerebral palsy for BlogHer: Jennifer Byde Myers, Ellen Seidman, and Bridget Henry. As I wrote,

"I'm used to Leo's quirks, I'm comfortable with them, they're just one part of the boy I love so much. But there's as much of an onus on me as there is on anyone else to get more familiar with other children with special needs and their stories."

These families' stories are so different and so important; I hope you learn as much and love those boys as much as I now do.

On the family front:

• Leo took cold pizza for his school lunch yesterday, which was his first non-PB&J lunch in five years. 
• He also got his little sister a snack -- complete with plate -- yesterday upon her request instead of trying to thump her. I was not involved at all -- no prompting, no encouraging, just a bystander with mouth agape. I'm going to get to use that incident for weeks, to remind Mali that her brother can be awesome. Though I hope socially savvy Miss Mali doesn't start taking advantage of her sometimes-too-obedient brother.
• It took Mali four months but: this week she finally had five days of good behavior in a row in both her Spanish and English classes! I'd been having to get in-person updates from her teachers ever day after school, since August. Her reward: PLANTS VS ZOMBIIIES. 
• Mali's teacher conference went splendidly. Her primary teacher said that after a rocky rocky start, our girl's classroom performance is now all the things a parent wants to hear but which tend to bore or irritate readers.
• Iz's Science teacher said similar things about Iz. That class is legendarily difficult, with proportionately problematic parent-teacher conferences. The teacher requested a conference with me because she wanted a happy conference, and to pat our girl on the head for being a synthesizer rather than a regurgitator.
• Iz is joining a club soccer team. Lord help us. She and Seymour are beyond thrilled. And it's a team that focuses on skills-building, not just planning scorched-earth defeats. I guess this was inevitable, once we had the minivan.

Have a loverly weekend, all!