State: Maine
Country: USA
Member since: Jan 23, 2007
Last logged in: Dec 01, 2008
My name is Shannon and I have a great husband and 2 amazing kids.
My oldest, Wynn, has autism and still struggles, after all these years of treatments and therapies, with anxiety and aggression. At his best, he is funny, intuitive and sensitive.
My daughter, 12 year old Haley, is strong and independent, creative and musical. She has been a shining example for Wynn and taught him many of his first words and skills by sheer example.
Steve is my husband of 19 years and partner in this endeavor to be a family in this crazy world of autism. Out of a need we had to have better communication with Wynn's team members, he created a web application called iAbida.com. It has been a project from his heart, and he makes it available to all families, around the globe, for free.
And me? In spite of being a terrible klutz, I have learned the fine art of juggling....motherhood, advocacy, household management and working from home. Foggyrock is my latest project--to fulfill my own need to be associated with other fantastic folks, like you, who I knew were out there.....Thank you for allowing me into your life through this community.
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Comments(13)
shannonj's Compositions
by shannonj on 05.03.08 - public - 325 visits
I love this photo because it reminds me of a funny story from a few summers back.
In the photo, Wynn is holding his new pet snake, Zeke. We found Zeke while raking away the leaves one spring day and the kids immediately fell in love. We live in Maine and the snakes are not poisonous here, so we lovingly welcomed him into our home.
Unfortunately, Zeke was a little traumatized from all the handling he received. Also, we had no idea what to feed him. I asked at the pet store but they told me it was illegal to have a wild snake as a pet and wouldn't sell me snake food..So we left scraps of veggies, worms, bugs etc....in his cage, but he never seemed to be interested. It may have been that he was still in semi-hibernation mode, but for whatever reason, he was very relaxed and didn't resist all the attention.
One day, we were driving in the car, and the kids were passing the very lethargic snake back and forth in the back seat. A few minutes later, I heard my son roll down his window and turned just in time to see him hurl Zeke through the air.
"Wynn, what did you do to Zeke?" I squealed
"I threw him away." he replied without emotion.
"Why would you do that to an animal, son?"
"Because he broke." he replied.
Poor snake. The only consolation is knowing that he is probably in a better place....eating....alone!
Comments(10)
seymoursheep
Posted on Tue, 6 May 2008
my mom works with a lovely girl named Victoria with autism who has an anole (a type of lizard) for a pet - she takes it to school and everything as her calming tool. Whenever she gets stressed, out comes joseph the anole, and she holds him and lets him walk over and over her fingers....my poor mother is terrifed of joseph...but so far Victoria hasnt dropped him and my mom has had to touch him lol
wktb
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
We don't have any pets---I'm sure the pets of the world are very happy about that! I can't even imagine what they would go through over here... Kristin
janneane7
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
LOL! I'm sorry for the poor snake but that totally reminded me of when Andy was about 5. He would always play with catapillars, and often, not knowing how fragile they were would pull them apart. I am not afraid of bugs, but I absolutely LOATHE catapillars, still I felt bad for them.
Robbiesmom
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
Poor Zeke!! Well, at least he had an adventerous life. We used to have a cat when Rob was a toddler, and Robbie loved trying to sit on him. I was always telling Rob "Don't sit on Bear!" Bear is now living with a friend and I'm sure he's happy to not be someone else's chair!
MrsV2001
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
I use a spay bottle to remind Petey (the cat) that he is not allowed on the dining table, kitchen counters or bouncy castle.... Carmen sprayed Petey for me once and now goes for the bottle at Petey's slightest indescretion and LOVES to squirt him - laughing the entire time. Poor Petey!
Motherof4
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
Oh, man... Well, Zeke had an exciting life! One of our goldfish was hugged to death, by one of our "normal" kids... I guess there's a learning curve they all go through.
Zurama
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
Mickie doesn't talk, but he knows I don't like our cat Andy climbing on the table. I just asked him once to get the cat off the table and every time the cat goes on the table, he will always grab him by his fur and toss him over his head, with no emotion. Sometimes if he sees him on the kitchen counter he will pull him off by his tale. It sounds mean, but he is just doing his job.
lilbitofky
Posted on Sat, 3 May 2008
That sounds like the stuff Garrett does... I have to lock our windows if Garrett has anything with him on the back seat cause he will throw toys or anything out :U) then he will put his little hand over his mouth and say "Oh Gar-rett" Mom sorry. LOL He knows but he can't help himself.
