State: Maine
Country: USA
Member since: Jan 23, 2007
Last logged in: Mar 17, 2010
My name is Shannon and I have a great husband and 2 amazing kids.
My oldest, Wynn, age 14, 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, 13 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 20 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.
Favorite Wit & Wisdom (0)
shannonj's Wit & Wisdom (31)
by shannonj on 03.09.10 - public
Wynn: "I have autism, right mom?"
Mom: "Yes, you do. I know lots of other children who have autism too."
Wynn: "How did I get autism?"
Mom: ...
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by shannonj on 02.08.10 - public
Yesterday, while Wynn and I were out for a drive, he spotted a white fluffy dog in someone else's car. That started a whole conversation about poodle...
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by shannonj on 11.05.09 - public
Me: Wynn, do you know the name of our new president?
Wynn: George Washington?
Me: No, honey. He's been dead a long time. Who's our current pr...
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by shannonj on 10.25.09 - public
I found an old day-timer calendar of mine from 2002. Back then, Wynn was 7 years old. This was a note from his teacher that I had jotted down on one...
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by shannonj on 09.20.09 - public
Wynn: "Mom, can we go to scene selection in real life?"
Mom: "You mean like a on DVD?"
Wynn: "Yeah, like can we pick our own scene in real life?"
M...
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by shannonj on 08.08.09 - public
This morning, trying to set a mood for the day, I started singing a little song that Wynn learned long ago at church. I decided to leave a word out t...
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by shannonj on 05.06.09 - public
Wynn: "Do you love me, Mom?"
Mom: "I do love you, bud."
Wynn: "I'd be mad if you didn't love me, Mom."
Mom: "How could I not love you?"
W...
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by shannonj on 04.12.09 - public
Wynn was sitting at the table eating dinner tonight when I noticed him staring at something in the corner with great interest. I peeked around the ca...
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by shannonj on 03.29.09 - public
Mom: Mary had a little...
Wynn: lamb
Mom: It's fleece was white as ....
Wynn: snow
Mom: And everywhere that Mary....
Wynn: went
Mom: the lamb ...
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by shannonj on 02.20.09 - public
Wynn's grandmother made him a delicious batch of gf/cf snickerdoodles for his birthday. Before I could find a safe place for them, Wynn had grabbed t...
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by shannonj on 02.12.09 - public
'Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.'
Martin Luther King, Jr....
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by shannonj on 01.20.09 - public
You do not have to sit outside in the dark.
If, however, you want to look at the stars,
you will find that darkness is required.
The stars neither ...
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by shannonj on 12.26.08 - public
Wynn was upset that there were not Christmas episodes of all of his favorite PBS cartoons:
"Christmas is supposed to be about cartoons about Christ...
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by shannonj on 12.04.08 - public
"Mom! Cut my hair! It's hanging in front of my brain!" Wynn Johnson, 12-3-08...
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by shannonj on 09.08.08 - public
Wynn saw the cover of a movie at Walmart with a vicious shark on it. The shark appeared to be attacking a swimmer and it really intrigued him. Over ...
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by shannonj on 08.30.08 - public
Today my husband took the morning off from work to hang out with Wynn so that I could have some much-needed time with my daughter. In the rush of th...
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by shannonj on 03.20.08 - public
Over the years, my kids have been my little guinea pigs as I have experimented with a slew of natural remedies including my favorite and most effectiv...
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by shannonj on 03.18.08 - public
Wynn: "Mom, why did God give me a mom?"
Mom: "He wanted us to be a team...so He said, 'Here, Wynn, have a mom'."
Wynn: "Then He's my hero."...
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by shannonj on 03.08.08 - public
Wynn to mom:
"What is a potty train and does it come to our town?"
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by shannonj on 02.14.08 - public
Last week, a package arrived in the mail for Wynn from his grandparents in south GA. I opened the package and found a ceramic lion clock with a movin...
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by shannonj on 02.01.08 - public
I was reviewing one of my journals from about 2 years ago--a point when we were doing MB12 shots and getting much more interactive language from my so...
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by shannonj on 01.23.08 - public
Once, a few years back, Wynn and I were walking together through the mall. I needed to make a return in Macy's so we entered near the make-up counters...
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by shannonj on 01.15.08 - public
When my son was 5 years old, my sister in law became pregnant. She was really the first pregnant woman that my son had been regularly exposed to. As...
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by shannonj on 01.04.08 - public
Hope is like a bird that senses the dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark.
- Anonymous...
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by shannonj on 12.23.07 - public
"My father used to say, "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument."....Archbishop Desmond Tutu...
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by shannonj on 12.20.07 - public
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.'...
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by shannonj on 12.09.07 - public
I was trying to catch a few minutes of a press conference with Pres. George Bush earlier this morning when my son entered the room.
"Who is that ...
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by shannonj on 12.09.07 - public
My son will be starting a new school next week. After failing at typical ABA programs over the years, we have finally found a model that we think wil...
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by shannonj on 11.29.07 - public
"Hey, do you know where I can find Santa and the Tooth Fairy?" ...yelled by my son to Chuck E. Cheese in costume...
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by shannonj on 11.27.07 - public
Wynn:" Mom, something's wrong with my tummy"
Mom:" Really, what does it feel like?"
Wynn: "It feels like it wants to be doing something else...
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