Norwex to the rescue!

Imagine parenting a child who is drawn like a magnet to the most dangerous things in your home. Drawn to put magnets, batteries, razor blades, broken glass, and far more into her mouth to explore them. Drawn to eat non-food items or at least chew them to the point that she might as well have eaten them. Drawn to the idea of sucking on any spray bottle, especially window cleaner, bathroom cleaner, and hair detangler. A little girl who is also smart enough to outsmart (or even out climb) any childproofing device or strategy employed. Child lock is working today? Wait a few days or a week, she'll figure it out and get to what she wants leaving your child lock in the dust.

This used to be a good option...

If you've followed this blog at all, then you know this is the world of The Tripped Up Family with one of our 6-year-old triplets - Angel Triplet who has autism. No amount of teaching has resolved this situation because for some reason her little body craves these sensory experiences and her autism keeps her from understanding the immense danger she puts herself in.

It's not an unusual occurrance for kids with autism (or for those with sensory integration or processing issues) to seek these types of sensory experiences and struggle with pica-like behaviors. The hard part is that because the disorders are so varied in their outworking for each person, the solutions for typical issues are just as varied as each person struggling with the issue. Once again the old adage of "if you've met a person with autism than you've met one person with autism" rings true. While we have tried many different solutions for Angel triplet's mouthing obsession, we have never had anything work beyond the first month or two of novelty (at the longest). Once she gets bored with a new solution, there's no convincing her to use that coping mechanism and she's back to the typical mouthing patterns.

How does this NOT
look like candy?

Nearly two months ago, Angel triplet discovered how to break into a cleaning products cupboard and decided to place the dishwasher pouches into her mouth. After all, they sure look like they could be candy, right?

That was my last straw. Our cleaning supplies had to change. I can't successfully figure out how to keep them under a child-lock mechanism that my daughter can't outsmart. Instead of hiding the materials and thus making the materials even more interesting (because what kid doesn't always want exactly what you say they can't have?), I decided the cleaning solutions have to be safe even if she does ingest them.

And that's when Norwex came to the rescue. I had heard about Norwex and its amazing cloths before. I had even attended a party, but I never actually used a cloth myself. The whole key was that I could clean without a cleaner - just with water and a microfiber cloth embedded with silver. This cloth and water would clean up everything and make my home really clean without bleach or other harsh chemicals. I decided to try it myself finally. I began with an Enviro cloth and a Window cloth. I was amazed at the cleaning power, but even better was the idea of removing dangerous items from all of my girls' hands and mouths.

It wasn't too long before I realized I could earn free cleaning items and help others do the same by becoming a consultant myself. I love the flexibility it offers.

Since I'm still a fairly new consultant, I'm doing a Fall Open House with Norwex this weekend and invite all local area folks to stop by. There will be free food, interesting demonstrations, and plenty of fun. Let me show you the magic of cleaning with only water and let you in on how you can get you some free product as well! Just email me for all the details.

Not from the local area? Don't worry, we can connect and do a home party via Skype or Facebook. I will work with you and make sure you get as much free product as possible. Contact me now to book a party.

Norwex offers the best microfiber cloth available
and the company makes it so easy to earn free product. Don't miss your chance to remove harsh chemicals from your home and clean better than you thought possible.

Don't worry, this blog will not turn into a Norwex blog. It remains a parenting blog that offers a special focus on autism, special needs, mulitples, and triplets, However, Norwex is making a huge impact in our home because of the autism complexities and Norwex's simple cleaning methods. Please don't be offended if I periodically share that with you, because honestly, if it's making a difference in our world in a positive way, it just might do the same for someone else.

Continuing the "Our Autism" conversation

Huffington Post Parents and Autism Speaks just published a post by Jessica Watson, of Four Plus an Angel, and it's wonderful! I've posted links to it via my personal and blog Facebook pages, but thought I'd bring it up here on the blog specifically as well. Jessica says she wants to encourage people to share what their autism experience is and I think it's a marvelous idea.

I'm including an excerpt of the article, a link to it in full, and my own response below. I'd really like to see more conversations started at any of these sites about what autism looks like for all of us.

From Jessica:

Since the beginning of my life as an autism mom, I have been surrounded by versions of what people think autism is. Well-meaning onlookers have mentioned that my daughter doesn't count 5,000 items in 30 seconds like Rain Man, or memorize the name of every U.S. president like that one other person with autism they know. In the early days of her diagnosis, some questioned it so much that I questioned it myself, even though we were given the label by a nationally known autism expert who just happened to be a short car ride away.

But here is the thing: Our autism is not their autism, and it's not your autism either. There is a saying out there that autism parents like to use because it is so very true:

If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism.

In an effort to help other autism parents feel more comfortable embracing how their children's autism is very similar and very different from others', I wanted to share "our autism" with you and encourage other families to do the same. I hope opening up the conversation about what it's really like helps others to stop judging from the outside looking in.

This is our autism:

Our autism is nonstop episodes of the Food Network and knowing every bus route within five miles.

It's visiting restaurants because Guy Fieri has been there and praying no one bumps into her plate.

Please enjoy the rest of Jessica's post here.

Here's a small glimpse of what our autism looks like at The Tripped Up Life castle:

Our autism is making sure all plants in the backyard are non-toxic because you can be sure she'll be eating every one of them at some point. It's trying desperately to stay in front of the hyperactivity and mischief that results. It's trying to draw out another girl from her quiet spaces. It's offering plenty of places for jumping and running and swinging. It's being forever flexible and yet very, very planned. 

It's watching the mystery of having triplets - 2 with autism and 1 without - and also realizing that their triplet experience is so completely different than what typical multiples experience. It's realizing the promise we got from others, "triplets really start getting easy at age 4" has had absolutely NO bearing in our world and we really don't know when triplets will ever start getting easier. 

It's hearing a little voice saying "Mwah" and feeling your heart squeeze as you give her the kisses she's asking for. It's hearing Fefame Feet (Sesame Street) requested for the 15th time today and still just being excited because it's an actual thing you KNOW she wants and it's clear enough that even Grandma can understand it. It's hearing songs being sung and melodies chanted constantly but hardly ever hearing either of them say Mama very often. It's hoping that pull-ups will no longer be part of our world someday and yet being grateful they're brushing their teeth, getting dressed and usually using utensils to eat. 

It's always feeling like you never get a chance to simply enjoy the wonder of childhood with your neurotypical triplet and yet having moments of pure joy when you see all three truly enjoy being together. 

It's more than you ever imagined, fuller than you could have dreamed, and a constant study in contradictions.

What every family with autism needs

Yesterday we spent Sunday Funday putting this together, then watching our girls enjoy it. It was a lucky break to see an ad for a free used trampoline if we would just pick it up. We still need a new safety net and better step up for it, but this will be getting a lot of use.

For the record, our two girls with autism do jump a lot and our indoor tramp is important for regulation, however, our neurotypical triplet loves this big trampoline just as much as our other two.

I'm planning to read The Reason I Jump in order to get a better glimpse of what's happening to my kids with autism and why they need that sensation so much. It's right there on my GoodReads To Read list - #1.

We love to jump!