11 February 2012

Things I learned this week

1) People are incredibly generous. ChipIn is up to $800, and I've received $110 in cash and cheques. You people are wonderful.

2) You need to have a passport in hand to book a flight to the US.

3) CIDA is quietly cutting grants to various groups. Even after last years clusterfuck with the "NOT" inserted into the memo, KAIROS did not get funded again this year (read this in The Observer). Also, my friend Stacey's non-profit group lost the $500,000 it was counting on to feed hungry people in Africa. This after she secured over a hundred million dollars elsewhere. Seriously, I need to get her to fund-raise for me. Damn. Anyway, she's going to make it work somehow.

4) Melatonin is of the devil for Crackle. It's a supplement that is apparently a godsend for most kids with autism. It helps them fall asleep. Crackle has negative reactions that took me months to figure out. That is, he was on the stuff for months. And having negative side effects that I wasn't attributing to the melatonin. Like being up for hours at a time during the night. And crazy stupid hyperactivity in the day. I've had him off it for 5 days now. He's sleeping through the night mostly. And having some day time naps. I think he's been running on empty for months. Poor baby.

5) Crackle gets crazy stupid hyper when he's tired. Like so hyper he cannot sit still for 4 seconds. Literally. Yes, I know the meaning of literally.

6) There are seizures that make you laugh. They're called gelastic seizures. It is possible that Crackle is having these. Either that or something invisible is hilarious. It's almost funny to watch. No, it IS funny. Until you notice that he's not really as happy as he sounds. I have video; it made his neurologist scrunch up her face and say, "Huh. That's strange."

7) Grown men can be serious drama queens. Can't say more. Suffice it to say, "ARRRGGGGHHH"

8) Apparently I really like italics.