Autism Bites

• Autism x 6 Benefit Concert to feature Lady Gaga and David Archuleta...?

  
  
  
  
  
  An amazing thing happened to us yesterday. Robin got a phone call from Todd of EATON Alliance. They are an organization that helps people with Autism adjust to life. It seems that we missed a past email in [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 25, 2009, 11:51am EST
  

• The Chicago Tribune Takes on Alternative Autism Treatments

  Below is the blog post of Lisa Jo Rudy of About.com Guide to Autism. To use the links in the story go to her original post here. At the end of the article you will see how I feel about it.
  
  "This week, the Chicago Tribune came out" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 24, 2009, 12:12am EST
  

• Beating Up Autistic Kids

  
  I just read a story from Texas where teachers are hurting children with special needs in the name of discipline.
  
  On the Facebook forum I answered questions from a concerned parent: I do not have an autistic child but ... My children attend a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:36pm EST
  

• Created a New Tote

  When Robin and I got the ideas for our t-shirts, we were only thinking about how they would help our lives. However, when other parents and families of Autistic people heard about them they wanted us to make them available to anyone. Thus our Autism Bites t-shirts were born.
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 18, 2009, 2:33pm EDT
  

• Swine Flu Shots?

  
  
  Every year the "experts" predict what flu shot is needed for the upcoming season. From many reports and books I've read on the subject (what parent of an Autistic child hasn't studied this subject?) the favored choice is effective less than 25% of the time. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 08, 2009, 7:22pm EDT
  

• Autism x 6: How Do We Do It?

  We've been getting this question a lot recently in emails. And it is a question that we've been getting from day one. My wife is the glue that holds us together and works hard to make our family feel more 'normal'.
  
  We both grew up not knowing what a [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 07, 2009, 11:48pm EDT
  

• Autism Rate Now 1 in 100, Still Autism x 6 for Us

  1 in 100? It's scary, it's terrible, it's the end of the world!! Naaaah, if you have children with Autism you just learn to deal with it.
  
  However, friends don't come over any more, family avoid you, you're in foreclosure or going bankrupt. If you are so bold as' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: October 03, 2009, 11:49am EDT
  

• Autism X 6: A Year Later

  On October 1st Discovery Health channel will be showing our family story... again. During this past year it's been aired about 8 - 12 dates that we know of. It was shown in Australia and in England as well. Discovery Health did not tell us about the Australia showing (they' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 29, 2009, 11:13pm EDT
  

• Autism x 6: Update to Our Main Website

  
  
  I've made changes, updates and have refocused the meaning of our website: AutismBites
  
  Autism with six children is still not the best part of the day, however we want to focus more on the positive. We've found that certain things work for us [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: September 11, 2009, 7:07pm EDT
  

• Living a Day at a Time

  
  
  According to Robin, when I get an update during our nightly phone calls, Bobby is the one who has taken a hold on the list of chores I had given each of the older three kids. Emma and Nephi... not so much. I have given [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 29, 2009, 3:01pm EDT
  

• Not Exciting Enough

  Well, it looks like no one is interested in seeing me on the road or I don't get to where people are. So I'll forget the 'travelog' and write of other things instead. In Joplin, MO tonight. I'll try to update more and attempt to be more interesting as well.[...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 10, 2009, 11:53pm EDT
  

• Autism X 6 Dad's Travels

  Today I will be stopping at the TA Truck stop in IL (not very far from Chicago) on I-80 off of exit 112. Email me with your info (see details in posts below).
  
  Dad [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 02, 2009, 8:41am EDT
  

• Back and Gone Again...

  I was back home this past Monday and Tuesday with the family. I did not update where I was between then and now because I ended up doing a bunch of night driving after that and would not have been able to visit. On my way to Streetsboro,OH, due to [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: August 01, 2009, 12:31am EDT
  

• Where's Dad?

  As promised in the post below here is my schedule of stops for the night for the next few days:
  
  Today I'm at the Flying J truck stop on I84 at Twin Falls, ID. Tomorrow night I'll plan to stop at the TA truck stop on I80 exit 214 [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 18, 2009, 8:20pm EDT
  

• I'm Coming to a Town near You

  Life is settling down to somewhat of a routine once again and I'm back to blogging and Autism advocating. I've added videos back onto our YouTube page and will be adding more as I'm able.
  
  As I travel in my 18-wheeler doing my new job as a trucker, I' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: July 17, 2009, 9:42am EDT
  

• Life on the Road

  This is just the second time I've been home since May 28th when I started my final "on the road" training to be a truck driver of a 74' tractor and trailer. I've been to WI, MI, IN, UT and CA, then of course through the states in between. Two' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: June 15, 2009, 12:48am EDT
  

• Things Are Looking Up

  
  
  I like many have been struggling with earning what our family needs lately. Last year was going well until November when the economy took its hit. I've tried to continue to earn with our internet businesses, BUT it wasn't making it. I sent out nearly [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: May 24, 2009, 1:24am EDT
  

• Catch You All Later

  Hey followers... I'm bugging out of here for I don't know how long. Life is crashing around us lately. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: May 03, 2009, 5:57pm EDT
  

• Autism Awareness Month - So What !!

  So what has Autism Awareness Month done for you? Did you think more about your child and their Autism? Let me guess, you think about it all the time anyway. An 'awareness' month, has not really changed how you deal with Autism. Am I right?
  
  What about your family? [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 28, 2009, 11:37pm EDT
  

• Chicago Police Officer Beat Autistic Teenager

  Another story of an Autistic person not being understood. Two posts below this one is a link to a training video for police officers. Please post the HECK out of this link!
  
  The boy in the above story sounds a lot like a 16 year old [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 26, 2009, 6:56pm EDT
  

• Fed Up With Autism Fighting

  Here is a great posting opinion from Tiffany and my comments too:
  
  Tiffany this is a fantastic post and one that EVERYONE should follow the advice of. Every family is different, each Autistic child is different from every other Autistic child. No one should tell another parent or [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 17, 2009, 4:49pm EDT
  

• New Law Enforcement and Autism Training Video

  Last week Robin and I attended the Autism Council of Utah (ACU) It was the second I had been to and it is always well attended by various state agencies, other public and private groups and parents.
  
  One of the highlights was the showing of a DVD geared [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: April 13, 2009, 7:16pm EDT
  

• Autism X 6 and Other Media Appearances

  Mark your calendar for April 6. Unlocking Autism will be on that day, click here for times. Our producers did a great job again. This documentary shows four families that have children with Autism. You will see our family as the last profiled. That will be followed by our [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 30, 2009, 8:31pm EDT
  

• If You Want the Truth ASK US

  Since I came out with my appeal to President Obama to create the Autism Czar position he promised during the campaign last year, we've had a few people telling us that we are bad parents, liars and a number of other similar accusations. My mother-in-law, Janice, a truly' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 20, 2009, 12:44pm EDT
  

• Utah Lawmakers Say No to Autistic Kids

  Thousands of parents made the trek to the State Capital building many times over the past couple of months. They attended the announcement, committee and floor votes for Clay’s Law. Just what was this landmark proposal? During the past legislative session parents were hoping to get financial relief for treating [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 16, 2009, 1:45am EDT
  

• President Obama, Autism ‘Change’ I’m Looking For

  See the YouTube video here
  
  President Obama, congratulations on the new job -- hope all is going well so far. I hope and pray that the ‘change’ you want to achieve can be realized, especially regarding, Autism. I know who you are; let me introduce myself. [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 10, 2009, 2:20am EDT
  

• Autism Opinions and Noses, Everybody Has One

  Now it's Schizophrenia. The bad thing about research is for every 'study' that supports one set of views, there are three others that support an opposite conclusion. Autism? It's the water, bad parenting, vaccinations, genetics, heavy metals, pollution, preservatives, etc.. etc., etc...
  
  As the Dad of six children [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: March 04, 2009, 11:05am EST
  

• New Autism x 6 Dates and a Podcast

  Our documentary, "Autism x 6", is back after a two month break. It will be showing on the Discover Health channel the following times: Mar 04, 8:00 pm, Mar 04, 11:00 pm, Mar 07, 1:00 pm (all times are EST).
  
  Also I've been interviewed by the Autism Hangout. My' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 26, 2009, 10:49pm EST
  

• Parents of Autism - Keep and Protect Your Children

  When I read this article my blood reached the boiling level very quickly. If you haven't read it yet in some of our previous blogs, our children were removed from our home for 2 weeks by the state of Utah. Read this and make sure you get involved to protect' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 19, 2009, 10:53am EST
  

• Your Aspergers Neighbor's Guide to Social Graces

  This is a copy of my response to an email I received from someone who sought advice on dealing with his new neighbor who is an adult with Aspergers syndrome because this new neighbor is showing up at his door and talking about the same stuff way too often...
  
  [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 10, 2009, 7:20pm EST
  

• Be an Autism Advocate

  Making calls and emails are good starts. Do a search on the web page of your closest major newspaper and see what kind of Autism stories they've done. If they haven't done anything in the last six months... call them.
  
  How we got started: We found out all 6 [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 07, 2009, 1:49pm EST
  

• Help Me Get a Meeting with President Obama

  President Obama ran on a campaign of change. Recently I did a lot of soul searching as to what I need to do to help the Autism community this year. What came to me is that I need to bring some MAJOR recognition to Autism. To do that I felt [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 03, 2009, 11:06pm EST
  

• Poll Responses

  I was really glad to see the religious poll do so well. Remember, there is no way that I know who fills out a poll. It's completely anonymous. So, everyone please answer each poll. Thanks!
  
  Dad' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: February 02, 2009, 8:02pm EST
  

• Real Mothers

  A friend send this to me recently, thought you would enjoy it as well:
  
  MOTHERS
  
  Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
  They don't have time to make it.
  
  Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
  Are probably in the sandbox.
  
  Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
  Filthy [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 30, 2009, 12:15pm EST
  

• Our BIG Autism Day

  Yesterday we met with one of the social workers at Ammon and Mary's Autism school. They called the meeting to go over a STRESS survey. We were concerned and wanted to make sure we did not miss the appointment. We had run ins with social workers in the' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 23, 2009, 10:58am EST
  

• Autism Gospel, According to John

  From a recent post at a group I belong to, it was asked about how neighbor kids and their parent relate to your Autistic child.
  
  I said: it is very difficult to find parents and children that are accepting of an ASD child. We have discovered who our real [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 19, 2009, 3:20pm EST
  

• Parents of Autism Helping Each Other

  Hey parents, how's finances? Does one or both parents stay home to help with your Autistic child? Do you run a home business?
  
  Well this blog's for you: http://autmart.blogspot.com/
  
  I just put it together a few minutes ago. Had a brain storm this morning, water EVERYWHERE! Ha! Any [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 08, 2009, 11:49am EST
  

• Resolutions, Promises and a few Fibs

  Well 2008 was certainly a banner year as far as media attention for the Kirton's of Utah. We know of only an additional documentary on the Discovery Health channel this January, as we've been told.
  
  I have recently set up an account on Twitter (http://twitter.com/johnkirton), we've had our YouTube' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: January 03, 2009, 10:44pm EST
  

• Bringing in the New Year with the Kirton's

  I signed up to be notified whenever our latest showing of 'Autism x 6' is going to be on the Discovery Health channel. Yesterday I was doing some Autistic surfing and went to their website.
  
  The program will be on tomorrow night, December 31st at 8pm and 11pm, Eastern [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 30, 2008, 4:42pm EST
  

• Easter Seals Doing a Better Job Then Autism Speaks?

  There certainly is strong feelings about Autism Speaks (AS) as an organization, both good and bad. I'm glad for all the awareness they create. We're doing as much as that as we can ourselves. But what is AS doing for Mom and Dad Autism?
  
  Many people get pretty [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 19, 2008, 1:06am EST
  

• Holiday Tips for Families with Autism

  Normal false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}

  I've recently discovered the Autism blog on the Easter Seals' [...]

  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 17, 2008, 10:22am EST
  

• Utah May Mandate Health Insurance for Autism Therapy

  By: Heather May
  The Salt Lake Tribune ([www.sltrib.com])
  Updated: 12/15/2008 04:59:59 PM MST
  
  Leeann Whiffen made a promise that when it was over -- two years of intensive therapy to free her son from the grip of autism -- she would do what she could to help [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 16, 2008, 2:44am EST
  

• Changing of the Polls

  It's way past time to update and record our poll results. If you'd like t0 revisit past polls just find the 'polls' labels on the right side lower on this page.
  
  Poll: Are You Getting The AutismBites T-shirt Newsletter?
  
  Yes 8%
  No 21%
  Didn't know you had' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 09, 2008, 1:05pm EST
  

• Study Shows Families' Financial Strain From Autism

  More than half a million U.S. children have autism with costly health care needs that often put an unprecedented financial strain on their families, national data show.
  
  Compared with parents whose youngsters have chronic health care needs but not autism, those with autistic children are three times more likely [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: December 03, 2008, 7:20pm EST
  

• Surprise, We're Back...

  When flipping channels on Wednesday, Robin discovered that our program "Autism X 6" was playing. The last we heard was that we would be on again in January side-by-side with a new Autism program that our production company has been working on.
  
  So, I checked the listings for the [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 28, 2008, 3:37pm EST
  

• It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

  
  
  
  First Ammon got it, then Sarah was the next day and then last night Robin had it. So far the rest of us are OK, but we'll see what the weekend will bring. **UPDATE** Saturday: Mary had it last night and Bobby has' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 21, 2008, 7:10pm EST
  

• Beware of Carmel Financial

  Thought I'd give everyone a heads up on this company so you don't have to waste nearly 4 weeks of your time and have your hopes dashed like we just experienced.
  
  They ([www.carmelfinancial.com]) supposedly have financing for an air cleaning machine that filters the air almost as well [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 11, 2008, 9:05pm EST
  

• Trying to Be More Like Jesus

  On Sunday, November 9, 2008--yesterday--we did something we have rarely attempted over the last couple of years or so...we all went and stayed at church, ahh!!!!
  
  It was a special occasion. The children's group at our church, called the Primary, put on their annual sacrament meeting presentation. Our "sacrament'" [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 10, 2008, 3:39pm EST
  

• Ammon Turns Five

  Ammon's birthday was yesterday. He still tries to touch the candles instead of blowing them out, but he has made so many improvements this past year. Just this morning when he was out of breakfast cereal he came to me with the bowl and shook in in front of me.' [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 08, 2008, 1:01pm EST
  

• Watch Out, I'm in a Mood

  I guess we've lost what following I 'thought' we had. Or maybe people have been too busy, or worried about the election or they know how to use their mouse but NOT the keyboard. If you'll look at the last post, I asked a couple of questions.
  
  No [...]
  Share | Rate | Archive

  Posted: November 03, 2008, 6:19pm EST