A new day... a new future for my son

may 7 2008

Everything feels and looks like it's summer.
I even had the window open all night without feeling cold for a minute.

I'm waiting for one of my sons to leave the shower and hop in myself.

He takes so much time I think I have to walk straight from the shower to the busses to be in time for an appopintment.
Don't worry, I'll dress first.

Just a thin cotton long dress with a matching thin blouse/jacket on it.

He's decided to take his future into retailing.

Last year he started working in a job, just to get some money, and it turned out one of the best decisions of his life.
He loves working there, and he seeks responsibility.

So I phoned a college in town and we're going to have a talk there about which subjects he needs to take and which support he can get.
He's severely dyslectic.

He can do without support.
The lack of, has made him find out all sorts of compensation mechanisms.
But after all the bad expereinces he's had at the school he is now, he deserves a good start at the next educational level.

Do I hear the shower has stopped without me calling over and over and over again?

Yep!!!
Wow!!!

I'm off!!!!

I value it very much when you rate this post at Buzzfuse.
More info under the topper of this page.

DirMania webdirectory

april 9 2008

It's important for business sites to be listed in as many web directories as possible.

DirMania provides a free web directory for small to medium companies and/or websites.
Submission is completely free.

Don't think that means the site is just a mix of chaotic sites.

A list of clear submission guidelines are given, and all sites are evaluated before they're added to the directory.

The intention is to guarantee quality websites with content, listed under the right categories.

Blogs, linksites, homepages, and sites full of advertisements are not accepted.
And ofcourse adult sites and sites selling illegal items are rejected too.

It's also stated that sites which are poorly designed are not accepted.
When I saw one of the registered sites, it was clear that this is a matter of opinion.

DirMania webdirectory is proud to have kept the google rank of 3.
I don't see a counter on the site though, so I have no idea how often this site is used to look up sites.

Right now 2897 links are listed among 501 categories.

Read carefully the information on the site before submitting your URL.
Visit some sites to get an idea of which kind of sites are listed in the directory.
Be aware that you and DirMania agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located within the county of Nassau, New York, but that you're also bound by the law of your own area.

Submitting a site to a webdirectory will enlarge the amount of contacts you make, and hopefully enlarge the amount of visitors on your site.

Submitting is really free. No hidden costs.
And an added extra is that sites that fullfill the requirements are listed within 24 hours.

Dial 7 - airport limousine services

march 9 2008

Last week a friend arrived at Newark airport and found her car with a flat tyre.
She panicked and went to the information stand.

The woman there calmed her and told her there was a perfect service available:
limousine service Newark.
So my friend decided that she had nothing to loose and decided to call the NYC Car Service by Dial 7.

She was amazed she even had a choice of car, and was so overthrown by the kindness of the centralist, that she said she wanted a black limousine.
She didn't expect to be in time for her meeting, so she wanted at least to enjoy the ride.

But she arrived in time. Perfectly in time.

In fact, the time she planned for parking was the time she lost panicking. LOL!

Dial 7, New York Car & Limousine Service provides professional transport to and from Manhattan, Brooklyn, NJ and New York City.
They have over 450 late model sedans and town cars. And above all they have a very good name.

My friend felt perfectly safe, which is ofcourse very important in a city like New York. And she was very impressed by the cleanliness, the speed and the courtesy.

Even though they guarantee to be in time when you make a reservation 24 hours in advance, my friend was helped as fast as possible with the best service possible.
30 years of exeprience enables the best service, that's clear.

My garden escape

march 7 2008


Today I got the best question you can ask me:
"What Garden Building would you have?"

I have always dreamt of a garden house.
A place to be myself, with no access for the children.
That isn't unkind.

Years ago I gave up my own little spot in the house for the twins.
I didn't mind at the time, as I got two lovely little babies.
But now they're 12 and I crave for a place where I can leave my sowing machine without being afraid someone might try it, or might bump against it.

I want to be able to leave a book open on the table...

When I first wanted a garden house, it was just 4 wooden walls and a tilted roof.
But now many people have discovered garden houses are not only for putting bycicles out of the rain, they have evolved into real houses.

I think it's wise to make people aware of the fact that garden houses are perfect offices. You're away from the noises and other distractions from the house, and you can create a good environment to focus on your work.
It's a signal to others: "I'm working now, so don't disturb me."

The garden escape offers a wide array of garden buildings: contemporary, cube, curve. But I opt for my own creation.

I would put my garden escape opposite my willow tree.
One corner in the corner of the garden, so I can have two wooden walls, one with a little window, so I can see the house, if needed.
Two sides can be glass. Double glass, so it stays warm in the winter without wasting too much energy.

I'm OK when it's big enough for a small bed, a cozy chair, and ofcourse an enormous table for my computer.

The Garden Escape offers a lot of information on the site. Like planning permission, what to do with lights and flooring and many other important issues.

Ofcourse I would love to have one of those buildings as a second home, in a beautiful nature resort, but I can do with my little garden house, to escape from my bussy life with 6 children and so many handicaps. They have special needs.

Well, I have a special need to: my garden escape.

Stupid me

february 5 2008

It's always interesting how people react when others make a mistake.

Just a simple one.

No harm done, but two extra mails.
Friendly ones.

I was just caught up by the enthousiasm of others, caught by the feeling of belonging to a group of people who love to show their blogs to the world.
It's nice to feel a bond when you come out of weeks of struggling with people who just don't care how others feel.

Stupid me.

I should have known better than to think people would be caught with the same enthousiasm.

Sharing my enthousiasm would have the side-effect of being able to win a prize.

I should have known that winning a prize, something for me, would be out of reach.
I was able to withstand the give-aways of the season, protecting myself from the disappointments of winning and not getting the prize.
But I fell for this one.

Well, at least I had a few moments the feeling of a virtual bond, of enthousiasm, of sharing.
Of reaching out.

"This says something about the other person, mom."

Quite right.

Secret Santa

december 4 2007

The last week I took part in secret santa.
An event between designers.
We exchanged, online, graphics we've made.

I got a few very nice items and ofcourse mailed quite a number too.

Because I was completely new to the group I didn;t have the faintest idea who the other members and participants were.

So it was really Secret Santa.

Within a few hours from now, we'll hear who was who.

I'm so very curious!!!

ABA international conference

november 19 2007

Take your agenda:

ABA International’ s 2nd Autism Conference
title “Issues and Recent Advancements in the Behavioral Treatment of Autism: Practical Strategies for Changing Behavior at Home and School”

Friday, February 8th - Sunday, February 10th, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia

info: http://www.abainternational.org/autconf/program/program.asp

Ten distinguished speakers will provide keynote addresses where the primary
focus is to present parents, educators, and other care providers with
resources and information to more confidently face the challenges of raising
and educating a child with autism.
The conference provides for your benefit: poster sessions, exhibitions, a
bookstore and networking opportunities.

Early registration (before dec 11) will save you $25.

online autism conference

november 4 2007


Awares international online autism conference

starts on November 26, 2007 and
is open for registrations at http://www.autism2007.org.

Some of the abstracts are already available.

Last year over 10,000 delegates joined in the discussions and put questions to the more than 60 experts taking part.

The online conference lasts a week, but due to demand it lasted longer in the past.

You have to hop over to the site and read which worldauthorities are taking part and who else.

You can ask questions, read abstracts and a lot more.

law in special education - Michigan

november 1 2007

Now I'm blogging about Michigan I have to tell parents, caregivers, teachers and law-professionals, that are dealing with special education, that there's a group at yahoo that might be of use.

SpecialEdLawMichigan

My experience is that parents, caregivers and attorneys are a good combination to get things done for children that need extra care at school.

Knowing the law enables parents to motivate the school to do things they didn't want to put an effort in.

halloween

october 31 2007

There's a lot of halloween-ery on internet.
I've seen so many sites displaying halloween images, that I can't say which one is best.

So I give you one where you can find a lot of links, photos and even strippages.
In case you want to have your site added, just leave it in the comments.

Only decent sites please.

Oh...the site is ::here::.

have a spooky halloween!

Look at Autism

october 29 2007

Taking a Look at Autism 2007
will take place on November 8-9, 2007
at the Holiday Inn Express in Okemos.

Topics to Be Covered:

Mediation-Helping Parents & Schools by MSEMP;
Sensory Integration & ASD By Cindy Grider, CMH;
Self-determination vs. Guardianship by Don Hoyle, ARC;
Positive Behavior Supports By CAUSE;
IEPs By CAUSE;
Law Enforcement & ASD By Lean On Us;
GFCG Diet and ASD By Deanna Seng;
Inclusion: A Parent's & Students Perspective by the Cunninghams;
A Perfectly Ordinary Life by Kelley Orginski & Sandee Koski;
Music Therapy & ASD By Cindy Edgerton, MSU;
and Project Based Curriculum & ASD By AFIC.

There is a limited number of parent scholarships and reduced rates available.

You can contact contact Lori Swan at the Autism Foundation of Ingham County for more information at (517) 655-1895.



Thanks Miranda for sending this.

real estate

october 28 2007

Habitat for Home is an organisation that provides decent housing for people all across the globe.
In some countries, like The Netherlands the raise money, in other countries they build houses with the help of volunteers, voluntary expertise, donations and no-profit, no-interest terms of every Habitat for Humanity mortgage.

For instance in America more than 300.000 families have a new afforable home since the first affiliate was founded in 1978.

One of the active supporters is GMAC real estate.

They have a lot of expertice in buying and selling houses in the complete pricerange.
With all the problems on the housing market new starters/first time home buyers should have good advice, so they won't be confronted with problems later in life.

The same advice is offered to Habitat for Home, so people can trust that they get a safe and reliable house.

Soon: complete revolution in the sponsored blogging world

october 23 2007

PayPerPost is one of the largest sponsored blogging systems.
Advertisers are able to get in contact with the genral online public by submitting their requests to the PPP team,
Bloggers can choose between the subjects and blog about them against a few dollars.
The better the blog shows up in the stats, the more is paid.
As simple as that.

PayPerPost has developed a new way of ranking the statistical information of posts cq blogs and soon the system will be put to use.

Apart from the team of PPP and the testers, none knows exactly what the system does.
As far as I can gather part of it is synthesising the statistics of different systems or it has a whole new system of data synthesis and is tested against the other systems.
Argus, as the working name is, will be a revolution in the sponsored blogging world.

There's no need to rely anymore on Google PR and Alexa Score to rank blogs.
Argus provides advertisers with accurate page view and visitor information gathered by PayPerPost itself.
One of the problems the present PayPerPost system has is that advertisers can choose for geographical located bloggers.
Because I'm living in The Netherlands that means I'm excluded from some jobs, even though the main group of my visitors are located in these countries and I blog in their language.
Argus reports geographic readership information as well, so it should enable me to take more posts.

One of the main issues to me is that there are people out there who know how to play the systems.
Their blogs are fully equipped to get as high ramks as possble with almost no other contect that product information and sponsored blogging.
People comment there, because their URL will show up in relation with these high ranked blogs, which leads to a higher rank of their own blog too.
And ofcourse they put these links on their site with the same ranking consequence.

To be honest: I hope those practices can come to an end.
I think it's not fair those advertising blogs can blog for 100, 200 or even more dollars a post by using just the requested amount of words(so the minimal effort) whereas I get 5 dollars a post, and when I'm really lucky a few dollars more.

I'm curious if the new system is able to reward originality, because I'm sure I would get a lot more paid per post.
Sponsored blogging shouldn't be only about the exposure of URLs, but also about getting people to really buy a product or service.

Still I think normal bloggers are able to convey their message to a larger audience than almost professional advertising bloggers.
We normal bloggers maybe won't have as many visitors and page views, but we're able to trigger the word by mouth system.
One visitor who talks about a certain post at the family meeting, the church meeting and the parents board meeting, will do a lot more to spread the word, than one visitor who clicks the link and moves on without even looking.

Well, we'll see what payperpost reveals.
Soon Argus and it's new name will be presented into private alpha at PostieCon.

I hope it'll be of help for all of us.

San Francisco - city of bridges, city of eRomance

october 17 2007


We here, have always felt a strong bond with San Francisco.
It's called the city of bridges, and we live in a city of bridges too.

For the children the trolly is fascinating.
They've heard many stories about the trolly stop in front of my grandmas house.

We don't have as much differences in height as San Francisco, but the area near the river is far lower than the centre of town.
It's a romantic area with little streets, lovely small parcs between houses and ofcourse the panorama over the river.

Friends who have moved to San Francisco got the same feel and they say it's the most romantic city in america.
Especially trhe Fisherman's Wharf & Area creates a feeling of home. The market, the shops, the lively street entertainment.
They don't only love the city itself, but also the areas around it, like the Nappa Valley with the wineries.

eRomance is an online dating and community site and they have added a date ideas section with local guides.

This week San Francisco is highlighted.
A good choice and certainly one which guarantees numerous San Francisco Date Ideas.

It won't be difficult to plan a romantic walk with stops at high quality restaurants and cozy cafes.
You can plan a stay at the city completely yourself or you can use the site, which offers date ideas, weekend trips and guides for restaurants and all other places to entertain.
Ofcourse there's also a section for singles, so there's no need to feel lonely in the City of Bridges.

It won't be difficult to plan a romantic walk with stops at high quality restaurants and cozy cafes.
You can plan a stay at the city completely yourself or you can use the site, which offers date ideas, weekend trips and guides for restaurants and all other places to entertain.
Ofcourse there's also a section for singles, so there's no need to feel lonely in the City of Bridges.

presents

october 16 2007

I've participated in some give-aways the last months.
One of them was huge, and is maybe the largest give-away event on internet.

I've won some books.
I was excited, because they were not available here.

It's for some events a month later, for others two or three months and I haven't seen anything.

I wonder why not.

The women who mailed me were enthousiastic and made me feel happy and anticipating a package in the mail.

So I've had that fun.

But still. It's strange.

In a way I feel lucky, imagine to have won something of great value, a golden watch or one of those modern projection televisions.
What a huge siappointment it would be to wait and wait and wait, and it would never arrive.

So those give-aways are more about away than about giving.

Meeting at Tattoo Lovers

september 25 2007


I think it's great that nowadays many people accept tattoos, even though most people see them as a fun expression of personal ideas or important items or persons of life.

That has been completely different as we all know, and even though we don't want acceptance and tolerance to change, times change and so does the way people deal with decorations of the body.

For a large group of people tattoos are a very deeply feeled personal expressions and because of that they look for partners who share the same feelings.
Ofcourse many have an open eye for all people they meet, but "tattoo dating" is a way to have a good opportunity to meet likeminded people, and maybe a friends or a partner.

Tattoo Lovers is the dating community for tattoo lovers on the internet.
After subscribing for free you can browse through thousands of tattoo personals, and start chatting, exchanging ideas and have a great time.

Because there are so many personal descriptions I'm sure you'll find the person who understands you well.

Bikerplanet, a place to meet other bikers

september 25 2007

We here love to see Orange County Choppers.
The love with which the choppers are created, the art of design, it's inspiring for many, even for those who have never enjoyed riding on a chopper.

A friend of mine works in the bikershop of her children.
She sees the love they all have for their bikes every day, and she enjoys the way of live.

Especially during the summermonths bikers pass by. Tent and everything they need with them.
They stop at the shop for something extra or spare parts.

More and more she sees people she saw as biker singles some years ago, telling her they've found a partner...another biker.

Very often they've met each other at Bikerplanet, a place where likeminded people can meet each other online.
Joining is free.
The site containes thousands of profiles of other bikers, so no wonder people meet the partner for the rest of their lives.

cerebral palsy conference in Detroit.

september 8 2007

The United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit is organising a conference and expo at October 8, 2007 with the title:

"Life without Limits through Assistive Technology"

UCP/Detroit provides information and referral services, employment program (Benefits Planning, Assistance and Outreach Project), individual and family support services (Advocacy, Everyone Together and Parent Coaltion), community inclusion and independent living supports and community education.

They stand close to the people so the conference will be well worth a visit.

Among the subjects:

• Working through AT Issues;
• Obtaining AT for Adults;
• Obtaining AT for Kids and
• Employment and AT. Y

You can access the full conference brochure and download the registration form/register on line at www.ucpdetroit.org or call (248)557-5070 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to request the registration form.
Registration is a MUST.

• FREE to people with disabilities and family members.
• $35 for non-profits $50 for all others.

Register now so you won't have to deal with the deadline.

Gothscene.com: online meeting and dating other goths

august 25 2007

Many people think Goth are people who dress in blac, like bloodred marks on their face and clothes, wear blue lipstick at times, are depressed and like bats around.
People love to stereotype others they can't understand and won't understand.

But being a Goth is a lifestyle.

It started in the last days of the punk era in the 80ties. In England.
Gothic Rock has survived up till now. The lifestyle has been intensified and diversified. New subcultures have emersed.
A Goth in New Orleans is different from one in Berlin, but they share certain characteristics, which creates a bond.

Being part of a subculture though, makes it difficult to find a friend or partner, especially when you don't live in a large town.

Gothscene.com is a site that facilitates goth dating.

Joining is free and fast, so in no time one can browse lots of gothic personals to find like minded goth friends.
One can IM them, mail them, add them to a blackbook.
There's also a blocking feature, so one can search more effective.

It's a one of it's kind site, so when you're a Goth, have a look.

what a wonderful couple

august 21 2007



This afternoon I was at the school of the girls and I was introduced to a new couple.
They had some questions about autism spectrum disorder and ofcourse I was happy to tell them about it.

They told me they had met online, at an interracial dating community.

The woman of the couple shared that her husband was killed in an accident, and that she wanted to protect her children from people who would think they were adopted from a foreign country.
She thought it better to find a place where interacial singles could meet in an accepting environment.

InterracialRomance.com was adviced as the number 1 interracial dating community on the net, and she wasn't disappointed.

In case you are interested: joining is free.
After that you can search through thousands of profiles of people who are serious looking for a partner and/or a friend.

The site offers interracial chat, forums and other great features to help you find love online.

I was touched by this couple.
They were so very much in love, and both cared very much for their children.

I know that they will have a difficult time, because the boy needs testing for autism spectrum disorder, but they will be able to support each other and the boy.

Online dating can help to find a partner for life, that's for sure!