Blogging from phone?

Finally I'll blog more often. Happy Hallowine!

Happy Halloween

42 years young! Wanda the witch lives at my parents house.

Yeah, I copped a feel. ;)

PREDATOR??

Ha ha!, we're at Planet Hollywood in Vegas. Every room has a theme and memorabilia from a movie. Did we get Love Story? No. Did we get Good Fellas? No. Did we get An Officer and a Gentleman? No. WE GOT PREDATOR. There's a giant claw in the glass table, a hat in a case on the wall and THAT fella stares at us from over the bed. If it had been Nightmare on Elm Street I'd have checked the freak OUT of the hotel......

Pretty cool here in Vegas. Bright, noisy, shiny --- different.

And we're Off to the Els4Autism event!

And I'll have a special post to share when I return. It has to with something I wrote in my book that is finally going to come true!

Mark and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary today. When I married Mark, little did I know I'd be finding my way toward a new family - my friends in the autism world. You mean the world to me and my girls. Thank you.

Our folks are in the background. The highlight of the reception was when my FIL played the spoons as my Uncle Jerry (whom I adore) played the trumpet. It was so much fun. I miss Mike Stag very much. My Grandmother was alive. I miss her too.

(PS) I didn't know what gluten free meant when I cut into that cake.... Le sigh.

Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism, she writes for Autism File Magazine, HuffPo, TodayMoms and elsewhere. Her book All I Can Handle I'm No Mother Teresa is now available in paperback with bonus content, recipes and a book club/academic guide.

Author Kim Stagliano All I Can Handle 10/17 by The Organic View | Blog Talk Radio

Author Kim Stagliano All I Can Handle 10/17 by The Organic View | Blog Talk Radio

Today at 4pm!

An Evening with Kim Stagliano

Family Autism Center will be hosting an evening with Kim Stagliano
on Wednesday, October 26th from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at
789 Clapboardtree Street in Westwood, MA.

Kim Stagliano is the mother of three daughters who have autism, the
managing editor of Age of Autism (the nation’s first daily web
newspaper about the autism epidemic), a contributor for The
Huffington Post, The Debutante Ball, The Dallas Morning News
Moms Blog and has appeared on Good Morning America (with her
kids!), ABC News, Fox News, in The Chicago Tribune, The National
Catholic Register, and on blogs around the world.

Most recently, she is the author of All I Can Handle: I’m No Mother
Theresa (A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism). Please join us
for a night of stories, both Kim’s and yours – we would love for you to
come and share your own thoughts on living with autism! Kim’s book
will be available for purchase. If you are interested in attending,
please contact Betsy Roche at eroche@sncarc.org to RSVP.
We look forward to seeing you on the 26th!

The Carousel

If you know our family, you know that we love carousels, merry-go-rounds, flying horses. One of my favorite Reading Rainbow episodes featured a beautiful book called The Carousel by Liz Rosenberg. It's about two girls whose Mom has died and how a carousel in the park near their home brings them closer to her on a stormy night. I fell in love with the story from the first viewing. I hope you do too:

20 Years of Marriage

If you've read my book, yeah, that pink one, you know that the closest I've come to divorcing Mark took place both on and because of a golf course. He was playing way too much for a Dad of three young kids with autism. I was getting angrier by the second and one day? KABLOOEY! I lost it on him at the golf club.

So imagine my surprise, er, chagrin, well let's call it UTTER HORROR when we learned that since Mark and his partner Don raised over $10,000 for the Els4Autism Golf Challenge that he had won a trip to Las Vegas for the next event. During the weekend of our wedding anniversary. Quoting from my book and Depeche Mode, "I think that God's got a sick sense of humor."

Hell yes.

We leave on the 21st thanks to my Mom and some amazing helpers. More to follow!

Paperback Release Day All I Can Handle I'm No Mother Teresa A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism.

Hi, friends, time to get back to blogging. I've been cheating on the blog with FB and Twitter and honestly, bloggy deserves better!

Today is my paperback release day! I've added content and even some GFCF recipes (Food TV will not be calling anytime soon, trust me.) Buy it at Amazon or local stores.

School year is going great for all three girls. Gianna is in high school with Mia. (Yikes.) Bella is tall and growing taller every day.

Big news for Mark and me???? (Dear God no, it's NOT another baby, get the salt and throw it over your shoulder!) We're going to Las Vegas for an Els4Autism event and to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. I'll have a a great blog post when I return, I promise. Thanks to the legion of helpers including my Mom and Dad so we can get away for the first time in almost 10 years.

Let's Hope Irene Goes Away!

Stay safe everyone.

Autism Kick with Tae Bo Fitness Creator Billy Blanks - Tampa, FL

Autism Kick with Tae Bo Fitness Creator Billy Blanks - Tampa, FL


Support National Autism Association this Fall in Tampa with Billy Blanks!

How one mom -- with three autistic daughters -- finds hope and happiness

How one mom -- with three autistic daughters -- finds hope and happiness

Autism Affection and Auntie Asunta by Kim Stagliano

One of my favorite aunts (pronounced aw’nt, in proper Massachusetts style please) died this week at 93 years of age. She was my father’s older sister – one of ten in a large half Irish, half Italian family from Boston. My Dad, Richard, 89 on August 4^th, is still vigorous and dare I say it, alert and agile. He played 18 holes of golf this summer with my husband Mark who later confessed to my Mom and me, “I was just praying we didn’t end up with a Weekend at Bernie’s scenario.”

My aunt’s birth name was Asunta. But everyone called her Gertrude. How anyone thought Gertrude was a cuter nickname than Asunta is beyond me, but in 1918, perhaps Gert was the au courant version of today’s, “Madison”?

Auntie and I shared a special bond, acknowledged with a nod, a brief conversation and a twinkle in her Irish eyes.

In 2008, my cousin Roger threw auntie a surprise 90^th birthday party at a yacht club on the South Shore of Massachusetts. We all questioned the advisability of surprising a 90 year old, but my cousin Tommy the priest (every Irish Italian family has one) had RSVP’d “yes” so Roger must have figured he was covered should the unthinkable happen. And we all hoped the luck of the Irish would stick for auntie, who was born on St. Paddy’s day.

Roger invited my family, including my daughters Mia, Gianna and Bella, who have autism. I was so pleased that they were included in a joyful family celebration! Why? You’d be surprised how frequently children with autism are left out of events across the nation, by family (loosely used as in, “that stinking pack of skunks is a family”) who can not be bothered to respect and include their a-typical nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. They deserve the malocchio.

We had a glorious time. Cousin Tommy blessed my girls and prayed for their healing. Cousins and aunts and friends of the family danced with the girls and welcomed them. They asked me pertinent questions about their autism that I was happy to answer. They cared. They were engaged with the girls.

They acted like family.

A few months later, auntie was visiting my parents, so we had a chance to talk one on one. She, like most people who meet my children, was taken aback at their level of impairment and their beauty. (The other night, a friend of a friend was over for dinner, and he cried a bit when he watched the girls, shaken by what autism has done to them. That happens frequently.)

My aunt lost a son in a tragedy many years ago, my cousin Stephen who was as handsome as Richard Gere. I said to her, “We’ve both grieved for our children, auntie. We have that in common.” She nodded her head and answered, “But we survived, Kim. We’re fighters. And you’re a wonderful Mom to your girls.” I was so glad we shared that moment.

My parents visited with auntie the day before she died. She took my Mom’s hand and said, “Take care of my Roger.” Auntie was 93, you can guess Roger’s age. Someday I’ll be saying, “Take care of my Mia, Gianna and Bella.

The name Asunta means ascension, as in the ascension of the Virgin Mary into heaven. Motherhood and a mother’s love never ends. Not for auntie Asunta. Not for me. Not for you.

Yesterday was auntie’s funeral. The girls and I were there to pay our respects. And to look out for cousin Roger.

As my Gianna says, “We’re a family.”

Amen.

Team Stagliano Raises $21K for Els For Autism Event!

Update: Mark's team came in fifth out of 44 teams - and they raised over $21K. I met one of the heads of the event - very interesting work going on. More to share later. Mark and Don are going to Vegas in the Fall for the next round. Now, how to bring the kids? Think Vegas can survive us?

By Kim Stagliano

Indulge me a proud wife moment. Like most couples, Mark and I share the work of raising our children. But it's usually me in the "limelight" (although sometimes it feels like a searchlight during a breakout) when it comes to autism. It's Mark's turn. He and his friends Don and Lisa Fleck and Marty Eunice entered two teams in the Connecticut tournament for Els4Autism and have raised over $20,000 for the Els foundation and school. Mia, Gianna and Bella are honorary team captains.

Ernie Els says, "The rest of my life, I will be fighting this thing [autism.]" I was encouraged by seeing Dr. Martha Herbert as an advisory board member. Maybe autism finally knocked on the wrong door for real? (Name that reference in the comments and win a prize. Or at least a high five.)

So, hats off to my husband Mark and his good friends for helping our kids in a meaningful way.

To learn more about his team and the event click Els4Autism golf team Stagliano.

Kim Stagliano is Managing Editor of Age of Autism. Her book from Skyhorse Publishing, All I Can Handle I'm No Mother Teresa; A Life Raising Three Daughters with Autism is available now. Visit her website at Kim Stagliano.

Kim Stagliano Book Signing The Learned Owl Hudson Ohio

BOOK SIGNING* WITH FORMER CLEVELANDER

KIM STAGLIANO

A MEMOIR ABOUT RAISING CHILDREN WITH AUTISM…

AND LAUGHING YOUR WAY THROUGH IT!

ALL I CAN HANDLE

I’m No Mother Teresa

By Kim Stagliano

Foreword by Jenny McCarthy

Saturday, July 23

The Learned Owl

204 N. Main St., Hudson, Ohio 44236

330-653-2252 or 1-800-968-2685

* And keynote speaker at the Third Annual Conference on Autism Spectrum Disorders Friday July 22 at the Holiday Inn, Independence.

Visit http://americanmedicalautismboard.com/amab-2011-conference.html

“Incredibly funny… A bird’s-eye view into what it’s really like to love

and raise kids with autism.”—Jenny McCarthy, from her foreword

Hundreds of memoirs, cookbooks, and medical volumes have been written about raising children with autism, but none of them will make you laugh this hard. In All I Can Handle: I’m No Mother Teresa, mother, wife and down-to-earth human being Kim Stagliano tells the inspiring, heartwarming, and utterly hysterical story of how one very strong woman raises three daughters with autism, loses one at Disney World, stays married, has sex, bakes gluten-free, goes broke, and keeps her sense of humor.

Kim has been featured on Good Morning America and in Time Magazine among other national media outlets for her work with AgeOfAutism.com. She has devoted her life to raising autism awareness and helping parents like herself find the answers they need to best support their children. However, in this book, for the first time, she tells her life story. The memoir of a mother raising three severely disabled daughters may seem bleak, but in her loud, unique and compelling comedic and literary voice, Kim explains how there is nothing in life not worth laughing at – and even less that you can’t come to love and appreciate. Some of the highlights of her daily adventures are:

· Poop. Kim relates the difficulty in potty training her three autistic daughters, and how she ends up finding poop EVERYWHERE in her house (on the floors, in the walls, inside toys etc. etc. etc)

· Sex and love. Kim didn’t have three kids with her husband by NOT having sex! She discusses how they make time for each other during their crazy schedules, how they got through her husband’s being laid off THREE times, how they almost got divorced over a round of golf, and how their relationship is now stronger than ever because of the setbacks they’ve encountered and overcome.

· Autism. Kim describes her various encounters with doctors - some of whom told her there was nothing wrong with her children - and she does not hesitate to speak her mind about the extent to which she was supported or NOT supported throughout the process.

· Her devotion to her children. Kim describes the panic-attack she had when she lost one of her daughters at DisneyWorld. She also writes about times when she had too much trouble getting her kids out of the car to pick up groceries or take-out food, and forfeited her own dinner because she refused to leave her kids alone in the car to get it.

· Money problems. Kim and her husband, like many other American couples, have suffered through layoffs, new jobs, and not having enough money to buy their kids Christmas presents.

Kim Stagliano’s story is unique because it is both tragic and heartwarming. She describes the terrible things she has had to endure, but also explains how she feels happy and blessed and enjoys every moment of her “Stagtastrophe-filled” life.

About the Author:

Kim Stagliano is a nationally recognized autism advocate and speaker. She is managing editor of www.ageofautism.com and writes for The Huffington Post, The Autism File magazine, and The TodayMoms blog from MSNBC. Stagliano lives in Connecticut with her family. Her website is www.kimstagliano.com

To schedule an interview with Kim Stagliano, please contact:

Nina Boutsikaris / nboutsikaris@skyhorsepublishing.com / 212-643-6816 ex 233

All I Can Handle:

I’m No Mother Teresa

By Kim Stagliano

Skyhorse Publishing Hardcover Original

On Sale: November 2, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-61608-069-3

Price: $24.95

Welcome to The Talk Viewers!



I hope I didn't leave any dirty undies on the floor of my blog!!! Came running over to check. Seems like everything is in its proper place.

I'm so tired today - Mark and I drove to Maplewood NJ (about 90 miles from our home in CT) to Words for a signing. What fun! The store CATERS to families of people on the spectrum. They have a work-shop for adult employment and offer programs. They also have a sensory seating area and you don't get the "Ooh is that poop on your shoe!?" face from the sales staff if your child makes noise. I love WORDS.

We arrived home around midnight. I got up at my usual 6am to prepare the girls' GFCF breakfasts and lunches. I watched the wedding too - I admit it! And I cried. Color me romantic. Who knew? Spent time thinking about my own wedding - Mark and I celebrate our 20th this October. Good golly Miss Molly how did that happen. No - really, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? Have you read my book? :)


Then I continued my quest to kickbox myself into oblivion. Today was DAY FIVE this week. I'm shooting for 5-6 classes a week. Did I mention my 30th HS reunion is in two weeks? I know - so cliche! I kick box at Hanko Ryu in our town and Shihan is a tough taskmaster, it's really boot camp. On Wednesday he dropped the medicine ball on our stomach as we lay on the floor. Today he timed us on his obstacle course he may have borrowed from Abu Graib and then made us do a sort of push up where it only counted if your chest hit the floor. I call that blatant discrimination of the flat girl, don't you? I feel like screaming, "I DON'T HAVE ANYWHERE TO GO!!!!" every few moments during class.

After class today I got home, showered and crawled into bed. Mark (who works from home) was pleased as punch. Until I looked at him from under the covers, pulled up to my chin thank you, and said, "No really, IT'S A NAP." Poor boy!

The kids are about home from school. Have a great weekend everyone!

Tomorrow is day 6 of kick boxing (I'm addicted to the class and the terrific people who attend, and Shihan is actually a great guy, husband and father - originally from ROMA and his accent makes the commands a bit less painful) and Saturday is the toughest day of all. wish me luck!

Neutrogena Deep Wrinkle Cream Really WORKS!

It does, it does!!! How do I know I look younger after just ONE APPLICATION! I got a giant zit about an hour after opening the damn tube. Jeez oh man - now I have a frown line that looks like the Mariana Trench and a zit. Isn't that lovely?