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Autistic Interpretations®
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Dolly’s Famously Fudgy Brownies! Looks like it’s fudge brownie time again! Jess sure loves her brownies, and I have to say, the extra fudge made them extra delicious! What is your favorite type of brownie?
Requesting to have plain biscuits for breakfast was an unusual turn of events for Jessica. And she requested bacon on the side. I wonder how much the request had to do with feeling proud of having made then the day before. At least some I think.
Chicken nuggets for breakfast? Sure! And check out how comfortable Jessica looks moving around the kitchen being independent. She’s making such good progress.
Jess decides on nuggets for breakfast occasionally. Her preference is always for a hot breakfast. Oh how I wish she would choose something like toast, a bagel, some fresh fruit, or yogurt, but that’s just not going to happen. Jess has never eaten a bagel, and she only eats fruit in desserts (except for raisins, she’ll eat those plain). She doesn’t eat yogurt, and only occasionally will choose cold cereal and milk for breakfast.
A new daily living skill project we decided to take on to add to the list of foods Jess can make independently - canned biscuits.
There are a lot of little or sometimes almost hidden steps involved in making many things in the kitchen. We will focus on building on each individual step over time.
Jess chose to make nuggets for breakfast. It’s a breakfast she can make completely on her own. She also chose how many, the pan she wanted to cook them on, how to get them off the pan, her breakfast beverage, her cup, etc.
Is it important to let Jess make these choices? Of course! We all have a need to make choices about things in our own lives. Self-determination theory suggests that all humans have three basic psychological needs—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—and those underlie growth and development. Research shows that self-regulation and self-motivation is connected to greater overall well-being, and associated with improved problem-solving.
Bessie is happy today and made her own breakfast of sausage balls. Thanks to @hannahbroooks and @marlow_393 for leaving us some extras as they headed off on their beach camping adventure.
Jess being independent with breakfast, even when as simple as heating something in the microwave, takes time. Step by step prompts are part of the process to keep things moving. Jess is able to quickly find the 30 second button on the microwave thanks to a bubble dot that has been applied to the keypad.
Happy 60th Anniversary to Nonnie & Granddad! Our family had the honor and pleasure of celebrating this wonderful milestone earlier this week. I want to extend a special thank you and congratulations to them both. ❤️ We love you so very much!
Strawberry Trifle is a special treat to me. (Recipe Below) A beautiful dessert that Nonnie made for us when we were growing up, it is best assembled in a trifle dish so that all of the layers, colors, and textures can be seen through the glass.
We are sometimes asked what our videos and cooking videos have to do with Autism. Watch the video for moments in which I have added context. Our everyday lives are endlessly embroidered with autism, and that’s the point. Autism is not compartmentalized in our home, our activities, our schedules. It’s not just when she has a caregiver or planned activity or outing. She is autistic everyday, all day, and that has and always will shape all aspects of our lives.
Strawberry Trifle
One yellow cake (we tried coconut because we had it already)
4 cups strawberries
1 pack instant vanilla pudding
Whipped topping
Cut the cooled cake into squares and slice in half. In the Trifle Dish, layer cake (cut side up) then strawberries, then pudding. Repeat the layers. Cover the top with Whipped Topping. Refrigerate leftovers.
Good morning! ☀️ The good one / bad one game is something Jess started when we got our previous dog, Abby ❤️. Jess would jokingly say Abby was a bad dog, and we would explain to her that dogs don’t understand teasing, and it would make Abby sad and that she needed to call her a “good one” 😂. Jess moved on to teasing people, and this the game began! 😊
We made Mickey and Minnie biscuits! Jess has a goal of learning to be independent in the kitchen. There are so many victories in this video of things it took her a while to accomplish, like stirring and touching the biscuit dough with her fingers. We are so proud of how far she has come! ❤️
Jess is enjoying her fish tank this morning. This was a Christmas gift. She had asked for fish and a fish tank and I felt we weren’t ready for the dedication and maintenance required for a tank of real fish. We did that when the kids were growing up and it was a lot of work. Jess has been really happy with this version of fish and tank. 🐠
Jess’s progress in all areas has been astronomical in the past few years, but especially in her expressive communication! This is directly a result of making videos, and we are noticing progress in different areas every single day. In this video, I ask Jess why she’s moving her Hoyle cards from their hard cases into baggies. A few years ago, all she would have been able to say is, “I don’t know”. Instead, she immediately tells me she’s doing it because it makes it easier for her to get them out. She is absolutely thriving and we are so proud of her 😊
Good morning good ones! We had a special visit from Lyndsay and Adalynn this morning! Lyndsay dropped her dog off at the groomer this morning. The idea of dropping a dog off somewhere is a source of anxiety for Jess. She worries that the dog will have to stay there over night and that they may not return the dog. Speaking of - the poodles have been great with baby Adalynn! Daryl laid with her a long time on Sunday, Benny has been very interested and excited to smell her, and Zoe has been a little wary and doesn’t want to get too close 😂
Good morning! We had a nice Mother’s Day weekend and hope you did too. We’re having what should be a normal week this week. Jess had a special dinner request for this week - aunt Alison’s chicken spaghetti 😋
A Porch Video of the Morning 🌞 Good Morning #goodonesfam It’s Thursday! Jess is extra happy on Thursdays because she goes with Nonnie and Granddad to run errands and hang out. I spent the whole day out here yesterday cleaning and rearranging and it’s really pleasant this morning.
Jess woke up this morning with a video plan in mind! She said, “I though about making sausage balls for a video this morning. Who’s gonna help me?” We LOVED it!! We were so proud of her for coming up with this idea and asking for help doing it. Y’all know we love our sausage balls!
1lb sausage
12 oz shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups baking mix
hot sauce
water
Mix together sausage, cheese, baking mix, and hot sauce. Add water as needed until the right consistency. Roll into balls and bake at 400 until brown, around 15-20 minutes.
Zoe definitely needs it! Jess loves Zoë so much. We all do, actually. She is quite a special fur baby. ❤️❤️❤️
Jess made us Lemon Blueberry Muffins for breakfast. The best thing about these is that it encouraged Jess to eat real blueberries, a fruit she normally doesn’t eat. Another great thing for me is the lemon flavor. I love lemon!
What would make these better? Lemon zest, and potentially adding a little sweetener to the blueberries if you like things sweeter. They were fine as is for Jess and me, but Hannah thought they were a little tart. Baddaddy didn’t try one so we don’t have feedback from him. 🫐
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Lemon cake mix
1.5 cups sour cream
2 eggs
2 cups frozen blueberries
Mix first three ingredients, fold in blueberries, fill ~ 18 muffin cups.
Bake at 325° for 40 minutes
Jessica’s favorite activity, making brownies! You know what I am proud of in addition to her improvements in the kitchen? Jessica’s growth and progress in vlogging. She’s loving it and verbally expressed that to us every day. She’s motivated to keep learning about vlogging, and interested in video topics as well as which platform specific videos are being made for. We are so happy for Jess that she’s found her passion sharing a joyful life. ❤️
We made it back home! Our weekend was spent catching up on some much needed rest after our long journey. Now, it’s back to routine’ish stuff for a little bit before we go off on another adventure. Jess made scrambled eggs for breakfast this morning. If you’ve been following us for a while, I hope you can see the progress she’s making. Especially watch her independently pour the eggs into the pan with only a minor spill! 🥚 🍳
Marlow, Nathan, Danna, and I went for a long walk from the boat ramp to the Jetties to pick up trash. At the end, we had almost 3 full bags of all kinds of trash like flip flops, water bottles, liquor bottles, food bags, and more. Let’s all work harder to keep our beaches clean for all the Earth’s creatures, including us!
Good morning! ☀️ Since Nathan and Danna feed us all the time, Marlow and I wanted to cook them breakfast! We used their awesome outdoor kitchen area to make bacon, scrambled eggs, and packet gravy, while Nathan made canned biscuits inside. We also had some fresh fruit 😋. Packet gravy is SUPER easy, quick, and a delicious alternative to homemade gravy when you’re camping and/or don’t want a big mess.
#travel #travelphotography #summer #summervibes #selfcare #caregiver #caringforthecaregiver #travel #traveling #calm #instatravel #selfcare #overcomer #happy #chill #vibes #traditions #oldtraditions #morningvibes #camping #rvcamping #campingvibes #beach #ocean #campsite #rv #breakfasts #outdoorcooking #outdoorkitchen #rvcooking
Some parts of camping aren’t fun, like black tanks and black tank maintenance. This is something that a lot of people don’t talk about, but it’s a huge part of owning a camper. Nobody likes to deal with blackjack problems, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil. Ever since I bought my camper, it has seemed as though the black tank sensor does not work correctly. Then, when we dumped here at our full hook up site, we went in the camper and it smelled like sewer. In this video, I discuss the issues we’ve been having as well as the solution we’ve tried. Have you ever experienced this? Let me know if you’ve got any other tips in the comments.
#camping #rving #rvlife #blacktankcleaning #blacktankproblems #campers
It’s a beautiful morning here at St. Andrews State Park, and Marlow and I decided to go for a walk to make notes on campsites we’d like to stay in in the future, and we also reviewed some of the campground’s accessibility features. The campground has plenty of accessible paved camp sites, as well as parking and ramps at all the bath houses.
#travel #travelphotography #summer #summervibes #selfcare #caregiver #caringforthecaregiver #travel #traveling #calm #instatravel #selfcare #overcomer #happy #chill #vibes #traditions #oldtraditions #morningvibes #camping #rvcamping #campingvibes #beach #ocean #campsite #standrewsstatepark #accessibility
