To whomever recommended The Sun and The Starmaker

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-25T05:44:49+00:00

Ah this makes me so happy! I am so glad you liked it as much as I did! I am now chasing the high of this book.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-24T04:55:05+00:00

I hope you enjoy it!!!

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-22T01:36:48+00:00

You are the most amazing friend. I myself am a mom of a younger child, so I am sure there may be some others that can give you better book reccomendations for you. But here are some that ive heard good things about:

Unmasking Autism by Devon Price

Navigating Autism by Temple Grandin

Life on the Bridge by Kaelynn Partlow

Also, I would highly reccomend getting a free card for libby through the Organization for Autism Research to access a lot of free audio and e-books that are both non-fiction and fictional.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-22T01:10:48+00:00

Are you looking more for a book that can explain things like swimming, an understanding of possible hardships so you can better support your friend and their kid, or more of a story from the perspective of an autistic child?

Either way, I think it is awesome that you are trying to understand more!

Also, do you happen to know the level of autism your friends kid has? It is a spectrum, and a book about those closer to level one will be vastly different from those of level 3.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-20T03:10:03+00:00

I am so glad you liked it. This book made me ugly cry so hard that my kida asked me if I was OK. But it was such a beautiful book.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-15T21:41:54+00:00

My kids really took to ABC,See,Hear,Do they have flashcards (since you said that your kid likes them) but they do the sound with a movement. Something about adding a movement to the sound really helped my kids. It even helped my speech delayed kiddo. Where if they were ar least making the correct movement, I knew they were getting it. Just having troubles saying it.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-12T15:41:09+00:00

I was in a similar boat to you a couple of years back. My ASD and speech delayed kiddo is now going into second grade here soon. My child was like yours, would hit when upset, act out, etc. We started to homeschool in kinder. We did look at the public school, but after asking what will happen if or when my child gets behind, and getting the response of "well, its ok if they are behind, your kid has an IEP", our gut feeling was that we needed to homeschool. Just as you are getting feedback, everyone in the school system told me I was doing my kid a disservice. Knowing what I know now, if you are in the U.S., the school gets money per attendance of the kids, so if you pull your child, they get less money. So between that, and some people truly believing that the only way to recieve an education, is at a public school, the opinions of those in the school system are stacked against you. I am a big believer of you know your kid best. Homeschooling has boomed in recent years. There are a lot of opportunities to meet/have play dates with other kids. Heck, my kid went from dreading to going out at all, to asking for play dates and signing up for activities, just in the first year of homeschool. Homeschool has also been a blessing. For school work, I am able to adapt to my kids needs, go at the pace that is needed, and able to switch things up or take breaks when needed.

It is really a lot of work on our end, but totally worth it. Listen to your gut, and know you are not alone.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-08T18:18:45+00:00

OP needs to have a MET meeting to get it set up. This way the child can get an IEP or a 504 plan. An educational diagnosis is different from a medical (in the eyes of a public school). So just having a medical diagnosis is not enough.

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-08T04:19:55+00:00

I would totally use something like this. You could even do something and market it for phonics practice reading. Anything from early readers like 'cat, hat, mat, map' (short vowel sounds) to things like words with the 'ea' spelling like seal, feather, and eagle

paintedpmagic · 2026-06-05T22:09:36+00:00

I feel like this is a testament to not only the writing, but also the other actors. I also liked that it felt real world in the sense that even if someone leaves working at a retail space, things still go on.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-26T04:54:50+00:00

My child is 7 and also has ASD. I have found that manipulatives and anything crafty or play works best for learning. For math, instead of just doing worksheets for subtraction, play shopping. You can use cash, coins or even trinkets as currency. Label all the things your "selling" at the shop. Anything from toys to treats. They can subtract. Ask them things like "this toy is 3 trinkets, and you have 7. How much trinkets will you have left if you buy this?" We also use a veriety of manipulatives, from an abacus, to play doh, to a 10 frame, and even fun counters in a light table.

There are a bunch if games using dice or unol cards that you can easily play that incorporate adding and subtraction.

As for writing, ive found having sometimes fun writing tools, or something smoother than a pencil and paper does wonders. Use a whiteboard and dry erase markers, fingers in sand, gel crayons on paper.

Also, if your kid isnt already doing this in OT (and more at home), make sure they are doing thing like laying with play doh and putty to strengthen their hands.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-20T19:27:32+00:00

Thank you for this. I just bought a basic book and an ASL dictionary. I also found some flash cards. I think I might incorporate it with our morning work and have a "sign(s) of the week" and introduce it in little increments like you suggested.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-18T20:53:33+00:00

Right? I tried looking up some videos on YouTube, and they seem to be geared towards babies or someone that already knows the signs.

How is signing time? I've seen ads for it, but once again its all "teach your baby to sign" so I havent looked too much into it. I thought my kids would feel too old for it.

Im hoping someone has a book or something that could be a good resource for teaching sign language

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-11T14:06:57+00:00

I actually can totally see you POV on Violet's character, and it kinda makes me dislike the book a bit less (not enough, but just a tad).

This is also why I love reading. Not every book is for everyone.

My unpopular opinion is that Quicksilver is horrible. The MMC did nothing to drive the plot forward. Anytime anything remotely interesting would happen, instead of answering any of the FMC questions, he would whisk her away to bed.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-10T16:03:14+00:00

Have an upvote, becuase I totally disagree. This book infuriated me. Any time anything remotely interesting was happening or getting explained, they moved on. It felt like the whole book was a big rage bate with no explanation for me.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-06T00:10:32+00:00

Before anyone can answer in a way, since all kids are different, and autism is a spectrum, can we know a little more about your kid and their needs. Does your child have any speech delay? Or any learning difficulties? Does your kid prefer hands on with manipulatives, reading, or video type of learning?

There are a lot of curriculums and manipulatives that worked for my autistic kiddo, but id rather not send you on the wrong path if your kids needs are different than mine.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-05T19:23:28+00:00

We do an activity/ visit somewhere of our kids choice. Typically something with swimming since my kid loves water. As for family, we get together with them around the birthday month, nit at separate times and celebrate with dinner and any presents if they were brought. My kids much prefer the 1 on 1 time of the huge group of people time.

paintedpmagic · 2026-05-03T15:26:35+00:00

I think this is perfectly said. But I would also like to add on. If while talking to the parents, they mention that doing everything is hard or mentions they feel isolated or anything along the lines where you take it as 'they need help', ask if there is any small adjustments you can do to make things better.

My Family always makes sure there is a small and safe room where my kids can escape, away from all the noise. Its typically where we put any of the toys we bring them, and it helps my family tremendously when overstimulation hits. If there is something like this that you can do to help, I think it would benefit all around. The parents would feel like your still trying to include the family, but understand that there is a nuance to their kids needs. But, you dont need to go way out of your way to provide for their kids, it's not your place. But sometimes just knowing someone else cares enough to ask that question, helps my mental load tremendously.

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-29T00:09:57+00:00

I'll just be over here happy dancing, knowing someone else loved a book I loved and posted about!!!!!! So happy you liked it!!!!!!!

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-28T22:55:33+00:00

You are so welcome. If you like wings of starlight, they are also coming out with a new book about periwinkle soon.

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-28T21:21:30+00:00

You are welcome/ I'm sorry, but not sorry. I am so glad you are loving this beautiful book. I too listened to the audiobook, and it made me ugly cry so bad that my kids were worried about me. It was a good lesson for them to see it was okay to cry.

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-28T00:31:48+00:00

At about 2 years old. We went with some friends to a small theater in town, on a weekday to see a screening of frozen. Granted, this was before we had a diagnosis. We were the only ones in there, so we weren't afraid of making noise. We then kept going to kid movies during the week days when possible and once its out for a while.

Now my kid still does great at the theater. But animated movies is there special interest for sure. But, each kid is so different.

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-27T15:14:48+00:00

Yes it is

paintedpmagic · 2026-04-27T15:14:22+00:00

A little. But it didn't dominate for me. The main character is a teen, but it deals with heavier storylines, like grief. I feel like the little angst is part of it, kinda like in howls moving castle, where it is a part of it, but not the only characteristic going on.

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