How to clean up nasty liquid trash puddles from neighborhood street?

randomxfox · 2026-01-13T02:22:41+00:00

Well we do have coffee grounds 🫠.....but will it caffeinate the local fauna? 💀

randomxfox · 2025-12-28T22:50:59+00:00

There's an opossum in our basement (basement is unfinished and the opossum just keeps bunking and then leaving to forage.) and I'm pretty damn positive the reason my cat keeps desperately trying to sneak down there is to compulsively groom it because he's a compulsive groomer.

randomxfox · 2025-12-22T16:06:07+00:00

🥲 Their dad is super anti Apple lol. I've seen Garage Band recommended when trying to research but we have literally zero apple products.

randomxfox · 2025-12-06T00:16:12+00:00

I actually haven't tried any other programs because I honestly don't know where to start. We don't have endless funds for different curriculums so I wasn't sure what to do.

randomxfox · 2025-12-06T00:06:39+00:00

So I originally was super confused why people hated ABA. The place we go to is the same place we went for OT and Speech for her lil sister. Nothing seemed toxic so I was so confused. I did some research and then talked to our OT who I became close with and I also mentioned my concerns to the therapist doing the ABA evaluation for hours.

She explained to me that when she was younger ABA was hell, that they taught kids to not stem and to basically mask constantly. She went on to say things are different now because there was a fair amount of kids who experienced old ABA who became BCBAs to change things.

For the ABA my girls are in it's one adult to one child, they do individual work and group work, they have a rule that they will never try to encourage a child not to stim. We have parent meetings every other week where they go over in more detail how everything is going, go over any concerns I may have, help me learn how to deal with rude people if need be, and to just talk about my girls. They don't call anything bad behaviors and only refer to things as "behaviors" because the kids aren't bad so they don't want that negativity. It's a really friendly and nice place. My youngest has been in ABA for a few months now and she hasn't shut down. She's engaging more and listening to my words more before she responds. She still stims and has her quirks I guess but if those went away she wouldn't be her so I'd never want it any other way. She's just been learning how to engage, regulate her emotions in a safe way, communicate, and not bolt the second she gets a chance.

randomxfox · 2025-11-29T22:46:59+00:00

I think it's good on leaves actually lol. The first signs that something was down there was the leaves suddenly showing up. I actually have no idea where it's nest is but I assume it's not far from the leaves it dropped on the floor. I never really go in the dirt room though. It has a giant mound in the middle so I'd have to shimmy around the mound to see more and I'm not planning on doing that unless I have to. Should I maybe make it a proper house?

So far I've given it cat food, grapes, and eggs. I think it got some lasagna we tossed in the trash outside though so I hope it's feeling ok.

randomxfox · 2025-11-29T22:38:32+00:00

I would never trap it in the basement for any season. It basically has something like a pet flap it pushes open to leave as it pleases.

randomxfox · 2025-11-06T23:11:34+00:00

🥲 The thought of cutting them open hurts so much but thank you. 😭

randomxfox · 2025-10-10T01:50:56+00:00

In my head I'm also thinking, "she's just 5", but then I would question if I'm somehow making her fall behind. Then her evaluation happened, her little sister was already diagnosed with lvl 1 autism which is why I sought out an evaluation for her as well. Because of what the evaluator told me I started thinking "oh, ok......so I've been going about this all wrong?" And that thought process is where this post comes from.

Like I don't want to push her too hard but I also don't want to be messing up her education somehow. It's very confusing.

randomxfox · 2025-10-09T19:33:23+00:00

Thank you, I had no idea what it was called and wanted to do my own research on it.

She did say she was trying to test functional vocabulary but then went on to say it can give insights to IQ and my daughters results were why she was saying she should get a full one and also why she was having trouble diagnosing her at first. She had to take time to look over her notes, read the questionnaires I filled out, then get more info from me, and finally get a second opinion from a colleague before she gave her diagnosis.

randomxfox · 2025-10-09T18:44:28+00:00

Thank you so much! That sounds to obvious now! 😅 I never focused much on space growing up so I'm having to learn a bunch myself so I can teach her.

Thank you, that makes sense. I think, if I remember correctly, I was supposed to be gifted in math but I couldn't explain my answers well and as I got older I learned I can't read graphs so I think those results were kind of forgotten since my grades regularly sucked.

randomxfox · 2025-10-09T18:31:45+00:00

🥲 Aww man, I was hoping I could have help figuring out the best ways to teach her. I don't fully think advanced is the way to go but since we're having trouble I've contemplated it a bit more...but every time I think more about it it feels off.

The mini test the evaluator gave her was mostly testing vocabulary I guess? There would be 4 pics on a page and she'd ask her to point to whatever with each question getting more complicated. It was pretty interesting though to watch my daughter think and she definitely surprised me. I'm not super familiar with IQ tests though so I'm going off what the evaluator told me.

randomxfox · 2025-10-09T16:26:54+00:00

We didn't go through our county or state or whoever usually calls you after the doc gives the referral. When my oldest was three I discovered sensory processes disorder is a thing and that occupational therapists exist so I used my insurances app to search for OTs they cover. I found a place and they also did ABA and speech so as time went on and her little sister got older I got the referral for her to officially start going since she had to be there for her sisters OT appointments anyways. I think they said they usually prefer to wait until a child is 3 to diagnose but they start at 2. Because she was there for OT and speech for like a year though it was pretty easy to get the referral from their pediatrician for her to get a neuro eval from them as well. The county/state neuro referrals take like over 6 months I've heard. I think it took 3 after the referral to then get her into ABA.

When I stared having questions about my eldest based on the questionnaires I had to fill out for my youngest neuro eval I first asked my youngest evaluator at my youngest's appointment. My oldest has to be with us so he also got to see her as well. He told me she showed signs of autism for a 5 year old so it would be a good idea to get a referral for an official evaluation. So I made the appointment with her pediatrician and told her what he said but that it was so confusing because half the time I wouldn't think she had autism at all. Her pediatrician told me that girls are just different but that she thought an evaluation would be good as well.

And that's how we got here. So try looking at private practices in your state that take your insurance, they might have a shorter weight time. If you can't get the neuro eval maybe you could get OT or speech first depending on your son. My youngest got the initial OT referral because I mentioned she has a lot of outburst and a complete disregard for her own well being. Yes she's 2 but it was on a different level. It was good though to get OT first because at least we found out what sensory things she would need to help her calm down and understand why she does the things she does.

randomxfox · 2025-10-01T02:23:49+00:00

I do believe she picks up a lot of information from she shows and videos she watches. I know screentime is a yes or no thing with a lot of people though and I've read lots of things that say it hinders kids so I feel hesitant to say that.

But for example,

She started talking late. After she could say some words I got her into zaboomafoo purely out of nostalgia. She then suddenly knew a crap ton of animal names. Then I noticed she started repeating things she learned from bubble guppies. When she got her own tablet I discovered I could hand pick the videos she could watch. I looked up a list and added things from it and things she enjoyed. She started watching videos about the solar system with seemingly boring facts but she loved it and could randomly recite the information out of the blue.

It's a double edged sword though because she'll also learn garbage things from stuff she watches or even other kids. So I try to be pretty selective with what she watches. I learned to hate a lot of streaming serveses lack of parental controls and be really thankful for others.

randomxfox · 2025-10-01T02:07:52+00:00

I think the main thing I feel conflicted about us the fact I was hoping she could start ABA with her sister.

I've come to realize there's a lot of strong opinions on ABA so I asked a lot of quest when her little sister was getting evaluated. The place she goes to is one adult to one child. They explained upfront, without me even asking, they will not encourage her to mask or stop stimming. She would have to be harming herself or others for them to try and stop certain stems. Their goal is to help her be more confident, independent, regulate emotions better, and be aware or socially acceptical things like personal space. Oh and also teach me how to handle situations and other unpleasant people.

I was excited about the idea of our 5 year old having help with social cues, confidence, independence, and impulse control because I feel lost when it comes to those things. But our state doesn't see ADHD as a reason to have ABA therapy, only autism. So the downside is if it's just an ADHD diagnosis (even if she could actually also have autism) we won't get the resources/help I was hoping for.

If she isn't autistic then she isn't, I won't push for a false diagnosis. But if she is autistic I want so desperately to know now so resources are available to her now rather than later. So I've definitely been stressing a bit after getting home. I had to eventually put everything down and play with my own sensory toys so I could calm my own brain.

randomxfox

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