talent hounds segment of max and chester.

Max and Chester were featured in a wonderful short film about dogs helping people living with Autism featuring National Service Dogs and our family with NSD Chester our "healing balm". These dogs can make such a difference in lives. The film is from the documentary Talent Hounds that airs on the Pet Network. Check out www.nsd.on.ca and www.talenthounds.ca.

what world autism awareness day means to me.

My son Max was officially diagnosed with Autism on December 2, 2008. He was 2.5 years old. Press fast forward to April 2, 2013 and he is turning seven in just a few weeks. The intense sadness of the initial diagnosis has faded, and I have started to come to terms with what it is to have a child with Autism. I could spin a happy tale of how much I've learned by having a son with special needs, and how I'm a better person for it. And sunshine! And roses! Or, I could dwell on how incredibly hard it is to parent a little boy who has faced challenges at every turn. I could sing a song of woe outlining the heartbreak, tears, exhaustion and anxiety that seem imbedded in my very being. In truth, it's a little of column A and a little of column B, and each day I do a balancing act between the two.

...Read more on iVillage.ca

in other news, i despise winter.

I hate winter. Really, I look forward to a time in my life when I can up and leave Canada from December to March. This particular winter has been a doozy, with me getting a nasty chest infection, followed by spending January in bed due to C. difficile. Yeah, gross. But, in between all that nastiness, some good stuff happened.

My friend Alana got married, and I was her maid-of-honour:

My mom came for Christmas, and she and my little brother made a kick-ass Christmas dinner.

We got a new couch. The kids like it.

Chester, Max's Autism Service Dog, settled right in.

We participated in a documentary about working dogs that will be airing next month.

Scott and I got away for a night without the kids for the first time in four years. We had fun.

Cammie and I went on a visit to visit Jennifer and baby Milo in Ottawa.
So long Winter. You won't be missed.

an autism service dog for max.

Chester, an autism service dog from National Service Dogs (NSD), joined our family on October 26th. We applied to NSD for an autism service dog two years ago. While the wait list was lengthy (I think it's down to 18 months now), at the time, Max was only 4 years old. We weren't ready for a dog quite yet - I figured that when Max was 6 years old, that would be about the right age. During our wait, Milk-Bone generously sponsored Max's service dog for $18,000. NSD also raised money for Max's service dog through their annual Easter Egg Hunt For Dogs Event. When I got the call in September that Max would be getting his service dog in October, I was excited and nervous and OMG is this really happening??

I rushed out and bought a dog bed for Max's service dog "to be". Max, who has never slept on a pillow, immediately claimed it as his own. I rushed back out and bought another dog bed for Max's service dog. In the meantime, Animal Planet aired an episode featuring National Service Dogs and two families who had autism service dogs for their sons who have autism. I watched it and bawled my eyes out. I wasn't sad, but uplifted with the possibilities that were opening up for Max. We started talking with Max about the fact that he was going to be getting his very own dog. While he was excited, he didn't totally understand what it would mean to have an autism service dog. In retrospect, neither did we.

And then came Chester. The incredible trainers at NSD matched Chester to Max by reviewing 2 weeks of Max's behaviour data, Max's busy schedule, and meeting for a follow-up with myself and Max two weeks before team training in Cambridge. They also took how well I worked with him into consideration. As lead handler, they had me work with all seven of the service dogs that were going out as part of the Fall 2012 class. I like to think Chester and I had a special bond right off the bat, but really, he was terrific with all of the families. The picture of him chewing on his bone was the first picture I took of him when they brought him to me and told me he would be Max's autism service dog at the end of the first full day of team training. I was on cloud nine. And after a week of team training in Cambridge, I headed home with Chester to introduce him to "his boy".

We had been told not to expect any Disney moments when introducing our new autism service dogs into our homes. Often children with autism take months (some even years) to bond with their service dogs. It took Max a couple of hours to feel comfortable to even approach Chester. He started out by petting Chester with his feet and worked his way up to petting him with his hands. At the 3.5 hour mark, Max was laying on Chester, and I started to cry with relief.

Later that night, Chester passed out on the couch (it had been a long week of team training for both of us). Max was very happy having Chester with him on the couch and one of my favourite photos of them was taken as Max reached out to pet his dog. My heart continued to melt.

The next morning, I went to check on Max and Chester, wondering how their first night sharing a bedroom went. They were chilling out together, neither in a hurry to get moving. Truly amazing. Later that day I took Max on his first walk with Chester. He wasn't even hooked up yet, but he held onto the handle attached to Chester's harness like his life depended on it. For the first time in Max's 6 years, he did not try to bolt when we went on a walk together. More tears on my part.

Over the last two weeks, we have continued to settle in as a family (of five!). Max refuses to go to bed if Chester isn't with him.

When Max is playing with his iPad on the couch, he counts on Chester for support.

When we're on the road, Chester keeps a close eye on his boy.

When Max has to go to the dentist, Chester keeps him company in the waiting room.

On walks, he reminds Max to stop and look both ways before he crosses the street.

And when Max isn't feeling well, he has his back.

There is so much more to say, but the thing that stands out the most is that we feel blessed to have Chester as part of our family and most importantly as Max's autism service dog. He has brought peace to our home, and a calmness to Max that brings joy to our hearts. We are only two weeks in and I can't wait to see what the future brings for Chester and Max. Stay tuned for more of their adventures!

ASD treatment a financial drain on families.

Max Carefoot, 6, sits attentively at a pint-sized table, his hands gently resting on his knees. On cue, he vocalizes a series of words, carefully chosen to perfect his enunciation skills.

Working on his bite and blow sounds, the bright-eyed boy repeats after communicative disorders assistant Gwen Blackburn.

My roof. My leaf. My calf. My knife. My cuff. My elf. My giraffe. My chief. Each letter of every word is audible. His speech is clear and his diction is precise.

“He’s doing amazing with words,” said Blackburn, who has been working with the Oakville boy for the past year. And considering Max was non-verbal until two years ago, his achievements are worthy of a gold star.

“I call him the hardest working kid in autism,” said his mom, Katrina Carefoot.

...Read more on InsideHalton.com

trying to piece together the autism puzzle.

Little Max Carefoot was just a tot when his mom Katrina and dad Scott suspected their son’s development was lagging compared to that of his peers. The blond-haired boy with beautiful doe eyes wasn’t talking, didn’t respond to his name and didn’t offer eye contact.

The Carefoots struggled with the notion something was impeding Max’s development. Doctors weren’t sympathetic. They wouldn’t entertain autism spectrum disorder as a possibility.

“Our doctor was telling us milestones go six months either way. I’m going through my autism checklist saying, ‘Hey, look buddy, he meets all the criteria,’” said the Oakville mom. “We just weren’t taken serious(ly) as first-time parents.”

...Read more on InsideHalton.com

Hilary Farr from "Love It Or List It" on Transforming Your Home for $1,000

If home improvement is your passion, then there is a good chance that Hilary Farr is one of your favourite Canadian design experts. Farr, the “love it” portion of W Network’s Love It Or List It, makes it hard for homeowners to walk away from their home sweet homes.

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How to Lose 15 Pounds and 16 Inches in Three Weeks

We’ve all been tempted to try quick fix diets that promise big weight loss results in a short period of time. I’ve tried the Wild Rose detox, Sugar Busters diet, and South Beach diet. Add in Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig, and I can easily self-quality myself as a dieting expert. So, when I heard about yet another 3 week detox, of course I had to try it. ...Read more on iVillage Canada

helping your child with autism make friends: matt & max.

This summer Max spent mornings with his junior respite worker, Matt. As part of working with Max, Matt wrote a weekly blog about his experience.

Here is Matt's take on how week 6 went:

With the pain of teething still hurting Max, he continued to try to hit and scratch me in frustration. However, an awesome thing happened when spent an afternoon at blueballoon - the clinic where Max goes for all of his therapy. At blueballoon, he was amazing - using full sentences, singing, matching pictures and he spoke so clearly. He was also full of smiles when we would play games there. He giggled a lot and it was a really positive experience with him. Also, his therapists gave me suggestions on how to deal with his scratching and pinching. The biggest thing I learned is to just ignore it and walk away - which was actually quite successful. They also suggested to sometimes tell Max I will take certain things away when he isn't behaving. This was slightly less successful but still worked. Using these tools led to less scratching by the end of the summer.