As a mother, I will never give up on my child. As a mother of a child who has autism, I will never give up hope.
I look into his eyes and I see all the potential that he has to offer to this beautiful world and I just know that one day the world can see what I see.

Follow my blog as I share my life and my experiences as a person who loves someone with autism.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Making Children Smile

As I mentioned before, every April we’ve done something to raise awareness for autism in Bryce’s school. This year I thought of having a colouring contest where students voluntarily colour our autism awareness ribbon prinout and enter there name in a draw to win 1 of 12 of our bubble blowers!

Bryce’s school had an assembly today and it started off with drawing names of the bubble blower winners! The gym filled with children cheering and clapping as each persons name was drawn.

I’d like to thank the principal for all her support and to the staff and teachers who helped bring a little autism awareness to their classrooms.

What better way to end National Autism Awareness month than by making children smile!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Monday, April 29, 2013

So did we raise any #autism #awareness?

Ok, so it’s the day after the 2nd Annual Canucks Autism Network Family Festival that we attended here in Vancouver, British Columbia, and I just have one question: Where is all the next day news coverage of this epic event?

I only found one blurb on Xinhua News (Thank you Xinhua News!) about the event and that was it. I wasn’t going to call them out, but The Vancouver Sun, a big name local newspaper here, and one of the sponsors of the CAN Family Festival, didn’t even write anything about the event in there paper. It was extremely disappointing, and in my opinion, a devastating drop from last years huge media attention.

Ok, enough of that, sorry, but it just had to be said.

But on the plus side, the location of the event was perfect, the weather was just right, and there was a lot of things to see and do. I’m honestly already excited for next year!

*rant off*

Sunday, April 28th, 2013 marked the 2nd Annual Canucks Autism Network (CAN) Family Festival. CAN provides year-round, innovative, high quality sports, recreational, social, and employment related programs for individuals and families living with autism, while building awareness and capacity through community networks across British Columbia. The Family Festival hosts an autism walk, live entertainment, special guests, food, and family-friendly activities!

So as I was saying, we attended the 2nd Annual Canucks Autism Network Family Festival, and of course we brought our bubble blowers! (Thank you Sergei Bachlakov for taking these two beautiful pictures!)

I’m not sure how many people attended this year, but it definitely felt like more than last year. The atmosphere was very inviting, warm, and friendly. I even met a fellow mommy blogger who loves someone with autism too that we follow on Facebook who just happened to recognize me! Shout out to Wendy from Autism Is A Trip! :) Feel free to follow her journey on Facebook and tell her we sent ya!

The whole day was just perfect and I wanted to capture the moment with as many people as possible! I wanted to get our pictures with mascots, sponsors, volunteers, just everyone! Here’s a couple of my favourite pictures including one with the infamous ‘Andrew The Crazy Canuck’! P.S. Thanks Best Buy for the delicious popcorn!

Check out our Facebook page for more pictures! Oh, and if you were a volunteer that I asked to take a picture with you, it’s on our Facebook page too! :) Thank you to all the volunteers for keeping us safe on the walk and for taking the time out of your day to show your support!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Canucks Autism Network Family Festival 2013

Join us at the 2nd Annual Canucks Autism Network Family Festival on Sunday, April 28th, 2013 as we celebrate Autism Awareness Month! It’s FREE!

When: Sunday, April 28, 2013, from 10:30am – 2:30pm
Where: Jack Poole Plaza (Vancouver Convention Centre)
What: Autism walk, live entertainment, special guests, lighting of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic cauldron, food, and family-friendly activities!

Canucks Autism Network Family Festival

We’ll bring the bubbles, you bring the smiles!

Thanks for reading and hope to see you there,
Tanaya

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

How to Raise #Autism Awareness in Schools

Every April we’ve done something to raise awareness for autism in Bryce’s school. In past years it’s been a little mention in the school newsletter outlining some basic facts about autism and how April is National Autism Awareness month. I loved that the school listened and it shined a little light on autism.

So it’s April again, and here we are in a new school. To be honest I was a little hesitant to bring up the idea of raising autism awareness at his new school because I’m not a big fan of labeling my son as a child who has autism. I’m aware, the people that matter are aware, the staff at the school are aware, and his friends are aware, so I felt that putting it out there just emphasizes it even more and I just didn’t want to bring him too much attention or be in that kind of spotlight. I hope that makes sense. Don’t get me wrong... I am my child’s biggest advocate, but sometimes I just want him to be a kid as much as he can be.

I put all of that doubt aside and carried on.

And with a new school came a new idea.

Ok, so how to raise autism awareness in Bryce’s school this year? A colouring contest! Students voluntarily colour our autism awareness ribbon printout, drop there name slip in a box, and have a chance to win 1 of 12 of our bubble blowers that we’re giving away! I came up with this idea crossing my fingers it would be approved by the principal. So thrilled when it was and she even went one step further saying she was going to get the teachers talking about autism with their students, and it would just be a dandy time.

I checked in today to see how the contest was going and all I can say is, “WOW!”

Insanely awesome, right? Just walking into the school and seeing all of this down the hallway next to the office, it was so emotionally overwhelming. They completely welcomed my idea with open arms and huge, huge, HUGE hearts! Absolutely love it! We love this school!

Please, please, PLEASE steal these ideas! Talk to your child’s principal to get something written up in the newsletter or a hand out. Have a colouring contest with fun little prizes. Get people talking. The more people are aware, the more they understand, the more accepting they will be. Autism awareness starts with you! (And don’t forget, it doesn’t have to be just in April...)

Want to have your own colouring contest? Feel free to click on the graphic below to save or print ‘Autism Awareness Ribbon Colouring Contest Printout’ for your own use. (png file)

Autism awareness ribbon colouring contest printout

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

The Beautiful Colours of #Autism

Our refrigerator is where we display Bryce’s art from school and drawings he has made at home. He is an amazing artist and we have always encouraged him to express himself and his creativity. He draws from memory of places we’ve been, things he’s seen, and his passions (like going to the movies every weekend with daddy).

Here’s his latest masterpieces!

Check out more of Bryce’s artwork on his portfolio album on our Facebook page!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Top 3 Ways to Spread Autism Awareness

April is National Autism Awareness month and what better way to kick off the month of awareness and acceptance than sharing the ways we spread autism awareness.

Autism Awareness

#3 Blogging.

We created BubblesMakeHimSmile.com on March 16th, 2010 with the intention of raising funds for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) for Bryce. It quickly turned into an outlet for us to share our lives and experiences as people who love someone with autism. There are no guidelines to what we write about, but our intention has always been to just share our story. Some of our popular blog posts are: Everybody Poops! (our toilet training terrors), Autism Quotes and Words to Live By (part of a series we have of quotes contributed by our Facebook friends), and Colour Me (a picture of an autism awareness ribbon you can print and colour).

Autism Awareness Ribbon

#2 Like me! Tweet me! And while you’re at it, subscribe!

You will always find us on Facebook and Twitter updating statuses, posting pictures, sharing links, and tweeting daily about anything and everything. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for exclusive content (and giveaways) that you won’t find on our blog! It’s also the easiest way to stay connected. Oh, and we sometimes make videos and post them on YouTube too!

#1 Bubbles!

The number one way we spread autism awareness is blowing bubbles! We pack up our bubble blowers, some bubble solution and batteries, throw on our Bubbles Make Him Smile t-shirts, and hit up the streets in our community at tons of different events throughout the year. We’ve even been featured in a couple local newspapers because of it. It’s one of my favourite ways to promote autism awareness because blowing bubbles get’s people talking, asking about us, asking questions, learning about autism, and learning about us. Not to mention, I love how the bubbles make everyone smile! :)

I love a child with autism

The nation may recognize April as Autism Awareness Month, but we live it everyday. We share our story because autism awareness is the key to understanding and accepting autism. That’s the goal. That’s our goal.

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya