After responding to an inquiry from the Autism Alliance of Michigan last week, Erin was contacted by Robin Erb of the Detroit Free Press regarding an article she was writing about the recent autism insurance reform in the state of Michigan.   After a half hour phone interview Ms. Erb asked if she could send out a photographer [...]

So much has happened in the past two months!! We’ve been so busy that I’ve neglected the blog. I guess that I can just say that I’ve been on sabbatical. In any case, here’s an update of what we’ve been up to… On March 29th, after several trips to Lansing and sitting through many hearings [...]

A post that I saw today on Facebook regarding misappropriation of funds by Autism Speaks intrigued me. It’s an accusation that I’ve seen more than once in the autism community. Some are so staunchly against the organization that they have set up online petitions to boycott it. My experience with Autism Speaks has been very [...]

Music has always been a big part of my life. I was in band all through school, went to college originally as a music major and worked as a church choir director for five years. So you can imagine that I was beyond excited to take Noah to his first real, live concert tonight. We [...]

We went to Lansing yesterday for the Senate Health Policy Committee meeting.  When we left, we had hopes that the committee would vote on the autism insurance reform bills (SB 414 and 415) to get them on the Senate floor for a vote.  Our hopes were quickly dashed when questions arose regarding a bill that [...]

I’m sitting in the bathroom while Noah takes his bath. It’s warm and muggy in here and it smells like lilacs. Sleep was the name of the body wash that I used on him in hopes of a full night sleep before I return to work tomorrow. I’m feeling a little groggy now, especially in [...]

I can’t believe that my little boy turned five. I’ve begged him, pleaded with him, but he did it anmyway. My baby is no longer a baby, no longer a toddler, but a kid! Noah had a good birthday weekend. We decided to forego the traditional birthday party in favor of doing a whole weekend [...]

The giggling is incessant. For Noah, it blocks everything else out. He can’t hear us. It’s not a giggle of joy or amusement, at least not at anything that is tangible to us. It’s a manicy type of laugh that comes on for no apparent reason and lasts for about thirty minutes. Soon the behaviors [...]

About a week after the new year rang in it occurred to me.  My little boy is supposed to start kindergarten in the fall.  Somehow this had stayed off of my radar for the past few months.  I suppose this is a good thing, since even the mere thought of finding an appropriate environment to [...]

Dear Family and Friends,   2011 has been a joyous year for the Nieman family!   Noah is growing up so fast!  We can’t believe that he is going to be five next month!  Thanks to the autism therapy that he has been receiving, he is making progress by leaps and bounds.  It’s incredible that [...]