Autism friendly businesses, part 1

Every so often, I will post about businesses that either cater to people with autism or are flexible in handling autistic clientele.  One such business is Magic Cuts Service Salon, located at 15912 West State Road 84 in Weston, Florida.  Below is their business card, front and back.

We found out about this place after telling people what a hard time we had cutting Jason's hair.  Because of his sensitivity to loud noise, getting a haircut at a regular Hair Cuttery or Supercuts wasn't feasible.  The buzzing of the clippers drove him crazy.  So we started to cut it ourselves in our backyard.  I am still amazed to this day that the cops were never called to my house on haircut days.  Jason would sound like he was being tortured (which, to him, that's what we were doing).  It would always take hours.  Someone finally told us to go to Magic Cuts, that they handled autistic clients.  I was skeptical, but I had nothing to lose.  When we got there, the place seemed like heaven.  One side was designed to handle adults, while the other had TVs with VCRs and Nintendo 64s for the kids to entertain themselves while getting a haircut.  When we explained Jason's problem, they were very understanding and showed me exactly how they were going to cut Jason's hair without any issues.  They use a special clipper that is SILENT!!!!  It was on and I couldn't tell until I placed my hand on it and felt it vibrating.  Jason LOVED it!!  We have been going there ever since, and Jason now actually ASKS to be taken to get his hair cut if it gets even just a little too long.  Here are some picture I took the last time we were there.

More businesses to come!!!

Area 10 Regional Championships in Sebastian, FL 8/20/11

Well, Jason had his latest swim competition on August 20th in Sebastian, FL for Special Olympics.  The meet was for Broward, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River counties.  He swam three events: 50M freestyle, 50M breaststroke and 4X50M freestyle relay.  Because of our trip to NJ and his other swim team taking a week off from practice, Jason only had one practice session in the 15 days leading up to this event.  We were concerned that he would be rusty or not want to participate in the first place.

That fear was misplaced, however, as he took first place in his division in all three events.  During warmups, he didn't get to dive off of the starting blocks, which hurt him in the first event.  He needs to get one or two dives off during warmups to get over his fear of it, but he wasn't allowed to do so at this event.  Consequently, when he dove in for the first event, he dove awkwardly and emerged dead last.  Like a champion, he then fought his way to the front and take first place.  The other two events went much smoother for him, with the relay not even being close.  His lack of practice makes it even more impressive, and the heat that day was unbearable and he didn't even flinch about it.  Next up, the State Aquatics Tournament on October 1-2, once again in Sebastian, FL.

Holy August!!!

Tomorrow will be a full month since I last posted on the blog, but it hasn't been from lack of wanting to.  Time has not been my friend this month.  We had another swimming competition for Jason, a road trip to New Jersey, Arlene's birthday, and another visit from her sister and brother-in-law.  More on all of that in separate posts, just wanted to write something quick saying that I'm still here and the blog's not going away anytime soon.