Lift Up Autism’s story starts with a boy named Luke, who in 2013 was diagnosed with Autism. Although his parents were shocked, they wanted to do everything they could to support Luke’s diagnosis; just like any parent would do for their child. Luke’s parents are CrossFitters and as CrossFitters do, they looked to their CrossFit community for help. The Everett’s didn’t want to just help their son but all the other “Luke’s” in the world and born was Lift Up Luke.
Lift Up Luke is a benefit WOD (Workout of the Day) that is 5 minutes long and unites CrossFitter and athletes around the world to support Autism Awareness. The first one was done on October 19, 2013 with such phenomenal support around the world that it has grown it’s support from several different companies sponsoring and helping in the effort.
Now known as Lift Up Autism, the WOD “Luke” will be done this year on September 19th. Athletes around the world will take part in the WOD to raise money for several different charities that either support families or aid in research. Please take 5 minutes on September 19th and help Lift Up Autism by finding a local box, registering, and working out for a cause.
Back to school season is in the air! Schools are preparing for our kids to jump back into classrooms, and parents are preparing schedules for their children. It’s a time where we might be excited for the upcoming school year, but disappointed that the relaxing summer months with our kids is about to end. Stress may be high during this time of year, as we are having to arrange schedules with others to coordinate transporting our kids to school as well as extracurricular activities. One thing to keep in mind this year is the safety of our children. We often become so busy and caught up in the madness of back to school, that we forget one of the most important aspects of our kid’s well-being. Be sure you prepare for the year by taking necessary steps to ensure your child’s safety in, and out of school. There are many places that pose threats for injury or illness- from the playground at recess, to the soccer fields after school. Keeping our children healthy and in a state of well-being will make our year much less stressful, and will allow for a smoother transition into our new schedules.
In fact, a large portion of child injuries result from recess time at schools. Other areas to be sure to recognize include areas like school busses, cafeterias, and carpool lines. In addition, with the rise in technology, cyber bullying can be an area for mental injury to our children, as they become older. A great resource for identifying these different types of injuries, and ways to identify and treat them is the Child Safety Guide. As parents, we are unaware of many injuries, or ways to treat them. Keeping a guide like this is important for this year.
Be sure to also speak with older kids and teens regarding potential dangers that they could face this year as well. There are many resources online that can identify these threats. One of the biggest problem areas for teens who are driving is engaging in distracted driving while traveling to school. Teen texting and driving actually causes more serious injuries than drunk driving alone.
An excellent resource to demonstrate the dangers of distracted driving, that can be implemented into your conversations with teens is the Stay Alive Game. This would be an excellent conversation piece to initiate talks with teens about the threats that they face while texting and driving.
Be sure to start the school year off on a healthy, positive note. Let’s set guidelines and routines for all that will ensure safety and reduce any risks for dangers among our kids. Stay safe this year!
This guest post was written by Landon Biehl. Photo credit to Lord Jim.
This is an excellent guest post written by Donna Fitzgerald. She reached out to St. Louis Dad in hopes of spreading valuable texting and driving information. I asked her if she would be open to write up a guest post for the site and she agreed. Read her story below!
Photo By Matt Lemmon
Today I wanted to share some of my troubles as a mother raising two difficult teenage daughters. As mostly all that are reading can imagine/relate, dealing with the hormonal changes, and bratty behaviors that accompany raising a teenage son or daughter can often be extremely challenging. I wanted to make a change in my daughter’s lives. I’m sure most will disagree with handing their child a car when they are first able to drive, but I wanted my daughter to grow up in a different manner than I did. I remember struggling to save all my money up to purchase my first car. I never had parents support, or even guidance as to which car would be most suitable for me. This made it extremely difficult to enjoy the simple pleasures of being a teenage girl! I’m hoping that by proving my daughter with a car, right after getting her license, isn’t a mistake! At least the car was inexpensive, and didn’t put too much of a dent in my purse.
One of the most important things parents forget when it comes to their teens, and first having the ability to drive, is warning them of dangers. The most important danger, being texting and driving- or any behavior that distracts them from the road.
Photo by Lord Jim
My sixteen year-old daughter is in the age where you basically cannot tell her a single word, without her already “knowing everything” you have to say. Its at this age, that our sons and daughters have the mindset that they can tackle the world, and they know everything there is to know about life. We all know, this is completely false, and very worrisome as a parent.
As I began the distracted driving talk with my daughter, I found that she simply wouldn’t listen to what I had to say, and I could tell she was not processing the information I had to tell her. She seemed as though she had already had this discussion at school in her health class. Though this may be true, I wanted to make sure she was fully aware of how many teenagers are involved in serious accidents as a result of distracted driving. Furthermore, I came to realize how often I actually engaged in the behaviors that I was teaching her. I’ll admit, sometimes I use my phone to text a friend or my sister, right in front of her! I’m sure this is the case for many moms and dads trying to teach their children safe behaviors- our children probably think we are huge hypocrites!
I recently used a resource online, that has helped me learn more about safe behaviors, and how to reinforce them with teens. Ill admit, I’ve taken a few of the suggestions, such as putting my phone away when I’m driving, which I believe is setting a better example for my daughter. It’s important that we as parents, recognize that the problem doesn’t lay just with our teens, but we need to take responsibility for the problem as well.
Be sure to also check out the Q & A section on questions and answers parents commonly ask that come up when discussing distracted driving with their teens.
Lift Up Autism’s story starts with a boy named Luke, who in 2013 was diagnosed with Autism. Although his parents were shocked, they wanted to do everything they could to support Luke’s diagnosis; just like any parent would do for their child. Luke’s parents are CrossFitters and as CrossFitters do, they looked to their CrossFit community for help. The Everett’s didn’t want to just help their son but all the other “Luke’s” in the world and born was Lift Up Luke.
