Jul 31
Posted: under education, interventions, life on the spectrum.
Tags: advocacy, autism, college July 31st, 2010
Welcome to Guest Blogger Darcy Javanne Kramer! ———————————- First, a quick introduction: I am a counselor at the Disability Resource Center at Portland State University, the largest four-year public college in the state of Oregon. Elizabeth asked me to guest blog about transition from high school to college for students on the spectrum, which I […] [...more]
Welcome to Guest Blogger Darcy Javanne Kramer!
———————————-
First, a quick introduction: I am a counselor at the Disability Resource Center at Portland State University, the largest four-year public college in the state of Oregon. Elizabeth asked me to guest blog about transition from high school to college for students on the spectrum, which I gladly accepted.
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Jul 29
Posted: under communication, disability issues, education, life on the spectrum, parenting.
Tags: advocacy, autism, college, communication, independence, language, parenting, social skills July 29th, 2010
Some of us are old enough to remember the Pogo cartoon in which a character announced that he didn’t want “ups and downs”–he wanted “ups and upper ups.” That’s certainly what parents want…kids who keep growing and developing. When the general trend is upward, and about the typical speed of progression, the “downs” don’t bother […] [...more]
Some of us are old enough to remember the Pogo cartoon in which a character announced that he didn’t want “ups and downs”–he wanted “ups and upper ups.” That’s certainly what parents want…kids who keep growing and developing. When the general trend is upward, and about the typical speed of progression, the “downs” don’t bother parents as much. But when a child develops more slowly…then the downs are much harder to live with.
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Jul 01
Posted: under communication, education, life on the spectrum, parenting.
Tags: autism, bright side, college, communication, independence, progress July 1st, 2010
M- is now in his sixth week of living on his own in an apartment in the city. I haven’t been to his apartment since week four; R- has picked him up on Friday to come up here for Friday night through Sunday morning, then R- takes him to church, and then ice-skating. (The Sunday […] [...more]
M- is now in his sixth week of living on his own in an apartment in the city. I haven’t been to his apartment since week four; R- has picked him up on Friday to come up here for Friday night through Sunday morning, then R- takes him to church, and then ice-skating. (The Sunday bus schedule makes it impossible for him to navigate apartment to church, or even count on a bus home from ice-skating.) Last week, M- managed both legs of the afterschool trip to the ice rink and then home to his apartment.
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Jun 06
Posted: under communication, education, life on the spectrum, parenting.
Tags: autism, college, communication, independence, motivation June 6th, 2010
Last Sunday, M- left his keys up here (50 miles from where he now lives) and so after church he had to go to the apartment offices and be let in to pick up his spare keys. Wednesday, when I was going to the city anyway, I took his keys down to him and tried […] [...more]
Last Sunday, M- left his keys up here (50 miles from where he now lives) and so after church he had to go to the apartment offices and be let in to pick up his spare keys. Wednesday, when I was going to the city anyway, I took his keys down to him and tried to get his router hooked up properly. Had to call for help from techie friends. By then he had been two class two days. Thursday, I took him grocery shopping in the evening–wasn’t time on Wednesday, thanks to problems with router. I often drive to the city two weekdays, once for voice lesson and choir, and once for fencing practice. But it had rained, so the yard wasn’t good for fencing, and I did the grocery shopping with M- early enough that I was almost home by nine pm. This morning, R- picked him up from the apartment to drive him to church.
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May 29
Posted: under education, life on the spectrum, parenting.
Tags: autism, independence, initiative, progress May 29th, 2010
It was all moving, actually. One of us was down there every day (husband on Monday and Friday, me on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) and M- came home Friday with husband for the weekend. Or part of it. Like many college students, he brought laundry to do at home (but he did it, not me.) [...more]
It was all moving, actually. One of us was down there every day (husband on Monday and Friday, me on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) and M- came home Friday with husband for the weekend. Or part of it. Like many college students, he brought laundry to do at home (but he did it, not me.) Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 28
Posted: under communication, education, life on the spectrum, socialization.
Tags: autism, bright side, college, education, flexibility, independence, initiative, motivation, progress, socialization, testing February 28th, 2010
At the end of the first exam period–six full weeks of classes–our son took his first “big” exam, in the pre-algebra class. Since he had work hours this week on several of the days exams were given, he had to take the exam on a Saturday (not a usual class day.) He said he felt […] [...more]
At the end of the first exam period–six full weeks of classes–our son took his first “big” exam, in the pre-algebra class. Since he had work hours this week on several of the days exams were given, he had to take the exam on a Saturday (not a usual class day.) He said he felt prepared enough for it…and though students had an hour and forty minutes for it, he finished in 35 minutes with a score of 89. If that had been the only triumph of the week, we’d all be delighted…but it wasn’t.
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Feb 19
Posted: under communication, education, life on the spectrum, socialization.
Tags: autism, college, communication, education, flexibility, progress, social skills February 19th, 2010
So after five weeks of classes, M- is still engaged and enthusiastic. He’s managing the bus rides alone, using his cellphone to connect with us, and doing his homework both online and on paper. We’ll find out next week or the one after, when grades are posted, how he did in the first part of […] [...more]
So after five weeks of classes, M- is still engaged and enthusiastic. He’s managing the bus rides alone, using his cellphone to connect with us, and doing his homework both online and on paper. We’ll find out next week or the one after, when grades are posted, how he did in the first part of the semester. He started back to part-time work this week, two days, and says he’s keeping up with his homework.
He’s having some problems with the verbal part of one class that requires verbal class participation (he says he can’t tell when it’s his turn to speak and when he should stop–not surprising considering his speech difficulties) and I think his reading comprehension is still lagging. But immense gains, nonetheless.
Feb 09
Posted: under communication, education, life on the spectrum, parenting, socialization.
Tags: autism, college, communication, initiative, progress, social skills February 9th, 2010
Last week, M- soloed on Thursday and a wild Thursday it was. Today was a completely different after-class schedule–two buses, but not the same two buses, all the way out of the city to the terminus at Leander. We dropped him off, asked him to call when he got to campus, and again when he […] [...more]
Last week, M- soloed on Thursday and a wild Thursday it was. Today was a completely different after-class schedule–two buses, but not the same two buses, all the way out of the city to the terminus at Leander. We dropped him off, asked him to call when he got to campus, and again when he caught the second afternoon bus…or if he had a problem. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 07
Posted: under education, life on the spectrum, socialization.
Tags: autism, bright side, college, education, progress February 7th, 2010
I posted last week about our son’s first “solo” day at community college–during which he coped with bus rides, transfers, a broken-down bus, classes, more bus rides, etc. What I didn’t know ahead of time was that he would have a paper-and-pen quiz in his pre-algebra class. On which…wait for it…he made 100. Right after […] [...more]
I posted last week about our son’s first “solo” day at community college–during which he coped with bus rides, transfers, a broken-down bus, classes, more bus rides, etc.
What I didn’t know ahead of time was that he would have a paper-and-pen quiz in his pre-algebra class. On which…wait for it…he made 100. Right after the bus trip on which one bus broke down.
Feb 05
Posted: under communication, disability issues, education, employment, interventions, life on the spectrum, parenting, sensory processing, socialization.
Tags: advocacy, autism, communication, flexibility, independence, initiative, motivation, sensory processing, social skills, teaching February 5th, 2010
You’ve probably heard of this movie. If not, or if, having heard of it, you had reservations about it (I did), here’s the good news: it’s better than you think. It’s an incredible, brilliant movie that shows Temple Grandin’s triumph over both the problems autism gave her, and the society that did not have a […] [...more]
You’ve probably heard of this movie. If not, or if, having heard of it, you had reservations about it (I did), here’s the good news: it’s better than you think. It’s an incredible, brilliant movie that shows Temple Grandin’s triumph over both the problems autism gave her, and the society that did not have a clue and did not believe autistic people had a future. And it shows the value of her life’s work, her designs for livestock management. Because of her, half the livestock facilities in the world–not just here–handle their stock more humanely. And–(yes, there’s more) it shows how she thinks–because it is a visual medium, a movie can show the pictures she thinks with. Read the rest of this entry »