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 25
Posted: under opinion.
Tags: mistakes July 25th, 2010
A friend from the area emailed me today to tell me that I had wrongly reported the details about the woman in Irving who killed her two young autistic children. Her husband is alive; she is not a widow. I didn’t bookmark the other sources of information I’d found, so now (of course) I can’t […] [...more]
A friend from the area emailed me today to tell me that I had wrongly reported the details about the woman in Irving who killed her two young autistic children. Her husband is alive; she is not a widow.
I didn’t bookmark the other sources of information I’d found, so now (of course) I can’t find them, to see where they got theirs. My friend thought I’d confused two different tragedies–another killing of a child by a mother occurred not that far away, with different circumstances. Whether I conflated stories about two different killings, or the sources I read had already done that, it’s still a mistake, and I failed to check deeply enough.
So death of a spouse was not part of the problem.
I apologize for sloppy fact-checking.
Jul 24
Posted: under disability issues, opinion, parenting, politics.
Tags: advocacy, autism, news, opinion, parenting July 24th, 2010
A woman in Irving, Texas killed her two autistic children, then called the police and turned herself in, saying she didn’t want them to live like that. The story, and the reactions to it (both here and the Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/20/2349223/09-cps-inquiry-on-irving-family.html) reveals a lot–but not enough–about the woman, her situation, the state’s social services, and […] [...more]
A woman in Irving, Texas killed her two autistic children, then called the police and turned herself in, saying she didn’t want them to live like that.
The story, and the reactions to it (both here and the Star Telegram: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/20/2349223/09-cps-inquiry-on-irving-family.html) reveals a lot–but not enough–about the woman, her situation, the state’s social services, and the attitude of the public towards women who kill family members, including children, v. men who kill family members, including children.
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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 15
Posted: under communication, life on the spectrum, parenting, socialization.
Tags: autism, communication, independence, initiative, progress, social skills June 15th, 2010
This is the start of M-‘s fourth week in his own apartment an hour away in the city. Yesterday evening, I got email from him saying he had mail from the city, and was supposed to take something to the city offices and have a stamp, but he didn’t know where the city offices were […] [...more]
This is the start of M-‘s fourth week in his own apartment an hour away in the city. Yesterday evening, I got email from him saying he had mail from the city, and was supposed to take something to the city offices and have a stamp, but he didn’t know where the city offices were and did not have a stamp in the apartment. He had sent the email in the afternoon; I checked email after supper. I phoned to ask him what the mail had been, and was prepared to guide him through whatever it was or deal with it on my Wednesday trip to to the city. It took awhile to get clear what the mail had been about (note to self–still need more work on comprehension of questions and providing direct answers), but then came the marvel…a milestone indeed.
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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 »
May 26
Posted: under communication, life on the spectrum, parenting.
Tags: autism, communication, independence, social skills May 26th, 2010
Sunday we moved the non-furniture stuff into M-‘s apartment. A couple of trips up and down the stairs, and we were all glad someone else would be humping the bed, chairs, and big round table up there. [...more]
Sunday we moved the non-furniture stuff into M-‘s apartment. A couple of trips up and down the stairs, and we were all glad someone else would be humping the bed, chairs, and big round table up there.
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May 22
Posted: under parenting, socialization.
Tags: autism, communication, independence, initiative, parenting, progress May 22nd, 2010
All the furniture to be moved is now at M-‘s present address, ready for pickup Monday morning. A few more boxes will be packed today. SO glad we’re moving a twin bed and not a double! I was able to get mattress and then box springs into the hall myself, while the guys moved the […] [...more]
All the furniture to be moved is now at M-‘s present address, ready for pickup Monday morning.
A few more boxes will be packed today. SO glad we’re moving a twin bed and not a double! I was able to get mattress and then box springs into the hall myself, while the guys moved the red chair from the old big van into M-‘s present address. The bedframe had to go out through the window (very wide windows in front of this house) and no panes were broken. It was a tricky maneuver, as the side rails of this bed do not come off with the tools we have, so the whole bed–with its headboard and footboard–had to be moved in one piece. R- thought out how to do it and he was right.
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May 18
Posted: under communication, life on the spectrum, parenting, socialization.
Tags: autism, college, communication, education, flexibility, independence, initiative, motivation, parenting, progress, social skills May 18th, 2010
…also known as the last three months. It’s been a roller-coaster, a whirligig, and a challenge in every dimension, but here we are facing the next with renewed excitement. First there’s the college situation. Our son did in fact have problems typical of autists in both the Transition to College and the Reading classes. It’s […] [...more]
…also known as the last three months. It’s been a roller-coaster, a whirligig, and a challenge in every dimension, but here we are facing the next with renewed excitement.
First there’s the college situation. Our son did in fact have problems typical of autists in both the Transition to College and the Reading classes. It’s worth examining these to see how his autism affected his understanding of (clear to most people) instructions. He had been working willingly and consistently, so it wasn’t lack of motivation or laziness causing the difficulties.
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