I was at the local school budget meeting last week in my hometown. Its a small town only about 15k people between 6 towns in a 40 mile area with about 10k in my town, the biggest. but even in a close knit small new England town there exist close mindedness on a scale unbelievable. Mom-nos who doesn't live near me even heard about it. She posts about it here, http://www.hopefulparents.org/blog/2011/3/11/when-the-political-is-personal.html .
she puts it more eloquently than I can. She also doesn't live here and so has not had to spend the last week trying to find her happy place so that the lesson she teaches her children is not how to fillet an asshole but instead how to proactively and civilly achieve political change.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Words of Wisdom from one on the spectrum
if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,... it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.
— Albert Einstein
— Albert Einstein
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
back to normal
Its been a while since my last post. Life at times seems to hit the fast forward button and before you know it months have passed. Life with kids is never boring and life with 2 on the spectrum is even less so. Between birthdays, doctor appointments, IEP meetings and just life in general I never seem to have a moment to sit down and write. I'm hoping this year will be different and I will be able to post far more often than I have in the past.
Since I last posted somethings have changed alot.
My Eldest FINALLY has an IEP. You wouldn't think with a note from his specialist that he has adhd and aspergers that it would take 4 years to get one but in his school district it does. The funny thing is he got it for his ADHD diagnosis not his Aspergers. And yet its his aspergers that causes the most problems at home, not his ADHD. It doesn't really matter to me what they put on the paper just as long as he gets the services he needs. So for the first time in a very very long time he actually has a b average in school. When I look at his report card I kinda start to see the light at the end of the tunnel that represents him living independently.
He also turned 16 this last year so I now look forward to teaching him to drive this summer. When you tend to get overloaded with external stimuli the thought of putting a 2 thousand pound death causing machine in your hands is a scary proposition. I think this is going to be a slow process and Mom will need regular self medication at Friendlies with forbidden chocolate ice cream. and wine at home after wards.....
My youngest is now in kindergarten. We lucked out, he is in the best kindergarten class we could hope for in our local area. A mixed inclusive class that this year has 5 students in it with a teacher with 2 in class aides. a 1:2 ratio is a wonderful thing. He is loving class and I say with some pride is the smartest kid in the class. He is reading at a 2nd grade level and doing math at a similar level. The teacher has commented that its really hard to call on him in class because he is so far ahead in those areas that he tends to make the other kids feel bad that they cant catch on so quick. She does a really good job of challenging him without rubbing his brains in their faces. So this year has been a time to really work on his other areas such as social skills and get lots of time working on his motor skills and such. Next year as he transitions back into a regular classroom will be a challenge. The school system tends to like the one size fits all approach to lesson planning and "teaching" him 1st grade math and reading when he is so much farther ahead of that will only lead to trouble. A bored kid is a kid causing trouble. a Genius level IQ bored kid is a super villain in the making.... Dr Doom must have been bored a lot in school as a kid.
He has a new obsession though. He loves the game of monopoly. He plays the board version (when we have the time), a version on his computer and another version on the old game cube we have. And when none of those 3 options are open he makes boards with his legos and plays that way with himself *g*. At least its a break from Thomas and friends all day.
So life is pretty much back to normal around here,what ever normal is...
Since I last posted somethings have changed alot.
My Eldest FINALLY has an IEP. You wouldn't think with a note from his specialist that he has adhd and aspergers that it would take 4 years to get one but in his school district it does. The funny thing is he got it for his ADHD diagnosis not his Aspergers. And yet its his aspergers that causes the most problems at home, not his ADHD. It doesn't really matter to me what they put on the paper just as long as he gets the services he needs. So for the first time in a very very long time he actually has a b average in school. When I look at his report card I kinda start to see the light at the end of the tunnel that represents him living independently.
He also turned 16 this last year so I now look forward to teaching him to drive this summer. When you tend to get overloaded with external stimuli the thought of putting a 2 thousand pound death causing machine in your hands is a scary proposition. I think this is going to be a slow process and Mom will need regular self medication at Friendlies with forbidden chocolate ice cream. and wine at home after wards.....
My youngest is now in kindergarten. We lucked out, he is in the best kindergarten class we could hope for in our local area. A mixed inclusive class that this year has 5 students in it with a teacher with 2 in class aides. a 1:2 ratio is a wonderful thing. He is loving class and I say with some pride is the smartest kid in the class. He is reading at a 2nd grade level and doing math at a similar level. The teacher has commented that its really hard to call on him in class because he is so far ahead in those areas that he tends to make the other kids feel bad that they cant catch on so quick. She does a really good job of challenging him without rubbing his brains in their faces. So this year has been a time to really work on his other areas such as social skills and get lots of time working on his motor skills and such. Next year as he transitions back into a regular classroom will be a challenge. The school system tends to like the one size fits all approach to lesson planning and "teaching" him 1st grade math and reading when he is so much farther ahead of that will only lead to trouble. A bored kid is a kid causing trouble. a Genius level IQ bored kid is a super villain in the making.... Dr Doom must have been bored a lot in school as a kid.
He has a new obsession though. He loves the game of monopoly. He plays the board version (when we have the time), a version on his computer and another version on the old game cube we have. And when none of those 3 options are open he makes boards with his legos and plays that way with himself *g*. At least its a break from Thomas and friends all day.
So life is pretty much back to normal around here,what ever normal is...
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