Samuel has just been "off" the last couple of days in a way that is different. We both seem to be bouncing off each other and I am really frustrated.
I don't see school as "officially" starting until next week, but I've been introducing some tools and materials that will be new to him. He did really well with the Cuisenaire rods math today, although I can see it will be challenging to keep him from wanting to build towers with them. Then again, maybe we can come up with more of three-D way to use them. Anyone want to teach geometry to a kindergartner?
Monday, August 31
Read a Good Book (For Mom)
Try sitting down with a list of psychologists from your insurance company and trying to figure out what your child needs. You might be in that position right now if you have a child showing signs of autism (and you don't even know what to call it yet!). If you have no insurance -- or pursue a route not covered by your insurance -- you will have a more difficult and and potentially difficult financial road ahead.
I've been there! Some of my inspiration in starting this blog comes out of those experiences. Over the weekend, I started a "Resources" section to which I'll be adding books and tools we have found useful. Eventually, I hope to create a website specifically aimed at helping you find the diagnostic and information resources that will be helpful to you and your family.
Right now I'd like to mention a few books that are posted in Resources. First, let me make a proviso: within the "spectrum" community you will encounter strong opinions -- follow X approach or your child will be doomed for life; Y program is the only scripturally defensible approach to take; Z nutritional program is essential or you are poisoning your child. Your child, family, and community are unique. I am suggesting books that I find helpful, but each contains information that contradict the others. Enlist the help of your pediatrician, read, think, and follow your best judgment.
Laura Hendrickson, who wrote Finding your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum has the medical and theological training to be able to offer solid advice. She also is a mother who has gone through the struggles of rearing a spectrum kid.
Cathy Steere, who wrote Too Wise to Be Mistaken, Too Good to Be Unkind has the reputation in the online community for being an excellent mother. She writes about her own struggles in finding help for her son and rearing him.
I'll be sure to add more to the Resources feature as we go along.
I've been there! Some of my inspiration in starting this blog comes out of those experiences. Over the weekend, I started a "Resources" section to which I'll be adding books and tools we have found useful. Eventually, I hope to create a website specifically aimed at helping you find the diagnostic and information resources that will be helpful to you and your family.
Right now I'd like to mention a few books that are posted in Resources. First, let me make a proviso: within the "spectrum" community you will encounter strong opinions -- follow X approach or your child will be doomed for life; Y program is the only scripturally defensible approach to take; Z nutritional program is essential or you are poisoning your child. Your child, family, and community are unique. I am suggesting books that I find helpful, but each contains information that contradict the others. Enlist the help of your pediatrician, read, think, and follow your best judgment.
Laura Hendrickson, who wrote Finding your Child's Way on the Autism Spectrum has the medical and theological training to be able to offer solid advice. She also is a mother who has gone through the struggles of rearing a spectrum kid.
Cathy Steere, who wrote Too Wise to Be Mistaken, Too Good to Be Unkind has the reputation in the online community for being an excellent mother. She writes about her own struggles in finding help for her son and rearing him.
I'll be sure to add more to the Resources feature as we go along.
Sunday, August 30
A wonderful day of rest ...
"Let all things now living, a song of thanksgiving, to God the creator triumphantly raise; who fashioned and made us, protected and stayed us, who guides us and leads to the end of our days ..." Katherine K. Davis
Friday, August 28
Saturday and "When Mama Ain't Happy"
I'm going to try to post each day, but I won't be around tomorrow. So here's "Saturday."
Having a Spectrum Kid, even one as sweet as Samuel, can be pretty stressful to Mom. And as the old saying goes, when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody's happy!
Looking forward to something is a big deal, so stress isn't going on and on to the horizon. I can really enjoy anticipating a time, written into the calendar, to either get out with my husband or to get away by myself.
My husband is trying to make his schedule more predictable -- so I can look forward to having more support and another "big person" for conversation at a specific time later in the day. And we've been planning for me to go out by myself tomorrow. So Saturday, instead of being here to blog, I will be wandering some beautiful back roads. Road trip!!!!!
Hope you have a great weekend too!
Having a Spectrum Kid, even one as sweet as Samuel, can be pretty stressful to Mom. And as the old saying goes, when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody's happy!
Looking forward to something is a big deal, so stress isn't going on and on to the horizon. I can really enjoy anticipating a time, written into the calendar, to either get out with my husband or to get away by myself.
My husband is trying to make his schedule more predictable -- so I can look forward to having more support and another "big person" for conversation at a specific time later in the day. And we've been planning for me to go out by myself tomorrow. So Saturday, instead of being here to blog, I will be wandering some beautiful back roads. Road trip!!!!!
Hope you have a great weekend too!
About Schedules and Hissy Fits
We can't go to the community pool today. I launched into a discussion with Samuel about how a tropical weather system will bring rain and he concluded, "When the sun goes up we'll watch at home."
I digress; I was going to talk about schedules.
From our previous almost 10 years of homeschooling, I know schedules usually end up as an amusing memento by October. That doesn't mean schedules are useless; they can help you figure out how much time is needed for the subjects and for the household routine. But what we have found, is that it works better to stagger the start of the school year with a subject or two in the beginning until we're up to speed -- and when we're up to speed a kind of natural schedule falls into place.
So what does all this have to do with teaching a Spectrum Kid in particular? My dilemma with Samuel is that he loves to understand how things "work." Once that's in place, he can be golden. Take our much-missed trip to the pool today. It's taken most of the summer, but we've finally worked out a routine that enables him to leave the pool without a spectacular, hissy-fit meltdown. Putting certain transitions into place (in a few minutes when the lifeguard blows his whistle for adult swim, we'll go home) he now goes home cheerfully.
I think one of the keys for this school year will be to develop those transitions so he finds his school day "workable" and predictable. Right now, I can't even imagine what they will be.
I digress; I was going to talk about schedules.
From our previous almost 10 years of homeschooling, I know schedules usually end up as an amusing memento by October. That doesn't mean schedules are useless; they can help you figure out how much time is needed for the subjects and for the household routine. But what we have found, is that it works better to stagger the start of the school year with a subject or two in the beginning until we're up to speed -- and when we're up to speed a kind of natural schedule falls into place.
So what does all this have to do with teaching a Spectrum Kid in particular? My dilemma with Samuel is that he loves to understand how things "work." Once that's in place, he can be golden. Take our much-missed trip to the pool today. It's taken most of the summer, but we've finally worked out a routine that enables him to leave the pool without a spectacular, hissy-fit meltdown. Putting certain transitions into place (in a few minutes when the lifeguard blows his whistle for adult swim, we'll go home) he now goes home cheerfully.
I think one of the keys for this school year will be to develop those transitions so he finds his school day "workable" and predictable. Right now, I can't even imagine what they will be.
Thursday, August 27
Meet Samuel
Samuel is a bright kid who believes he can fly if he holds two feathers. I'm his Mom, and it is my job to help him reach all that God has for him. This school year will be his first "formal" homeschooling year -- "formal" because education started for both of us the moment the doctor handed him to me six years ago.
As we got to know each other, I noticed it took him a long time to learn how to communicate. Like so many mothers before me, I started asking doctors, educators, other parents, anyone who could help me know what was going on. In the last few years, "autism spectrum" began to come into focus.
My little boy already knows how to read and is mad for spelling and numbers. So where will this year take us? Come along for the ride!
As we got to know each other, I noticed it took him a long time to learn how to communicate. Like so many mothers before me, I started asking doctors, educators, other parents, anyone who could help me know what was going on. In the last few years, "autism spectrum" began to come into focus.
My little boy already knows how to read and is mad for spelling and numbers. So where will this year take us? Come along for the ride!
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