My wife spent the day at Honestly Autism Day this past Saturday, so she came back with some new ideas for therapy options for the Monster, between talking to a few of the speakers and having time to meander around the tables in the vendor area. Continue reading
autism
Community of Support
Last night was my monthly trip to the “Dads Talk” group at the ARC of Baltimore. I’ve missed two months in a row – I had a bonspiel in February, and had that disastrous flat last month on my way there – but it feels very good to be getting back into things again.
One of the questions raised last night, though, was the sparse attendance at the guys’ group. The mom’s group often has double or triple the number of attendees – so much so that they’re dividing that group along child-age lines. And, as you can imagine, I had an answer. Continue reading
Bring Your Kids To Work Day
Today’s “Bring Your Kids To Work Day” at my office.
As I understand it, once upon a time, this was really meant as a means to either encourage children to get an appreciation for what their working parent did during the day, or as a way to have your children consider their career plans as they get older. This isn’t quite what’s going on, but… I’ll buy the intention, at the very least. Continue reading
Fixing Things
Today was the first day of school since Spring Break. The Monster got onto his bus without any fuss this morning, and we’re grateful for that. (We’ll see how grateful his teachers are.)
Today’s also the day that his regular IEP chair, Ms. R, returned, and so bright and early, I fired off a request to her for a team meeting to discuss the massively screwed-up Individualized Education Plan (MSIEP). Continue reading
Pull Up Your Pants!
Setting aside the occasional accident, things are getting better on the toileting front of late.
We’ve gotten back to the point that he is, by and large, avoiding accidents during the day while he was home on break. We’ve had a few messes – and we suspect those were mostly because he wasn’t feeling well and not quite communicative about the matter – but most of the time, we’ve either gotten a verbal insistence that it’s bathroom time or he’s given non-verbal cues. Continue reading
Handy…
I don’t remember when – or how – I found out that I was right handed. I happen to have a parent who is left-handed, but I ended up a righty. My wife, likewise, is a righty, but statistically, there’s roughly a 17% chance that either of our kids could still end up a southpaw.
Somehow, along the way, the Monster’s in-school OT has become convinced that he’s a righty, but I’m not so sure. Continue reading
Not Quite Kosher
We’re halfway through Passover, and… well, it’s going interestingly.
We knew, coming into the holiday, that it was going to be a challenge with trying to get the kids to increasingly observe the traditions of the holiday. R, of course, doesn’t know any better, being two. The Monster, though, is getting to the point that we can try to teach him about the holiday, and try to find foods that work with his picky eating habits. Continue reading
Schedule Scatter
This week is spring break at the Baltimore City schools. This means that the Monster’s been home without his regular schedule to give him some sort of regulation.
Now, because I’m hardly cruel, I did take off two days this week, and I’ve been working from home when she has both kids awake. Only seems fair to me, really. So we’ve been trying to find things to do, so that the Monster has other things to fill his time besides those things he’s already perseverating on. Continue reading
Chasing Dreams
What I hear a lot from other parents of children with developmental disabilities – and disabilities in general – is about how they’ve had to put so much of their lives on hold for their children. I’m not quite talking just about the usual “well, we have kids so we can’t do X, Y and Z anymore,” and more about the “well, there goes that” kind of attitude.
I think that’s part of the problem and weight that we shoulder with a child who has difficulties. It’s one thing to compromise our own hopes and dreams to concentrate on our kids, it’s another to set them wholly on the wayside. It’s that weight that makes it so hard to bear.
We have to have freedom to pursue our dreams… else you’re just living for your kids. Continue reading
Autism at the Ballpark – Baltimore Orioles
So, it’s April. And if it’s April and Autism Awareness Month, it must be time for major sports franchises to be doing “Autism Awareness Day/Night” at the ballpark.
For some strange reason, the Baltimore Orioles decided to do a night game. I don’t know about you, but the Monster and R don’t cope well after about, oh, 8:30 at night, so 7:35 start times don’t do me much good. On the other hand, Autism Society of Baltimore/Chesapeake arranged for group tickets for the 1:35 PM game today, so we took the kids to the ballpark for today’s rubber match against the Toronto Blue Jays. Continue reading