State Send Off

So, today was the state send off for all sports. It was bittersweet. Bittersweet because it's a big chapter in Mr. B's life. Big. He loves it so much. It's always challenging. I see all of the kids and I think "wow" and I admire them and what they can do. I would have never guessed that the "jock' in the family would be Mr. B. He's not the fastest shark in the tank, but he swims with the most heart. His teammates enjoy him, help him, talk to him. They are good people. Some better than others. I always smile when MK, perhaps the best swimmer on the team, puts his arm around Mr. B and makes sure that Mr. B is included. It's just a nice gesture. A lot of kids 'don't understand Mr. B", but they prove 'just because you don't understand someone's unique needs, doesn't mean that you can't interact with them'. They may not interact a lot, but, to me, anything is a HUGE deal. My hope and wish is that they take that experience with Mr. B and then are kinder to someone else.

I'm BACK!!!!

Yes, I am back blogging. My goal (however idealistic) is to blog once a week. Lots of reasons for this. This year, I think will be an emotional one, just with the Big Guy 'graduating', but it's not really 'graduating'. After this year, he'll be going down to the Transition House. For me, it's just emotional and all. I 'see' all of my friends' kids going off into the world and 'launching' and we won't 'officially' 'launch' anyone until our middle guy goes off to college in 2 1/2 years. We hope to send the "Big Guy' out into the world, someday soon, but we won't know when that will be (there are a lot of skills he needs to learn, yet). Anyway, I'm back, I'm going to try to be consistent. NO HATER'S, please. My goal is that you understand a little bit more about what special needs families go through during this time. <3

Boy Scouts

My Oldest Dude is now a Boy Scout. He "Crossed Over" into Boy Scouts last month. We chose a troop that had had special needs boys (they currently have a boy with Aspberger's and another who has focusing issues). Oldest attended his second Boy Scout meeting and there is a funny story attached to it.


Last night, Oldest had his second meeting with the boy scouts. The Hub was a little concerned after the first one (he said stuff about the older boys were popular....boy scouts popular?). Anyway, they had a fun night last night. They were learning about first aid and how to move someone if they are injured. Somehow, Oldest was volunteered to be the injured boy. He got to be carried on a stretcher by four boys (as they were moving him, he shouted, "Go to the hospital!"). Then, he was carried by one boy (so dragged along on the stretcher). He thought that was really funny. The boys 'raced' to see who could go the fastest.

One thing that was interesting....there's been a lot of 'talk' since last week's "Parenthood" (an NBC show) about how to tell your child who has autism, that, they have autism. In the show (I only watched last week's episode, so I don't know much else about the characters), the elementary school boy finds out accidently that he has Aspberger's and the parents figure out how to tell him and explain it to him. There is a boy in the troop who has Aspberger's. Somehow, The Hub got talking to him (and The Hub explained, "My Oldest son has autism, etc"....the boy said to The Hub, "I have Aspberger's and it is autism")....while they were outside doing the races, the boy was explaining to The Hub, "there are x number of fire sirens" and all of the other noises that were outside (he was evidently having a tough time focusing). Anyway, it was interesting that the boy knew all about his Aspberger's and then, could verbalize what it is, etc. As you know, we've never made a secret of Oldest's autism or anything. Oldest, for sure, knows he's different and on some level knows he has autism, but whether or not he knows "this is how it manifests in him" is probably a higher order of thinking.

Pinewood Derby!

Yes, it is the last weekend in January, which in our house means it is "Cub Scouts" Pinewood Derby time.

This year, Oldest decorated his car with Pascal, the chameleon from the movie, "Tangled". He is obsessed with "Tangled" and Rapunzel. So, he decided to put Pascal in the driver's seat.

Middle Dude decorated his car with Phineas and Ferb. Here's where it gets confusing. See Youngest's Phineas and Ferb ornament fell off of the tree. Phineas was decaptiated. We tried, without luck using several glues, to replace Phineas' head. So, I ordered another one for Youngest. Meanwhile, Middle Guy was having to come up with something to decorate his pinewood derby car. The Hub was able to break (seriously) in two pieces the ornament, keeping Phineas and Ferb intact to use on Middle Dude's car. Phineas and Ferb were able to 'sit' (seriously) in the car.

Everyone loved the Phineas and Ferb car. All of the kids loved watching Phineas and Ferb go down the track. When they were talking about "Most Humorous", all of the kids went "Phineas!".

Christmas Cheer and Presentation Kudos

First of all, today was Oldest's big explorer presentation. He had to make a poster and give an oral presentation on his explorer, Sir Thomas Cavendish. Yesterday, he gave a practice presentation to the other special needs kids and today, he gave it to the "general education" kids. Totally a big deal, not just for him, but it also validates to his teachers that "yes" he can do the work of the typical kids. They worked really hard with him to help him with the poster and the presentation. I ran into his para pro and she said that she couldn't sleep last night she was so nervous. She said he did a great job and even answered three questions (what was the name of the ship he sailed, when was he born and one other). His general education teacher was so proud of him and said he spoke clearly and did a great job! Whoot!

Today was also Youngest's Santa's Workshop party. Typically, the kindergarteners do a "Christmas in Mexico", but due to time constraints (the Wednesday schedule and snow before Thanksgiving), they came up with the "Santa Workshop" theme.

He had six stations. He made a candy cane mouse. He played 'build a tree' math dice partner game (which I was assigned to monitor). He had a color word reading mini book patterned after "Brown Bear". He made a Santa apple. He played Bingo. He played another math dice game.

Again, I am tired after 'teaching' for a morning. What is wrong with me? I used to teach full days and be full of energy!

Final Conference

Last week, I had the final conference with Middle Dude's teacher. His conference is always interesting. I realize at these conferences that I have really the WHOLE spectrum of learners. My goal is always to try to understand how to deal with a high cap type kid, which is more challenging than a boy with autism.

Her first comment to me was, "have you had him tested for High Cap?". You know if that conversation starts out with that where the conference is going. We did have him tested last Spring (the first time he could be tested) and he did not pass. There were three parts and he passed one part and he barely missed the other two. She recommended we either have him tested again this year, or if he has anxiety (he's been having some anxiety, 3rd grade is a challenging grade and she said most high cap kids struggle in 3rd grade because they can no longer 'breeze' through it, they actually have to 'prove' that they know the answer).

Anyway, he got mostly 4s. A "4" is equivalent to a 95% or above (crazy above the norm). He would have gotten 4s on addition and subtraction facts, but he got a 93% in addition facts and a 94% on subtraction facts. She said that, even though they are just starting out multiplication, he has basically mastered multiplication. He does have to work on facts, but that is a memorization exercise.

His Reading was also good. I can't remember off hand what his scores were, but they were high. Again, this is a tough grade. He's been struggling with "Reader's Response' (comprehension questions) and she said that if they moved him down a level, he'd still be struggling (she does the same work that the upper group does, there are a LOT of fantastic readers in the 3rd grade). She said that everyone struggles with Reader's Response.

Anyway, she loves having him in class. I had to bring in all three boys and Oldest was going into random third grade rooms and drinking water. Who knows what that was all about. He was supposed to stay in the 'pod' area (where the computers are) and play on the computers.