This was originally posted in July, 2010. Thought I'd repost this gem...
Today the boys were arguing tooth and nail about Red's singing talent, or lack thereof. Let me just note that listening to him sing is a huge delight for me. Not because he's the next American Idol but because first if he's singing, he's not talking, or complaining. Secondly because singing makes him happy (or at least gives that illusion).
Blue can not stand to hear his brother sing. In fact, he absolutely HATES it. Of course, Blue has the ears of a dog. His autism makes his ears super sensitive to sound. He can hear Red singing in the shower upstairs when he is downstairs playing a video game. Every time he hears him, he starts to go into this act of convulsions, like he going nuts.
"Mom...Please! Help! Stop him!" He performs as if he's being physically assaulted.
Part of this is just plain old sibling rivalry. You know, "Mom...he's looking at me! He's touching me!, etc." But my kids take it to a whole new level. I mean they will come to blows over this. I have found Blue who is about 4ft 9, 100 pounds on top of his brother who weighs twice as much, trying to choke him to death because he is singing.
Red on the other hand is bound and determined to convince Blue that he really is a great singer. This WILL NEVER HAPPEN! At least not before I'm old and gray! (Oh, too late). So the funny moment was when Red says to Blue "There were 200 people at the camp last week who loved my singing. They were standing and clapping. They said I was the best!"
To that Blue replies, "There are thousands of people who think the Jonas brothers are good. That doesn't mean they are!"
Today the boys were arguing tooth and nail about Red's singing talent, or lack thereof. Let me just note that listening to him sing is a huge delight for me. Not because he's the next American Idol but because first if he's singing, he's not talking, or complaining. Secondly because singing makes him happy (or at least gives that illusion).
Blue can not stand to hear his brother sing. In fact, he absolutely HATES it. Of course, Blue has the ears of a dog. His autism makes his ears super sensitive to sound. He can hear Red singing in the shower upstairs when he is downstairs playing a video game. Every time he hears him, he starts to go into this act of convulsions, like he going nuts.
"Mom...Please! Help! Stop him!" He performs as if he's being physically assaulted.
Part of this is just plain old sibling rivalry. You know, "Mom...he's looking at me! He's touching me!, etc." But my kids take it to a whole new level. I mean they will come to blows over this. I have found Blue who is about 4ft 9, 100 pounds on top of his brother who weighs twice as much, trying to choke him to death because he is singing.
Red on the other hand is bound and determined to convince Blue that he really is a great singer. This WILL NEVER HAPPEN! At least not before I'm old and gray! (Oh, too late). So the funny moment was when Red says to Blue "There were 200 people at the camp last week who loved my singing. They were standing and clapping. They said I was the best!"
To that Blue replies, "There are thousands of people who think the Jonas brothers are good. That doesn't mean they are!"
Logging you in...
Adelaide Dupont · 285 weeks ago
And for those of us who knew and appreciated these points in high school to a greater or lesser extent - always good to have a refresher and feel them through the current and future generations who we survived to be able to see.
I especially appreciated points 5, 7 and 10.
And young women not settling or settling down yet is a good thing.
"It's never too late to live our dreams" - but it may be too early for some of them!
And 8 of course.
nicole · 243 weeks ago
Risa · 230 weeks ago
LAH · 221 weeks ago
Maira L. Coral · 216 weeks ago
I was looking for information for my Multi-Genre Disability Research Project from my Early Childhood Special Education class on the web, when suddenly I came across your blog. I started reading this out of curiosity and I want to tell you that as you said yourself, you will not be Amanda Gorman, but you managed to make me shed some tears, perhaps because I felt totally identified with your words, especially in the part that you speak of your son. My son also has Asperger's syndrome, he is 19 years old and he is in the second semester of College. Also like yours, he takes classes from home, likewise my eldest daughter is also taking college classes from her room. At the same time, that I work as a preschool teacher from my kitchen through a computer, my husband sleeps in the room during the day because he works at night. Also in the afternoons I myself take virtual school classes. I am a 51-year-old Latin woman who began to learn the English language as adult, so maybe you find some deficiencies in my writing, however, I was very moved by how proud you express yourself about your son. Referent your mother, I liked the humorous tone that you give when your talk about her, so I did not want to miss this opportunity and stopped my assignments for a moment to let you know that your words do make a difference, since they reach the heart of at least those who have opportunity to read you. I want confess you that is the most long I have written to someone I don't know, because your words inspired me, thank you...
Gavin Bollard · 209 weeks ago
Thanks for this post. I've been very distracted of late and so this was how I found out about our friend Kate. Kate's struggles were very real but they were so constant and so wide-ranging that it was difficult for people around her to address them. I think it's going to take a while longer for me to process all this.
I learned so much from Kate because she was always quick to point out the many injustices in the world. In her glory days, she was very much a crusader and she cared for everyone. Over the years, as her situation took its toll, I came to realise that it was the fact that she couldn't be put in a single specific category, that made the system fail her. She needed help that they weren't set up to provide.
She needed more care and she needed to be less alone. I'm so sorry that this has happened.
For a long while we were corresponding almost every day but a couple of months ago, I realised that she had become so stressed that nearly every interaction I had with her was starting to trigger her. I backed away to give her a bit more space. She only had a little time that she could stand to be online and there were too many things that she wanted to do in that time. I thought that by taking a step back, she could reach out to more people who might be geographically closer and able to assist.
Kate was a beautiful soul and she will be sorely missed by all of us.
diyalabs6192603 11p · 192 weeks ago
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Spoil your cat · 121 weeks ago
Many of these living arrangement aren't good, and many of the people who run those places really don't have the residents' best interest at heart. Those places are like old age homes and foster homes, where you sometimes hear horror stories. They're hard to trust. But then there are good ones, of course.
The best thing for an autistic adult is either to go on living at home or working and renting an apartment and living independently, but that isn't always an option.
Duncan · 112 weeks ago