 |
| Actually Ready Early for School On Monday |
On our way to therapy on Monday...quote:
"I am trying to be less selfish, help as many people as I can...and not be a douchebag."
"Sometimes, when I try to help (insert name here)...I feel really frustrated because she acts like she doesn't want my help. She won't listen...like she knows everything, but she doesn't. I think this will be what it's like to be a father."
Later, the subject changes. He is looking up something on google and apparently, something shall we say, unexpected pops up. I had to share this quote...
"You know mom. I can be on google images...put in darn near anything...and porn pops up. I mean...I can put in DragonBall Z under google images and there's porn! Who ever created porn is a prick!"
As a mother I know I should not be laughing, especially with the language and all...but I thought this was hilarious. I love that Aspie honesty.
Later that night before bed he says,
"You know mom...I really had a good time with you and Blue today. It may not always seem like it but...I really love you."
Just wow....
Tuesday afternoon Facebook status:
"Had a really awesome day!!! :) I job trained two students with special needs today. I'm very proud of doing that. My job coaches are working on getting me a job at a hotel. God has blessed me a lot this school year!! Thank you God for everything!!! :)
His job coach told him he was doing a really good job. She also made the mistake of telling him there was a 90% chance that he would get a job at this hotel. He went to the site on Wednesday, opened mouth and inserted foot.
While vacuuming in front of the prospective employer he says and I quote:
"When it comes to certain things...I move kind of slow."
On the way back to school he and job coach get into it. She tells him he made the wrong impression. You never tell an employer you work slowly. He becomes angry. She tells him he may have blown it. So basically, he has gone from an extreme high to this low... and of course he blames the Job-Coach. When they get back to campus he starts yelling, door slamming, fist banging, etc.
I have to say...he did show some restraint. At least he waited until they got back to the classroom to show his anger. However, as a consequence...he gets an office referral and ends up getting lunch detention the following day. Personally, I think the job coach should have gotten detention too! She should never have opened her mouth to tell him that the job was 90% in the bag in the first place.
He comes home from school...quote:
"I don't need those freaking job coaches! I don't need special education! And I'm not going to any freakin' detention!"
I told him not to worry, if for some reason this door closes it just means that a better one will open. Perhaps this is not the job for him. He watched a little Sponge Bob to lighten his mood. Later he says, to me...
"I just want to be normal. I don't understand why I have to get so angry. Other people aren't like this. I'm tired of being this way and I don't know what else to do when I'm angry."
I remind him of how far he has come in a year's time. That his anger does not take as long to get through. He recovers quickly. He apologizes. He is not actually cursing teachers out. That's progress... and he will continue to progress as he matures. He will have to remember his cool off strategies.
After our conversation he writes this Facebook quote...
"I had a really rough day but I'm going to youth tonight and having fun with my church friends :)"
The following morning however we were back to....
"I'm not going to any freaking detention today!"
Around 11 a.m. he starts a text conversation with me. He is basically processing his feelings...which is great self-advocacy...
"Mom don't be surprised if you get a call from Mr. B. today. I don't care what Mr. T. says, I'm not going to D-hall."
"Don't make it worse for yourself son. If you don't go to D-hall the consequences will only get bigger. Remember your goal. You want a job. People are looking at your actions to determine if you are ready for that."
"I hate Mr. B and Mr. T. I want to get out of this program. I just want to be normal."
"I'm sorry that you're upset. Talk to God...don't make things worse for yourself."
"Why can't I be normal like S.?" (his friend who is also on the spectrum)
"S - told you last night he gets angry too. Everyone gets angry at some point."
"Not like me."
"Son ...this is an opportunity to be mature and make the right choice."
He did. He went to D-hall and shortly thereafter posted this on Facebook...
"The most sucessful people are the ones that have failed the most. We all make mistakes because we're all human. God didn't make us perfect. Only Jesus was perfect. Learn from your mistakes and try to do better in life. Don't give up!!"!
In My own words....
Today, I had a book review published by Little Pickle Press. The book is about a day in the life of an elementary school aged boy on the spectrum. Check it out here:
"Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons"
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
Robots for kids
Robotic Online Classes
Robotics School Projects
Programming Courses Malaysia
Coding courses
Coding Academy
coding robots for kids
Coding classes for kids
Coding For Kids
Spoil your cat · 122 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