The Autism Paradox :)

The Autism Paradox

1.It's easy to recite an entire book but difficult to make up a story

2.It's easy to line up toys but difficult to stay in line

3.It makes perfect sense to climb on the sofa but little sense to sit on it

4.Memorizing the Presidents in order - 10 minutes. Packing a school bag - 10 hours

5.Family pictures on the wall are boring but that speck of dust next to it, now that's fascinating!

6.Talking about weather patterns - piece of cake. Talking about my day… impossible!

7.Ability to focus on spinning objects - timeless, ability to focus on homework - 3 seconds

8.Being called by name, can't hear it. Some owl hooting in the distance - clear as a bell

9.How to operate the remote control - zero instruction. How to button up pants - intensive instruction

10.Navigating social rules - poorly skilled, Navigating from the back seat of the car - highly skilled


:)

Schools Just Ard the Corner...Maybee???LOLOLOL

Well surprise...surprise-I STILL dont have materials for Stinger. 3subjects are incomplete, but the materials are in Logan-so should be getting some on Monday or Tuesday..sigh.....yes, my fault-for getting my act together so late in the game.....
Ive been going over soem of the lesson plans and it looks like sooo much fun-work....but FUN! Still havent come up with a schedule but hers what Im thinking so far:

Schedule
- breakfast-then school starts at 8
1. Bible devotions-coloring -maybee during breakfast
2.Math(first thing as its sooo frustrating for Stinger-hopefully we can change this,- and hes at his best in the Morning)
-break/math games
3. phonics /Language-(go over story -night before)
-break/gym with Dad

LUNCH break/outside play

5. Science and nature notebook/History(switch every other day)
-break
6. Music/Art(switch every other day)
- break-snack
4. Speech-learning games, conversations/ life skills(switch every other day)

As you can see our mornings are going to be harder-but I want our afternoons to be something he can look forward to-fun subjects etc-more relaxed, etc. Hes more open to learning in the morning too-which should work well how I have it I guess...


Its going to be very relaxed all day-I want to make it as least stressful as I can-I want to make SURE he understands that hes not going to have to sit in his seat all day or else -etc.-kwim? We will probably keep to the same hours as Flamingo is at school.

Im getting SOOO excited, and Im sooo frustrated that his materials arent here yet!!!!!:( Hes wanting school to start tomorrow-same as Flamingo-so we will see I guess-I guess we could go over expectations, routines etc-things to prepare him for, speech and life-skills, supplies for school etc-maybee we will do that until his stuff comes hed enjoy that I think....

Flamingo is sooo excited abt going back to school :) She cant stop talking about everything and abt all day school.....:(which is good I guess-LOLOLOL She has already gotten her school box together and has decorated it all pretty with stickers-LOLOLOL

Monkey boy is excited too-I bought the same school supplies for everyone-and he is all excited abt starting with Stinger :) He will have basically the same schedule as Stinger-yet relaxed work etc-but we will be teaching the same subjects at the same time etc-which will work well I think.....

I still have to laminate a couple of things-calendar, weather sheets. I need to get that box divider cut out for the kitchen table.

I found some really cool worksheets that you punch out and then when you get done punching(complete) then it signals break time etc. I think this will work well for Stinger so he knows what he needs to complete and what comes next.

So Ive still got some work and prep to do...but its all so much fun!!!!:)

Tomorrow Ill be going with Flamingo to breakfast and then taking her to her class. Im sure Ill be again having to remind her to say goodbye to me.....sigh...LOLOLOL. Im excited for her though :)

Tonight we have a picnic to go to, so I need to go and get things ready.

Hope everyone has a wonderful 1st day of school, work, as well :)

Look-theres people out there like us!!!!!!!

I got this today and I just wanted to reach out and hug this woman-I dont know who she is-but she says everything Im feeling......now if we could just live in the same state! LOLOLOL
Anyway her words touched me:

"
I agree that it's necessary for us as parents to re-evaluate what's happening to our kids when R&S are used. HOWEVER, we shouldn't HAVE to be put into a situation whereby we are forced into making the decision to remove our kids from school or look into "alternate education" to keep our kids safe.

They are LEGALLY entitled to the same services as non-disabled individuals under state and federal laws and it is beyond time someone holds them accountable and stops these practices.

Yes, I've decided to pull my daughter out for her safety, but this isn't over yet - not by a long shot, and I hope someday there will be a plan in effect with people I trust to return her to school. I won't stop fighting for that, but I won't put her life in jeopardy again either.

She's a smart little girl and she misses her school friends and going to school with her sisters, and can't understand why THEY are allowed to go and SHE'S not.I also know that just because my daughter is no longer in that environment, that doesn't mean OTHER kids with disabilities are not experiencing R&S.

This also has to stop. I hate that my family and I have been put into this position - with virtually no choice. I'm all for having alternatives to the current educational system - whether that is home schooling or some other alternate schooling (such as Cyber Charter Schools), but I would have appreiciated having the choice of remaining in a "safe" public school, which my taxes help pay to operate.

What's Up.......

Well today has been busy. Its abt 12:00 and Im beat!LOLOLOL

This week has been the start of Vacation Bible School. It has been a GREAT hit for all the kiddoes :) It starts pretty late-6:30 and goes till 8:30 so we aren't usually home until abt 9.

Stinger has been good as Gold-even participating with the songs and hand movements. At the end they give out ballons that the teachers have made into shapes etc-and Stinger tries and hopes for one each night. :) He has come home with 2 ballons out of 3 nights so far. REALLY good-eh? Tonight he didnt get one-even though he was really good-which was extremelly hard for him to understand. But I told him they only have a certian number of ballons each night and there were probably other kids trying really hard too and he cant get one every night as this would mean a no to another kid who had tried just as hard as he did. Kinda difficult for him to understand-but he felt like he understood it better. They are talking abt Creations under the Sea-which leads into many controversal things-things Im not even sure abt. So Im sure it is confusing to Stinger-but we try and discuss it the next day etc.

Flamingo is doing really well as well-she has gotten 2 ballons too. Tonight I noticed her looking at me for direction when she was confused with something they say. She I guess is looking to see if Im nodding or saying no etc. I sit by them. And somethings tonight I purposely didnt look back at her-I saw her looking at me-as I really was learning and thinking about things for the 1st time too-LOLOLOL and I didnt know what to tell her.
I kept thinking to myself-okay, where was I when this was being taught? LOLOLOL
For example-
1. Dinasaurs on the ark??huh?
2. Fossil remains-the cause of the flood? huh?
3. Different layer and time periods in those layers-fiction? ( all because of the flood waters?)

4. Ark-every KIND of animal-not species.
5. Ark-BOX shape
Things like this is what they have been saying.....I dont know-I guess the main points are that what they(the kids) see and read in textbooks isnt fact-but Genesis is. I get that. LOLOLOL This is what they are trying to teach the kids I guess.....

I just havent ever thought abt such things really......and its interesting-I guess you could say Im learning too then-eh?
Like for instance-they have been talking abt Moses in Exodis and Genesis. How he made ,was it 10 or 11 things, happen to the pharoahs people. Heck-I thought it was just the red water and locust and 1st born. I had no idea how stubborn that Pharoah was then I guess....LOLOLOL
They also showed some articles from National geographic-which I have always been impressed with saying that Whales came from Land Mammals. They showed a childrens book too and a school text book. How crazy is that !!!!THIS is what they are teaching our kids now-that its not some theory-like I had thought they had been doing, but that it is indeed fact.
The big bang-FACT now-ugh.....etc.
I thought they had been presenting this stuff as THEORY-but they are teaching kids this IS how it IS.-FACT.

So its been fun for everyone -we ALL have been learning...LOLOLOL

Monkey Boy has had the squirmies-so he has only gotten 1 balloon-and he gets quiet upset-LOLOLOL
But he likes going-they all do.

The parade was tonight as well-right before VBS. It lasted until abt 7-the kids were all antsy wanting to go even before the parade had finished-fearing that they would miss VBS! LOLOLOL
Especially Stinger-who thought he would miss snack time and ballon give-away! LOLOLOL.

Came home aftre VBS-everyone was moody and tired and wanting to eat their candy...ugh! Except for Stinger that is-LOLOL He LOVES getting and going out and getting it, but isnt thrilled abt eating any of it once he has it-funny-eh? ??? But thats usual for him.

I had to hide Monkey Boys' he will eat candy till he hurls-LOLOLOL, and Flamingos' always in "moderation" They are all so funny and such individuals! LOLOLOL NEVER a DULL moment. :) I am sooo blessed! :)

Homeschool Materials are en-route, with 3 subjects coming that are not a complete order....sigh.....ugh.....anyway......3 more days until School starts for Falmingo-she is SOOO excited!
We saw her teacher in the parade( she used to be Stingers teacher last year) and she is going to be awesome ! Stinger even liked her when he had her. But she ran up to me and asked if the kids had a pencil-I said no, and she ran ahead and grabbed 3 for just us :)That was super nice I thought :) Flamingo just beamed! LOLOLOLOL

So Ive been trying to find pictures for PECS schedule for Stinger, finding games to do, hands on things, as many as I can get my hands on, sheets for Monkey Boy, oraganizing -color coding for Stinger, Speech therapy tools, Communicating tools, Life-skill toools.
Im soo excited that I can actually have time to teach him things I think he needs to learn that the school has just dismissed or I had to fight sooo hard for-ugh!

I am reading a Charlotte Mason book( its a curriculum)-and we will be incorporating many of her ideas as well-I like how she feels nature and The Lord are soooooooo important and how they are sooo important to teach together-we will be having nature notebooks etc. I know her academics and literature would be a struggle right now for Stinger as these are stressed very highly and intensily-but I really like the way this lady thinks-LOLOL. She tried to have all schooling done so in the afternoon they children were able to "play" outside etc explore-to be in The Lords Creation.

Anyway-thats what we have been up to :)

School of shock......article

Mother Jones-
( smart fearless journalism)

News:

Eight states are sending autistic, mentally retarded, and emotionally troubled kids to a facility that punishes them with painful electric shocks. How many times do you have to zap a child before it's torture?

In 1999, when Rob was 13, his parents sent him to the Judge Rotenberg Educational Center, located in Canton, Massachusetts, 20 miles outside Boston. The facility, which calls itself a "special needs school," takes in all kinds of troubled kids—severely autistic, mentally retarded, schizophrenic, bipolar, emotionally disturbed—and attempts to change their behavior with a complex system of rewards and punishments, including painful electric shocks to the torso and limbs. Of the 234 current residents, about half are wired to receive shocks, including some as young as nine or ten. Nearly 60 percent come from New York, a quarter from Massachusetts, the rest from six other states and Washington, D.C. The Rotenberg Center, which has 900 employees and annual revenues exceeding $56 million, charges $220,000 a year for each student. States and school districts pick up the tab.

The Rotenberg Center is the only facility in the country that disciplines students by shocking them, a form of punishment not inflicted on serial killers or child molesters or any of the 2.2 million inmates now incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons. Over its 36-year history, six children have died in its care, prompting numerous lawsuits and government investigations. Last year, New York state investigators filed a blistering report that made the place sound like a high school version of Abu Ghraib. Yet the program continues to thrive—in large part because no one except desperate parents, and a few state legislators, seems to care about what happens to the hundreds of kids who pass through its gates.

Employees shocked him for aggressive behavior, he says, but also for minor misdeeds, like yelling or cursing. Each shock lasts two seconds. "It hurts like hell," Rob says. (The school's staff claim it is no more painful than a bee sting; when I tried the shock, it felt like a horde of wasps attacking me all at once. Two seconds never felt so long.) On several occasions, Rob was tied facedown to a four-point restraint board and shocked over and over again by a person he couldn't see. The constant threat of being zapped did persuade him to act less aggressively, but at a high cost. "I thought of killing myself a few times," he says.

Rob's mother Jo-Anne deLeon had sent him to the Rotenberg Center at the suggestion of the special-ed committee at his school district in upstate New York, which, she says, told her that the program had everything Rob needed. She believed he would receive regular psychiatric counseling—though the school does not provide this.

As the months passed, Rob's mother became increasingly unhappy. "My whole dispute with them was, 'When is he going to get psychiatric treatment?'" she says. "I think they had to get to the root of his problems—like why was he so angry? Why was he so destructive? I really think they needed to go in his head somehow and figure this out." She didn't think the shocks were helping, and in 2002 she sent a furious fax demanding that Rob's electrodes be removed before she came up for Parents' Day. She says she got a call the next day from the executive director, Matthew Israel, who told her, "You don't want to stick with our treatment plan? Pick him up."
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We have all heard of this Rotenburg Center in NY-and still it is up and running.......
I hate to say it-but it sounds eeeerily familiar-suggestions from the "school district" on what is best for your child.........sigh....

Makes me want to take my kids and run for the hills.....

A Different Drum-beautiful

A Different Drum
From Kerry Jones

"You will be extremely happy to know that you have nothing in common with me. You glide along through life like a leaf down a crystal stream. You tend to steer in the direction everyone else is steering, and the road ahead of you is well lit and mapped out. Your children have been welcomed with open arms by everyone they’ve met, and your home is a bastion of peace, harmony, and good will. Best of all, your homeschooling experience has been the most rewarding and inspiring era of your life, and you’ve never doubted your calling for even a moment. See? I told you that you have nothing in common with me.

Me... well, my life has been slightly different. My leaf tends to get stuck against every wet rock of the stream, my steering has been out of alignment for as long as I can remember, and the road I am on has been steep, winding, and many times even closed for construction.

My children, both with special needs, have been stared at, frowned upon, and pitied in their turn, and my home can feel much more like an open battlefield than a fortress at times. And frankly, I’ve been tempted to quit homeschooling more times than I’ve been tempted to cheat on my diet, and that is saying a lot. However, while my life in no way resembles yours, you needn’t feel sorry for me one bit. I like my life ... actually, I love it - every little bit of it - because God made me especially for it.

So many things in life seem designed with the "average" person in mind, don’t they? Airplane passenger seats are designed for an average size person, standardized tests are designed for the average student, and medicine doses are prescribed with the average person in mind. I’ll never forget the feeling of empathy I felt when I saw someone being asked to move along because they wouldn’t fit into a ride at a theme park. Or the first time I saw children on a park playground laughing at my son because he couldn’t control the jerking tics caused by his Tourette Syndrome. Our society caters to the average person... the average family... the average way of life. Unfortunately, I just can’t squeeze myself into that mold.

Homeschoolers used to be marginalized too, but over the years, they have become more accepted and respected. Within the homeschooling community, there are now groupings that help people fit in. There are Christian homeschoolers, unschoolers, Classical schoolers, Waldorf schoolers, Montessori schoolers, and traditional schoolers. Would you believe that I don’t fit into any of those either? We are Christians, but aren’t really homeschooling for religious reasons, we read the classics, but our exposure to Latin consists of what is written on the backs of our coins, and my worn-out lesson plan book would attest that I am a far cry from adopting unschooling in the near future. I suppose I simply don’t assimilate well.

Strangely enough, though, my life is far from impossible. Someone had the good sense to design a few things with the irregular person in mind. TiVo invented a way to automatically record any show that happens to concern Jane Austen - my current obsession. Tombstone miraculously created a frozen pizza that is half cheese and half supreme - the only way my family will eat it. I recently saw a magazine in the library for people who garden on their deck. I truly thought I was the only one guiding squash vines around the railing posts. And thank heavens for Time4Learning.com, a multimedia homeschool curriculum that is so well suited for the out-of-the-box learner.

I have learned over time that the kingdom of God is certainly an upside-down kingdom, and that swimming against the current is actually inevitable. Praying for my enemies, returning kindness for evil, and forgiving those who are beyond forgiveness are part of the inverted life I’ve been asked to lead. So, I shouldn’t be all that surprised that my leaf takes a few hits as it heads downstream. The image I see in my mirror each day looks different from any other image I see in the world around me because God has asked me to model a life that is far from average. In fact, I think God delights in the fact that I am abnormal... unusual... exceptional.

Because of this, I know that when I hit the roadblocks of life, I can find a way around them. When my children face the challenges of being different, I can remind them that means they are on the right track! When the normal battles of life take over my home, I understand that I will win the war in the end. And when I have laid my head down on my pillow at the end of a difficult day, and wondered why God has called me to this thing called "homeschooling" - I will remember that it is because I have been called according to His purpose. Called to be different."



See-I told you this was beautiful!!!! :)

This and That.....

Well Summer is about winding down........and you know what-for the first time I can honestly say.....Im not thrilled-LOLOLOL

Stinger has been really good-we still have our days, but its been "pleasant" -if thats what you call it....but Im excited for school to start-excited abt teaching him-whereas abt this time I would normally be a nervous wreck-just imagining another horrible school year. WHOOT!!!!! YEAH!!!*sigh of relief*

Swimming has finished up too-he is now in level 2. He was fabulous- and LOVED waking up early every morning to go. He got a certificate and asked if he could sign up for fall lessons-which we are going to do possibly. Im still unsure abt Flamingos' soccer schedule-so we shall see-either way-we will be going to the pool probably once a week when school starts. I still am kicking myself at having put swimming lessons off for so long-I guess I was just assuming it would go how other extra activities had gone. But he has taken to it like a duck to water. Its sooo nice to see him looking forward to an activity. As you all know those are so far and few.

I got the letter from the District. It stated that the IEP team had met( hey-I thought I was a member of this "team") and they have decided that the K12 program at home was not the Least Restricted Environment for Stinger.......so according to them at school would be and the school is where he should be given special services as it is the Least Restricted Environment. Hmmmmmm...I find that hard to belive that a timeout room all day is the least restricted environment or a plywood box for that matter...but who am I -eh, just a parent here?
But since I have chosen the K12 program I am "refusing" such "services" and should I want such "services" I need to call them. What a bunch of bunk-eh? But BIG surprise there....

So we decided who really cares and I signed the stupid paper. I mailed it in today. I called my legal people and they said if they(the Team) have decided that its not the Least Restricted Environment than they arent obligated to provide services as Stinger by IDEA law is to be taught in the LRE...so....I guess thsi is there way of getting past the red tape-and so be it...

We will be fine without them. Better if you ask me.

I got an email today abt that little 8 yr old girl who was in the timeout room for 3 hours who was made to wet herself(how familiar). It was all in the news and everything. Seams these parents took it to court or Due Process-Im not sure-and the school LOST!!!!!WHOOT!!!!!
........oh so tempting it is, now that I KNOW I'd win...........sigh....but Id rather wash my hands of that whole nightmare.

Im looking ahead-not behind us any longer. On to better tomorrows-eh?

Retaliation story.....

Have you all heard abt this lady from Georgia-she is truly living everyones nightmare! I could just see our school pulling this! Eeek!
Anyway-this stuff DOES happen....
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"Never Doubt that Retaliation Is Real"

I opened my email yesterday to find this link to a story in the Georgia news. A mother of an autistic boy near Macon, Georgia had been arrested for violating truancy laws. There weren't very many years ago that I wouldn't have thought twice about such a story and if I did, I would likely have thought "what a horrible mother."But this mom is far from a horrible mother. I don't know her personally, but do know of her. She is a tireless advocate for children with special needs and assists parents as they work with schools to get the right special education for their children.

These words jumped off the page at me: "…she requested hospital/homebound instruction for her son in May of last year on the advice of his doctor, who diagnosed the child as having post-traumatic stress disorder and needing home instruction."

Hmmm…in March of last year on the advice of LuLu's doctor, I requested hospital/homebound instruction, too. And LuLu not only has been diagnosed with PTSD, but according to her doctor, needed home instruction due to the level of anxiety. Like this mother's request, mine was denied. In both cases the school districts decided that they did not need to comply with a doctor's request to provide hospital/homebound educational services. I'm told that denying a doctor's request for medical homebound education is virtually unheard of in other states. But here in Georgia there are actually separate rules and standards for children in general education vs. children in special education. (And the general education children's hospital homebound requests are honored.)

In this mother's story, the school district went one step further. They filed truancy charges against her since her son was not attending school. On Friday things really came to a head when she was arrested and then released on a $1,100 bond.

Now that hasn't happened to me…yet. But frankly I wouldn't be surprised to hear from the truancy officer. This awesome mom is living my life! Perhaps I won't have to follow her into the next chapter, but who knows? For the past year, in addition to trying to help so many others, she has been teaching her son at home, keeping detailed records and information about his progress. And she's been actively helping and advocating for special needs children and their families. Not to mention her passionate advocacy for her own son, who is getting no services from the school district.

Instead he was verbally abused on the bus and had unexplained bruises. His anxieties were definitely triggered.

So, is there any doubt that retaliation is at the core of this move on the school's part? It's not like they didn't know where the kid was or that she was educating him to the best of her abilities at home. It's not like they didn't know they had a dispute going on. It's not like they tried to negotiate and resolve this issue. Instead, they hit her with the biggest hammer they could find.The next stop…state court.

This brave mom is facing all this alone, as (get this) her husband's currently serving in Iraq. Let me get this straight, what we have here is a stressed out parent of an autistic boy who was being abused enough at school to not only show bruises, but develop PTSD. The said mom doesn't even have her spouse to lean on as he's off fighting for our country, although I can imagine how nerve-wracking it must be for him being that far away from this whole mess.

Does this sound like the picture you had of public schools? Of nice teachers and cherubic children; of friendly administrators welcoming parents with opening arms; of caring professionals who have the child's best interest a heart?I'll admit it. If I weren't living in this parallel universe along side this woman and her son, I'd be tempted to say that someone is making this up! I didn't believe, even after we filed due process, that school personnel could be dishonest, manipulative, cruel and vindictive. I truly thought other parents were being paranoid and exaggerating the truth.
Schools would never treat parents this way!
Nope, it ain't a joke or an exaggeration; no one can make up a story this outlandish!
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Just a tad bit worring-no?