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Liz related that these were the words that Buddy Boy said when he entered the meeting at the school this afternoon. Was this a disciplinary meeting, an IEP meeting, something worse? No. Buddy Boy's principal (who has a special education background) asked Buddy Boy if he would mind talking to a group of teachers and staff about autism. Dr. D. is a fair person who has high expectations from all of her students, and has also gone out of her way to give Buddy Boy the benefit of the doubt in multiple instances when he has gotten into "situations" at school. We will miss her next year when he goes to middle school (for those that are not regular followers of this blog, Buddy Boy is currently mainstreamed in a regular 5th grade class).

Dr. D. had a few lunchtime meetings with Buddy Boy to discuss what questions she was going to ask him in front of the group (things like how he felt about being autistic, what he liked about it, what difficulties it presented, etc.). I'm not sure what the purpose of the gathering was, but it included teachers from all of the district schools, including the middle and high schools. In short, it was a pretty full room.

Now you would think that most people would be a little nervous talking to such a big group. I myself get nervous talking in front of groups, and I teach! For his part, Buddy Boy gets extremely anxious when he does anything with his peers. He WANTS to be involved with them and do things (singing, band), but at the last minute his anxiety is so high that he has a lot of difficulty partaking in performances, even when he is only one of a group of many that is performing. Thank heaven for occasional guardian angels.

But this afternoon, in front of a room full of teachers, he was in his element. Not a trace of anxiety. He stood in front of them, talked for about 10 minutes, then fielded questions for another 10 minutes or so. I suspect he helped their understanding of how autistics think both directly and indirectly (at one point he did one of his 270 degree segues, saying "...speaking of which, if we could harness the space inside of atoms, we could probably come up with a new energy source to help people out").

The audience was friendly and respectful. One art teacher, who had had him briefly as a student 5 1/2 years ago for a couple of months (when we had a really bad experience in Kindergarten) said that she remembered Buddy Boy. Buddy Boy turned to look at her, addressed her by name, and told her he remembered making a "pinch pot" with her. It's amazing the things he remembers sometimes. Another teacher related how when they were covering a unit on caves, that she learned new things from Buddy Boy that she had not known about caves before.

Liz and I both agree that many there were probably surprised that Buddy Boy considers his autism a "gift". He admits that it causes difficulties sometimes, but he definitely sees the upside of being autistic. He came to this all on his own, without us trying to push him in any particular direction. I think it's great that they see such a perspective, so that perhaps some of them will also see the upside of being autistic, and not pigeonhole students with negative assumptions. I also think it's great that Dr. D. sets such a great example to her teachers and staff. She really gets the message out that she wants ALL of her kids to succeed.

I just think it's great that I can write a post regarding school and a meeting, and feel good about it.

Joe

Call Me Ishmael

Summer is a great time in our house. Mostly because school is out. There's no waiting for dreaded phone calls, no worrying about academics being shunted aside in favor of watered down "make work" or "compliance", and little worry about increased stress levels (for all of us).

Summer is a time of tending the garden, kids going to camp, taking a vacation (holiday), and neighborhood festivals. Academics aren't totally left behind, but they're done on our schedule and in light of our kids' needs, not on the school system's. Liz does a yeoman's job of making sure the kids read (and get read to) each day, and filling the gaps of things they didn't quite get during the school year. She's even found kids versions of classic books for them to read.

Buddy Boy struggles somewhat with math, and Liz has systematically investigated how he processes math problems, and come up with some novel strategies to assist him. After months of failing to be able to memorize basic multiplication facts (e.g., 6 x 6 = 36), Liz found some workbooks that use stories and rhymes to assist in memorizing math facts. They seem to be working.

But studying is pretty low key, and the kids don't seem to mind a couple of short sessions each day.

So what did we do today, when temperatures topped out at 98 degrees Fahrenheit (36.7 Celcius)? Stay inside, crank up the air conditioning? No way. There was a local carnival in a nearby park, and the kids kept asking to go.

We didn't stay all that long (it was pretty hot, after all), but the kids had a good time. Afterwards, we went to a local ice cream parlor for another time honored rite of summer.

Sweet Pea had a little trepidation about tackling the ride pictured above (you sit in a seat that goes around and around in a big 50 feet vertical circle), but eventually said that she wanted to do it. Although she looked a bit scared when it started up, by the end of the ride she loved it. Buddy Boy went with her, and provided moral support.

Buddy Boy's also been working on jokes lately (everything from "knock knock" jokes to puns). Sometimes they're funny, sometimes they're not, but he's getting much better overall. When he got off the ride, he walked up to us and said very seriously, "Call me Ishmael". We just had to laugh.