Ryan Turns 19

Ryan's favorite ice cream

Today is Ryan's birthday.  He's been counting down the days for over two weeks.  I think he is more excited about turning 19 than he was 18.  Wonder why?

Could be many reasons!

I think there is less stress in Ryan's life.  He graduated last May, so he's not in school full time.  He starts his college classes tomorrow.  He's only taking a few classes, and he's chosen them.  Unlike high school, where there were standards and requirements, Ryan is taking college slowly.  As of now, Ryan is enrolled in 3 college classes, but he's taking one class at a time.

Ryan is in control of his time.  He continues to write his book.  He's writing all day, every day.  He doesn't have to deal with a lot of people, so less communication is required of him.

Ryan has less commitments, but he's trying new things.  At his pace.  Ryan's learning to drive.  He is exploring new communication technology.  He now has a computer, so this technology can open a new world of learning for him.

Ryan's also accomplished a lot this year.  Besides graduating, Ryan spoke at a regional autism conference, played on a competitive team sport, and passed his drivers permit test. Those are a few highlights.

Of course, Mom and Dad still push Ryan in adult responsibilities as Ryan yearns for complete independence.  Ryan has grown and matured a lot this past year.  He seems to be getting comfortable in his own skin.  We are very proud of him.

Ryan doesn't know what he's going to pursue, career-wise.  Lots to think about there for any 19 year old, let alone a teenager with autism.  However, today, we're celebrating.

Like all of us, Ryan is a work in progress!  Happy Birthday...

Mom's Homework: Communication and Paperwork

School started last Wednesday, Aug 7.  I am not a huge fan of school.  I get a lot of homework.  People laugh when I say that, but I really don't find humor in it.  I'm not going to classes, so why do I have homework?  Someone has to be my sons' advocate!  I am not even going to mention the forms that have to be filled out annually.

To start, I make sure every teacher knows that my sons have autism.  Two years ago, I didn't do this, and it took the case manager a month to get the IEP out to the teachers.  After a few weeks of school, I could see Ryan struggling in a class, and I wrote the teacher about his having autism and the accommodations in the IEP.  She had no clue that Ryan had autism, and she asked, "Won't he ask questions like everyone else?"  My response was (sigh), "No.  He has autism.  He doesn't like to talk, let alone ask questions."

I learned my lesson, that I was right, to take the initiative and communicate with the teachers.  The one year I didn't became a difficult year, well, more difficult than normal.

Back to this year.  Last Monday morning I was up and at the computer by 7:10am.  At 7:16am I sent my first email.  By 7:47am I had written 5 emails to teachers, explaining issues that Nick was already experiencing, mostly due to a schedule mishap.  Someone had left his third period blank.  Most classes by this time had been filled, so to find an appropriate class was next to impossible.  Once filled, Nick was told that he'd keep all his current teachers.  Relief.  A few seconds later, he was told that one teacher would be switched.

By that time Nick had already processed that the teachers would remain the same.  For him to process and switch back to the issue, which was just concluded, was missed.  That happened last week, so now I'm trying to see what we can do to get that one teacher back on Nick's schedule.

No communication was given to any teachers involved, except what I had sent out.  Some teachers responded back quickly.  By 10am I had sent and responded to about 15 emails.  That's not counting phone calls and voice mails.

The teachers were grateful for the communication.  They were very willing to work with Nick until the issue was resolved.  Thankfully, Nick decided to keep the classes he had.  He was finally able to tell me that it was the change itself.  Once he went through the new schedule a few days, he was fine.

I am thankful that the teachers were patient and understanding, but it took my time and effort to communicate with the teachers about Nick.  That is my homework!

So Literal!

Nick came home with Spanish homework.  He had several worksheets to complete.  He filled those out rather easily, but it was painstakingly time consuming.  To help him study, we picked just a section to review.  The easiest section was the days of the week.

At the top of the paper, I wrote the Spanish word for Monday, which is lunes.  I told Nick to write Monday five times.  I explained to Nick that he needs to learn how to write, say, and spell these Spanish words, including accents.  Nick has a great memory, especially when concepts are repeated.

I came back a few minutes later to find that Nick had written Monday five times under lunes.  I asked him, "Why?" Of course, I quickly answered, "Because that's what I said.  Isn't it?"  He shook his head yes.

How easily I forget.  I naturally thought he'd understand to write lunes five times under lunes.  However, that is NOT what I said.  He followed what I said.

This just underscores how precise I have to be, especially now with Nick studying another language.  Oh boy!