Autism Humor

I noticed a while back that Ryan had a difficult time filling forms.  He can do the basic name, address, and phone number.  However, many forms want the information above or below the line.  With job and college applications, medical and insurance forms, etc, it can be really confusing! 

So I've been teaching Ryan how to fill out forms.  Today's form was a fundraising order form for Cam's little league team. Ryan did well with the form.  Onward we went.  Since this was a fundraiser, I had to pay for the items.  Hmmm.  The check presented another form.

Ryan felt confident.  Ryan filled out the amount and the date on the check.  He then looked to me.  Who was to receive the check?   I told him to look on the order form to find out who to make it payable to.  On the form it said, "Make Checks Payable To The Organization Benefitting From The Fundraiser."

Guess who the check is made payable to?

Yeah, The Organization Benefitting...

Well, that's if he didn't ask.  I saw that Ryan was only seeing the literal meaning of the words, not the figurative meaning.  Once I explained it, Ryan filled out the check correctly.

Lesson of the story:  Never assume!

Autism and Interviews: Award -Winning!

Ryan is a finalist!  I received word late this week that Ryan is a scholarship winner.  I don't know how much.  The amount will be announced on May 12.  Ryan tried to hide his smile when I told him.  Hence, no picture to show.  I think he was genuinely surprised!

Now we are focusing on what classes to take.  Ryan wants to take online classes, and only writing classes.  He also wants his own laptop, so he can write undisturbed.

We finally have a course of action!  Yea.

Photo credit:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/with/6355220839/

Autism and Interviews: Time Marches On!

Oceanside Beach, 2012

It's been a week since Ryan's interview for a scholarship.  We have not heard anything.  That doesn't seem to bother Ryan.  I, however, want to know.

Alas, we've been busy doing other things.  Today, Ryan and I filled out required paperwork for his SSI application.  At least, we know that is in progress.  That is another story.  All this government bureaucracy is time consuming.  Tis a lesson in patience, and I've learned that the lessons in patience take the longest.

Sigh.

So I try to be patient.  Easiest way to do that is to picture the beach.  Sunset too.  Tis timeless.

Autism and Interviews: Mindful!

The application process was slow.  I picked up the application.  Ryan and I read through all the pages.  We found the requirements, and Ryan and I agreed what the required steps would be.  We agreed what he could do on his own, and what he might need help to accomplish.  We set deadlines.  The plan was set.

Until deadlines passed.

One of the first items we addressed was who to ask for letters of recommendation.  We needed three, and those three had to fulfill different requirements set in the application form.  We obtained the first one easily as that was a family friend.

The second was given to a teacher.  I put a post-it on it with our personal deadline--three days ahead of the application deadline.  Our lives were busy, and the initial day passed.  I asked Ryan if he received the letter of recommendation from his teacher.  Nope.  I reminded him to get it.  The next day he forgot.  I texted him the following day, and I emailed the teacher.  Ryan received it.  We had one day left.

Ryan had to write a page describing several aspects of himself.  Having autism, he wrote everything within four sentences.  Four hundred words were required.  Elaboration was needed.  Ryan knew what that meant.  His little brother sang a song when he was in second or third grade.  The words to that song:  elaboration means tell me more.  Ryan understood that.  How can he write more?  Why was it needed?  He has expressed himself concisely. He answered each question.

The first question he answered--he answered with:  I have autism.  That means I don't like to talk with people.

Blunt.  Honest.  I wondered how that would go over to his reading audience.  Most papers probably described each applicant's career plans and how each will conquer poverty and achieve world peace.  Not my son's.  He just says he doesn't want to talk with people.  Hmm.

Ryan wanted to be a writer, but he couldn't elaborate about himself.  Oh yeah.  Lots of steps.  We worked on this like an English assignment.  We wrote out the who, why, where, when, what, and how questions.  We added prepositional phrases.  Then we wrote out clauses, and we expanded the ideas.  Talk about stretching.  Physically and mentally, it was a workout.

But we had it done, and we turned it in about two hours before the deadline.  Whew.

A few weeks later, we received a call, saying that he was a finalist.  He needed to schedule an interview.  YEA.  That brings us to his interview last Sunday.  And we await the results.

Ryan is hopeful.  So am I!

Autism and Interviews: Mindless Mess

A serious Ryan, after interview

So Ryan didn't want to go to college, but he acknowledged that getting a job or writing to support himself was going to be difficult.

We opened the door to another thought.  No college.  What else could bring Ryan to his goal of independence?  A trade school?  An apprenticeship?  Again, Ryan had a perplexing issue to face.  Really, it was impossible.

Ryan has a difficult time relating to anything without a reference point.  To name an occupation, career, job, class, or anything is meaningless to Ryan.  Unless he is familiar with it.  So we spend hours trying to find examples for Ryan.  Research on the computer amounted to little success.

We kept coming back to classes.  Any class.  One class.  Just something that might spark an interest.  No degree or career in mind.  Just a class.

I took him online, and we visited a local college website.  I brought up writing classes.  Ryan narrowed the search to include online classes only.  I asked why.  He responded that he didn't want to talk.  He wasn't ready to talk.

New issue.  Well, not so new.  We know Ryan doesn't like to talk with people.  However, HE expressed that he's not ready for college.  That was a BIG step.

We found an online beginning writing class.  SUCCESS.

Then he was interested in the scholarship, and the deadline was a few weeks away.

Autism and Interviews: Mindblowing!

Ryan with a smirk, after interview

So what did we do to get Ryan to the scholarship interview?  Twas a long process just to get to this point.  Many, many steps.

First step was convincing Ryan to apply.  Ryan has expressed that he doesn't want to go to college.  Ryan wants to write his book.  I am fine with him writing his book.  I really like the fact that he can write.  It is an outlet for him--to create and express himself.  For a teen with autism, any outlet for creativity and expression is awesome!

Back to college.  I really don't care if Ryan goes to college.  I want him to have a productive, happy, full life, doing what he wishes to do.  Ryan wishes to be independent.  How is that going to happen?  How is HE going to make it happen?  In Ryan's words, "I'm not sure."

Two years ago, Mike and I started to encourage Ryan to think about potential careers.  After months, we concluded that was too big a step.  We then narrowed the thought to jobs.  What type of job would Ryan want to do?  That still was too foreign to Ryan.  We fine-tuned our focus to classes.  What classes would Ryan enjoy?

None of these worked, ultimately.

We changed the approach.  We told Ryan he could not stay at our house and "be independent".  We asked Ryan to define what independent meant to him.  Eventually, he said, "Do everything on my own."  Steps.  We then wrote down what he meant by everything.  Finally, we hit money.  He wants to be financially free from us.  How?  He wants to write. 

Could he support himself with writing?  How much money would he need?  We required him to write a budget, which needed to include rent, utilities, and food.  Then there was transportation, entertainment, clothes, haircuts, etc.  Ryan realized he would need a lot of money, more specifically, a steady income.

More steps.

We then expanded a little.  Would writing produce that income?  How many professional writers lived entirely on their income from their written works?  Ryan could name one.  After research, he found that she didn’t live on her writings until she produced a book about a kid named Harry Potter.  That took a few years for her to acquire that income.

More steps to follow.

Autism and Interviews: Mindboggling!

Ryan with new shades--after the interview

Ryan had an interview today for a college scholarship.  He dressed up and arrived well before his appointed time.  Since the person scheduled before him didn’t show up, Ryan went early.  I think that was a blessing.  Less time to get nervous.

I prayed Ryan would talk.  Nothing like being in an interview when the applicant won’t talk!  My imagination cringed.  What was happening in there?  I worried about stupid questions that weren’t questions, like, “Tell us about yourself.”  Ryan can answer questions with no problem, but talk about generalities or relay a bunch of information?  Not so much.

Since I drove Ryan to the interview, I waited on a bench not too far away.  I tried to distract myself by reading.  I read a page.  Then reread it.  On the third go-round, Ryan plopped next to me.  Maybe ten minutes had passed.

I asked if it was done.  He replied casually, “Yep.”  I didn’t want to make too big a deal of this, but I was so curious.  Keeping in mind that this was probably mentally exhausting for Ryan, I asked one more question, “Did you talk?”  His response, “Yep.”

Now we wait for the results.