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| 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.
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