September 1, 2011 - Here We Go Again!

I haven't been writing recently, mostly because things have been pretty mellow - and you know how life has a way of running over the best layed plans. However, I have a feeling that things are about to get very noteworthy! My daughter is starting high school. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by since her diagnosis and how much things have changed. Although somethings, sadly, remain the same.

To catch up - my daughter successfully graduated from the 8th grade. It was all very traditional, except for the rhinestone spider headband that she wore. She wore a beautiful dress, and her look was all her - she curled her hair, which was blue at the time, wore a corsage - and looked all-around beautiful. She even attended the after ceremony celebration, which consisted of a dinner and dance aboard a river boat. Granted, by evening's end she was completely through with the experience. But she did it and she allowed herself to have the experience.

Following graduation, she left for a two-week vacation without me or her sisters, which I think was difficult, but rewarding at the same time. She was uncomfortable and had some tears, but worked through it and was glad that she went.

Now for school - we had our first Aspie moment of the school year (which hasn't even officially started) at the Freshman orientation. There's a new booster shot that's required of all 7-12th graders, and my daughter hasn't had it. She's extremely needle phobic - so when we stepped into the clinic set up at the school, things didn't exactly go well. I thought that if she could see other kids getting the shot, she would be more receptive to it. Not the case - she went a little ape shit - excuse my language. There was no way, short of restraining her that it was going to happen. The administrators gave her a waiver for the shot and we got her schedule - thank goodness! However, once we had her schedule, I realized that the school had put her in a special education class because of her IEP. This was Wednesday of last week. I called her couselor on Thursday and sent him a detailed email explaining that my daughter had never been in a special education class, and didn't need the class. In addition, she had no social studies or foreign language in her schedule. I didn't hear back from him, so called again the next day. The following Monday he emailed me to let me know that I needed to speak with the vice principal, so I started calling him immediately. I called him everyday and sent him emails until finally giving up and going into his office to speak with him in person today. I'm sure that he was a bit surprised to see me there - but I know how to play this game now and it's better for him to get to know me early on. He was kind enough to pull my daughter from the special ed class and put her in art instead - though he reminded me several times how difficult it was because of the size of the school and the limitations on teachers. Yeah, yeah - whatever!

So, here we go again - another school year, and another hurdle, otherwise known as a vice principal to jump. I'll keep you posted on our progress (whether that's forward or backward).

REMEMBER - Different is beautiful!

September 1, 2011

I've added a link to an article titled "Diagnosis and All That Jazz...A Female Perspective on Autism." It's a fabulous article from the first hand experiences of a twenty-year old recently diagnosed Aspie.

August 24, 2011 - Sacramento Bee Article

I've added a link to an article in the Sacramento Bee yesterday titled "Asperger's: Into Young Adulthood." Great article that will sound very familiar to a lot of you. I felt like I could have written it about my daughter. Enjoy and share.

Flower Girl

Another piece of work by my daughter - THE girl with Asperger's.

March 15, 2011 - The Contradiction

I've found that the longer I've dealt with Asperger's and the more I've assimilated to the quirks associated with our day to day lives, the less I have to say. I also think that I've hit a point where I feel like in some ways I've surrendered. There's still the daily stress in the morning, trying to get my daughter out of bed, the struggle to get her to do her school work, the constant battle over food - and I think "just screw it". Really, I mean just go through the movements, move from one spot to the next and repeat again the next day.

Then there's a spark of brilliance. My daughter tried out for and won a role in the play Romeo and Juliet. This is a very ambitious play for middle school, but she went to rehearsals daily, did all of her work and performed in four separate performances - in which she had four very long monologues. She will put herself out there - and she can excel. She's got the imagination of a great writer, poet or playwrite - we just can't seem to get her to a place where she can put it down in some form. Writing is generally out - the contradiction is that she writes in a journal almost compulsively. When I ask her to tell me a story, she'll begin talking and giving me the most amazing visuals - but when I put a recorder in front of her, she freezes.

I'm back to wondering what will become of this brilliant contradiction of a girl and when I'll figure out just how to condense all of her creativity and brilliance into a format that can benefit her.

The struggle continues.

Remember - DIFFERENT IS BEAUTIFUL!

January 3, 2011 - Your Little Professor

I've added a link to a website I recently found called Your Little Professor. It has great information about Asperger's in easy to read text. It also has links to some great articles and reports. The more you know, the better you can advocate.

Remember - DIFFERENT IS BEAUTIFUL!