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Dragon, Dysgraphia and Dictated Discourse
This is a little like walking when you're used to flying. Yikes. Today, I'm dictating this post with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the speech-to-text software that doctors and lawyers use and that more...
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BMV Revisited: A Driving Desire to Drive
Son Fickle Fan just flunked the written driver's ed test. And he's okay with that. So are we. For months, FF and I have been wending our way through the Indiana Rules of the Road manual in preparation...
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Independent Living for Young Adults on the Autism Spectrum
Son Fickle Fan doesn't want to live with us. This isn't a shattering new revelation. He began delivering that message in the clearest possible terms as early as 8th grade. It's not that he doesn't love...
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Now We're Getting Somewhere
The hubs and I were looking over the roller coaster path of the last couple of months, and I gotta say we're actually climbing. Sure, there've been a few dips along the way (an odd calculus course at...
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Step Back, Mom! Or How I Became a Rhinoceras
A few weeks ago, I received an early Mother's Day present from 22-year-old Daughter Dearest. She  sat me down and after a deep breath, oh-so politely told me to back off. I think the actual exchange...
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Change Is Not a 6-Letter Expletive
In the autism world, "change" is a dirty word. If this were Hogwarts, wizards would be whispering the ch-word as if it were He Who Must Not Be Named. Â But if we expect the secondary transition years to...
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Fired: Another Lesson Learned
Son Fickle Fan lost his job a month ago. He was fired. I've been trying to figure out how to share that with all of you--this is my umpteenth attempt--without pointing fingers or giving you the wrong...
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An Asperger's Diagnosis in College: Girl Interrupted
We pretty much knew that son Fickle Fan, diagnosed with mild-to-moderate autism at the age of 3 1/2, would need some long-term supports and parental paving-of-the-way to successfully, safely progress...
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My Shrinking Boy: The Challenges of Maintaining a Healthy Weight on the ASD...
299.6! That's the celebrated number of the day. It's what appeared on the scale after son Fickle Fan's latest workout at the gym. And, yes, that's a GOOD number. It's what we're calling his sub-goal,...
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Suggestion Box Issue No. 573: It's Time to Separate Medicaid from Medicaid...
Cindy MannDeputy Administrator and DirectorCenter for Medicaid and CHIP ServicesCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services7500 Security Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21244Dear Director Mann:I know you probably...
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Accommodate or Modify?
There's usually a big leap, content- and testing-wise, between middle school and high school. Not a big surprise. However, when students with disabilities have been working with a modified curriculum,...
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Planning and Chunking a Writing Assignment: How It's Done
Assignment: short research paper--1,000 words, on an election issue in the U.S. and incorporating information about current election issues from your choice one of the four selected international...
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Acceptance and the Dark Cloud of Doom
FF and I had one of those car discussions this morning about his autism. He's sick of it. He would get rid of it in a minute if he could. It makes him different and that's what's so painful about it,...
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Transition in the Trenches: Midwinter Mash Up
Notes. In no particular order, here's a little of what's been happening during January and February in our neck of the woods. These could all be little individual posts, but today you get a mash up....
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The Situation: Summer Job No Supports
The summer job dilemma. With his classes at Ivy Tech ending in mid-May, FF has decided a part-time summer job might be a good thing. We agree. How does he make that happen? I wish there was an e-how...
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The Phone Interview
FF, on the phone in kitchen: "Yes, hello. This is he."The prearranged morning phone interview with a major big box company gets underway. This is a first. FF usually only talks on the phone with family...
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Career Choice with a Twist: Ducking the Usual Question
"What do you like to do?"Â Son Fickle Fan gets asked that question probably seven to ten times a year, because if you don't know where you're headed career-wise, that's where every employment...
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On a Random Tuesday
On a random Tuesdaywhile I was at work, I got a phone call from FF. Bam. There's that gut-wrenching feeling. Now what? Parent T in T readers get this. It's the quaking you experience when you see that...
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Some Passions Never Die, But I Really Wish This One Would
When I kick the bucket, I'll know instantly that I've gone to the wrong place if I hear the non-lilting falsetto strains of Pikachu assaulting me as I cross the threshold. I can't tell you how much I...
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Talking the Talk
I've spent the holidays subjected to FF and my husband as they second guess the refs, coach from the couch, and discuss which quarterback has what stats and why. It's bowl season. The ridiculous number...
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Have You Talked with Your Parents About When They Die?
Last semester FF was dutifully (not a word I often apply to him) doing his homework for his Intro to Sociology course at the local community college. And this question came up. Yes, that one up there...
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Different Worlds
Both of my children perch precariously on the higher functioning end of the autism spectrum (often, of course, not-so-higher-functioning). And that's as close as they may ever get, because in reality...
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Telemarketers in Transition
I confess. I screen the telemarketers. Given that son FF's phone skills are less than sparkling, and his tolerance for people asking him questions is low, at best, I stop the always-at-dinnner...
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Playing by the Rules: Self-Advocacy in College for Students on the Spectrum
You would think we would know how to play Adventures in Community College Land by now. Maybe not.It's a tricky one, this game--a live action role-playing, Dungeons and Dragonish venture, seemingly...
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All the Comforts of Home
Daughter Dearest opened her refrigerator to make herself some breakfast this week, only to discover a pan of chicken feet lying in wait on the bottom shelf. For someone with OCD and Aspergers, you can...
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