The Power of Karate

James has been taking Karate for just over a year now and to be sure, he has grown immensely over the past year. At the beginning, he was sullen, would often not participate, couldn't tie his belt, was confrontational, was stripped of his belt twice.... Pretty much he was a walking disaster in a white/yellow belt.  Fast forward 12 short months... James was awarded his Purple belt today!  (White, white/yellow, yellow, orange, purple).  James is now disciplined, respectful and cooperative (well most of the time).  And apparently Karate has given him super powers. After his seizure a week or so ago, I was over vigilant in checking on him.  He looked at me and stated, "Mom, I'm fine. You know I have an Orange belt with 5 stripes in Karate."  And then today, when he was picked up at school he came out in a wheelchair. Apparently he hurt his foot and one of his resource teachers said something and all he could remember was he now had some kind of "itus".  After much deliberation, he decided to go to Karate to get his new belt.  He even remembered to limp a little when he felt us watching him, otherwise he was bouncing and happy in his class.  Karate certainly has powers beyond the ordinary!!

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

We all know that there are good times and bad times in the land of Autism.  There are up and downs.  Moments we want to treasure and relive and moments we want to erase from our memories.  Friday had some of the best times and Saturday, well not so much.
Friday was our family's day to appeal the regional center's decision not to cover the co-pays for James's ABA. We presented a strong case and have succeeded on part of the decision. They will be paying for the services that were rendered during the time we understood that they would be paying.  One point for the Laughter home!  The other piece of it is whether of not James continues to need such an intensive service given his current behavioral needs.  We should hear something by the end of this week.  After the meeting we went to Hometown Buffet, James's favorite restaurant because they make the best soft crust pizza!  James filled his plate with pizza and french fries, a typical meal for my little man.  He saw my husband was eating some orange chicken, another favorite of James's but he likes the one from Costco more.  He took a bite of my husband's and decided that he liked it, so he went to get some.  The orange chicken had sliced green onions on it and I was sure James would wipe them off of spit them out.  He astonished me by actually eating a piece with the forbidden green on it and stated that the ones with the green were the best.  He then stated that maybe he should add vegetables to his diet and he would start with corn.  UMMMM... not really sure how to respond to this except to say to him that there was corn available here and he could try  it.  He did and after a few seconds, spit it out declaring that corn was not going to be on the list!  Okay, things are going back to the normal we are familiar with!

Saturday started out like any other. Early morning shopping, working on the house, trying to pull James away from his wonderful computer Mine-craft game.  We finally succeeded and went out for more errands.  James fell asleep on the way to Costco, weird but it is the weekend and little man is entitled to extra sleep. He woke up when we asked him to get out of the car. Got into Costco and James and I sat at the cafe area and waited for our lunches to arrive.  One bite into his pizza while waiting for his drink to arrive, something happened.  My husband had gone to get the drinks and came back and asked what was going on. I must have been in shock and simply stated, "James is having a seizure." I must have snapped out of it at that point and went into epilepsy mode.  Make sure ... this and it is best if he is ... that.  The seizure was relatively short, about a minute but seemed like it lasted forever.  As James came out of it, he sat back up. During the seizure his head went quickly towards the table, good thing his plate of pizza was there to soften the fall!    IF James had been standing he would have went head first onto the concrete floor in Costco!  Anyway... James reported generally feeling unwell and shaking on the inside after he recovered.  He was as white as a sheet including his lips.  I started to feel better as his color returned. Lots of conversations about seizures and epilepsy.     His sister was contacted via texting and his nanny was also updated. The whole family is a little (by "a little" I mean a freakin' ton!!) freaked out.  James is fine and his neurologist and classroom teacher have been updated. Medication will be increased and he will have an appointment with the neurologist when school lets out in four weeks. Seizure log will be created and follow him to and from school.  It is a whole new way of looking at our little man now. Frequent checks on his status will be conducted while he is in his room.  We call his name every ten minutes or so, if he is quiet, and if he answers, great, if not... we do a walk by.  This is just another step to understanding James. He was diagnosed with Epilepsy when he was four, but seven years later it is a slap in the face reality.

I Have Epilepsy What is Your Story?

PEACE    

Triennial Done and Separation of Church and State

It has been a very busy month so far!  I have spent a large amount of my time when not at work, preparing for James's triennial IEP.  With the transition into 6th grade next year there was much to do.  James is doing well and made the honor roll again this grading period.  He missed the Principal's honor roll by a smidge due to his writing.  A simple Google search brought me to this gem... I Hate to Write Huh... someone I know resembles this.  Book will be added to our shelf soon.  Hopefully the resource teacher will add it to her arsenal as well. Another program James has been using with his speech teacher is the Superflex program, check it out... it really is wonderful!! Superflex Anyway, triennial done, James doing well, aide systematically being faded, new school district actually excited about getting James for sixth grade; all in all, it has been a great year, and looking forward to the future, finally.

James was doing homework on Monday, and got concerned when I asked him to finish. He still had definitions to complete on his spelling words. I asked him what the trouble was, and he said he didn't know how to do it. Definitions has been something he has done since the beginning of the school year, so I didn't see what the trouble was. James looked at me and said "But Mom, now I'm being asked to find the religion of the words!" It took very little time to understand what he meant, but his comment made me giggle. I asked him if he meant origin, and he said "Yes, I don't know how to find it." I showed him how to locate the origin of the words and homework was finally done. Just another giggly homework session at the Laughter House.

I know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Cat... Imagine That She Swallowed a CAT!!

Kiefer

Ninja

Literal thinking has it's place.  There are times when it is needed.  7:00 AM on a Monday morning may not be the place or time.  James was surprised that I was the one who woke him up this morning.  I thought I had told him that I would be home in the morning last night but maybe not.  Anyway, I was telling him why I needed to stay home.  I needed to go in for a Cat Scan.  This perplexed him.  First question, "what is a Cat Scan mom?" Well it is a way for doctors to see things that are in our bodies to see what is wrong.  "Are they looking for cats?" Before I could answer, James looked around, did a head count and said, "Nope, they are all here!"  Off he went onto the next topic.  Just another morning I guess.

Hobbit

Astra and Abracadabra Crackadoo

Sprinkling the Black and White Thinking with a Little Rainbow!!

Okay.  We all know that kids with Autism tend to be very black and white thinkers.  James is no exception.  There is usually only one way that things can be done and if deviation happens it is frowned upon. As we generally do at our table suppers, conversations start that can be thought provoking.  Tonight I thought I would tackle a tough one... relationships, dating, marriage.  James is 11 and has in the past been deeply in love with classmates or a therapist.    

Well the conversation started... abridged here, but this is the gist of it. James what do you believe dating is?  "Well it is when a boy and a girl go out to supper or a movie and the boy gives the girl a flower or maybe a watch." Okay, how about if it is two boys? "No mom that would be weird!" Why would that be weird? "Well, they are two boys and there can't be any babies." What if it is two girls?  "That is a possibility I guess. You know mom, I don't have a girlfriend." I know but you are only 11.  "I think 16 is a good age to have a girlfriend."  Sounds reasonable.  "But I think getting married is around 21."  Well I was 30 when I got married so you have time.

All of a sudden the conversation morphed into a Minecraft script.  I guess enough with the thought provoking conversation.  Time to lose our minds in the Minecraft world.

"But I'm an A Student!!" and When did This Happen?

I always have known that James was smart.  Even when he wasn't talking and couldn't be tested, there was something in the way he paid attention.  He was always observing even if he wasn't looking.  Somehow he picked up on what was going on in the world even if he was stuck in his.  Anyway, fast forward to now.  James is in the 5th grade. He has an aide but in a typical classroom.  He keeps up and is doing very well.  His teacher is amazing with him, and for the first time James has someone who understands him as a kid with High Functioning Autism.  She expects him to do classwork like all of the other kids but allows homework to be modified for our sanity.  It is in his IEP so... James has recently taken up using his "Free Homework Passes" for his spelling.  Not really sure why spelling continues to be so targeted in school because every device he will use has spell check.  Anyway... So as you can probably surmise... He didn't do well on the spelling test this past week (I believe if we use metric and take his 42 and convert it from Celsius to Fahrenheit then it magically goes from an F to 107.6 degrees which is definitely an A with extra credit for creativity!??!)   Well, James was obviously upset over his grade.  He told his aide that he couldn't get an F because he was an A student.  His aide talked to him about making better choices with his homework passes and studying more for the tests. 

A very rare picture of the Laughter Mum but this kid makes me 

smile!!

Usually when James gets upset, he packs his things and "moves out." He did it the day before in school when he moved to the principal's office during a new typing skills class.  He has moved out of our house many times but usually just as far as the living room, where he gets engaged in something and then forgets why he wanted to move out.  This time, after the devastating grade, he announced to his aide that he needed a walk and asked if she would take him!  YEARS, we have spent YEARS on asking for a break appropriately!   Wow!!! Two lessons learned in one day and on a day! LOVE this kid!!!

Okay... I Know I'm a Chicken!!

Okay, so I am doing what most people do when they get up. I am having a private moment trying to get ready for my day.  In walks James.
"Mom, what is that noise?"
"I'm peeing"
"Wait, you're not holding anything."
"Well James, boys and girls have different peeing parts."
"So you don't need to hold anything when you pee?  Cool!." and off he went.

This was almost as easy as when my daughter asked me where babies came from when she was three.  I told her the hospital and it worked.  No uncomfortable V and P discussions with a child who didn't need a full anatomy lesson just wanted basic information