Day Before 6th Grade.... Silence Please

So, the 100 days of summer are coming to a screeching halt and James has asked for an unusual request.  He wants to make a deal with all of the adults who live in our house, 4 to be exact.  Before we get to his request, let's just ponder and see what making a deal with him in the past has looked like.  Let's make a Deal don't worry... I'll wait (da da da da,da da da-- da da da da ^da dadadadada, da da da da, da da da, da da da da da da da.  For those of you who didn't catch the tune, it was the timing music for Jeopardy)
The current deal of this very savvy 11 year old is this... for one day, Sunday, he wants no one to be able to ask or tell him to do anything.  NOTHING!  We can't ask him questions, can't ask him to flush the toilet, did he wash his hands, NOTHING!! Okay, I'm game; only I had one stipulation.  Well really two, but whose counting?  First, if he forgets to take his medicine, an adult can ask him to get it.  Second, the deal is up at 6:00PM when he needs to be dressed because the adults in the house are taking him out to his favorite restaurant for a celebratory, I mean, last supper before the beginning of 6th grade!  If said child, isn't independently ready by 6 PM sharp, the supper out goes away (like all of Cinderella's niceties at the stroke of midnight.  6PM Pacific time, it must be midnight somewhere in the world) and he will have to eat at the table in our house with no special restaurant.  
Okay... I am looking at this as an interesting social experiment... After all... one of the main deficits in individuals with Autism is their social interactions.  So here we go...

When Computer Time is Halted for Not Listening

James loves his computer above all of his other electronics. This is mostly due to him being able to play Minecraft on it.  In two weeks he may have a different view of the machine because he will be back to school and homework will take over as the main reason for having a computer in his room. Anyway... today his mouse was taken away for excessive not listening when asked to come to breakfast.  He was told that he would need to vacuum and wash his bedroom and bathroom floors before getting it back. He was disgruntled but while he was waiting,  all of a sudden this happened:   BOY do I love this kid!!!!

Bottles and Clocks

I ask James to do a lot of short tasks to pull him away from his computer for a few minutes.  I ask him to put his laundry away (I have everything ready in piles and all he has to do is hang them up or put them in drawers.)  I ask him to get me things that technically I could get myself, but he needs a short break from Minecraft.

Easy task I asked of James today as we were cleaning up around the house.  "Please put the refill bottles in the hall under the clocks."... We have 3 clocks on our wall as you enter the house. They signify three magical moments when time stood still in our married life.  The time we got married (2:00PM), the time our daughter was born (6:50 PM), and the time James was born (9:12 PM).  Okay... Easy right... I guess we are lucky that there are three clocks and three empty bottles.  I shudder to think what would have happened if there were only two clocks and three bottles, or three clocks and only two bottles.  I know James well enough to know that he would likely have still been standing there trying to figure it out if there weren't exactly enough of each component to make his world perfect!  But as the fates would have it, there were exactly the correct number of bottles and clocks!  Phew...

ABA Works for Moms? James Seems to Think I Need Some Drills!

We were out today to see the new Minions movie, super cute and adfreakinorable!!!!!!  Anyway, after that we took James to lunch.  We went to Ono Hawaiian BBQ.  He didn't want to go because it was new and he was determined not to have a good time or like the food.  He did like most of the food and ate but when finished he wanted to go outside to "Get some air."  His father told him that there was plenty of air in the restaurant.  James turned to me and asked me and I told him that he needed to stay inside because we need to be able to take care of him.  He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Wow... looks like we need a drill for that to help you be less protective!"  Then he went on... "You know I have a purple belt in karate and that is only 5 away from black belt and I can protect myself." Ah... Okay... the conversation then went in the direction all conversations always go with James... back to Minecraft.  "You know mom, the distance from here to outside is really only eight blocks and that isn't too far."  By that time I was done and we got to leave. I guess conversational diversion got me through him wanting to go out to "get some air."

Summer Learning

Well, poor James! He thought that summer vacation meant nothing but James stuff.  Hours on the computer, watching TV in his underwear, staying up all hours of the night.  You know, vacation stuff.  Not with this mom!  Everyday I send an email to him with his academic activity to be done before supper and each night at supper, I grill him on things I believe he should know as an 11 year old kid.  Where do your ancestors come from, how many aunts and uncles do you have, what is my phone number... You know, important stuff that might fit in his head if it wasn't already crammed full of Minecraft stuff.  James has been working on the ancestors question for the better part of a week and I have made it easier for him, asking only for the 4 most predominant from each side (England, Scotland, Germany and Italy). We give him tons of hints, what language do you speak?  what other county speaks ENGLISH? what is the one is shaped like a boot? which one is on the same island as England? what language is your last name?  I know some of these may not seem very helpful but stay with me.  James loves maps and at one point in the interrogation, I mean conversation,  he looked into the living room and stated, "I can't find it on that map."  His sister looked at him and stated, "James, that isn't a map, that is a painting dad did."  Oh well, we still have four more weeks until he starts sixth grade.  Hopefully he will go there prepared to tell others of his heritage or at least be able to say, "looks like a boot, speaks English, shares an island and last name."

Therapy!!!

I LOVE libraries.  Books, books, books, therapy dogs, more books and... therapy dogs?  Yup, I just found out that our local libraries have therapy dogs visit on some Saturdays to have the kids practice their oral reading. It is brilliant. The dogs don't care what you read they are just there to listen.  After all of James's years in therapy this is probably one of my favorite pictures. Thank you Lady for helping James practice his reading.

The Magic of Music

really has nothing to do with this particular post
but James was promoted from 5th grade a week ago
and he is so doggone cute!!!

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I ADORE music!  I love to listen to music that is melodic, tells a story, shares something or simply makes me smile.  I am glad that this is a gift that I have passed to both of my kids. My daughter and I have shared many experiences going to or watching Broadway musicals old and new.  James also loves musicals.  One of his secret guilty pleasures is the old time State Fair musical from 1945.  State Fair 1945 Trailer He also loves the more recent ones and one that I adore is CHESS.  I love the music and the concert has some of my favorite voices in lead rolls. James knows the music and knows it well. He can sing all of the songs. CHESS  (Anthem is at 1 hour 12 minutes on this video)
Yesterday, after a very long day in the car, James was in his world of Minecraft Youtube movies.  I had the new Josh Groban CD playing and Anthem started playing.  Without coming out of his world, James asked to have the video screen to be put down in the car because he couldn't see the movie.  He is always listening even when you don't think he is, he hears and understands everything!!  Glad music means so much to him because it is another place we can share interests.