Holiday article from the Indiana Resource Center for Autism, and a Max update

  As usual, Max is looking forward to Christmas this year.  Hopefully MyGuy and i can  prep ourselves mentally to put up our living room tree - tt means so much to Max, but the most initiative he'll take in getting it up is to wish us "Merry Christmas" out of the blue.

  However, he has two small trees up in his room.  One is a new, 4' prelit one, which he is enjoying.

  It seems in a sense especially important to keep this tradition in this year of universally lowered expectations.

The IRCA has prepared their usual article

of tips to help us help our children on the spectrum cope with the upcoming holidays.  https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/articles/making-the-most-of-the-holidays-for-your-family-and-your-son-daughter.html

  Here's a short quote listing some items to be sure to mention:

Where and How Christmas Dinner Will Occur

Who Will Be Present at Christmas this Year

How Family Will Meet Virtually This Year

Where the Family May or May Not Be Going This Year: In other words, what family traditions cannot happen.

If Others Come Over, Rules about Wearing Masks, and Other Safety Precautions.  


 

At the end of the article are links to specific tips,  including social stories about home and visiting, and a fill=in calendar.

Wordless Wednesday: Vacation, 2000

  We went to Wisconsin Dells in early August.

the only time we ever stayed at a hotel/resort with both a pool AND a beach

Wordless Wednesday: Sketchbook discovered from years ago

  Not so many years, actually.  The dates in it are 2009-2011.
  i like the work i was doing.  Too bad the sketchbook got "geysered" by our laundry room problems.

From IN*Source: Survey for family caregivers re dental health

IN*Source's newsletter arrived in my inbox today.  One of the items it included is a survey for family caregivers of adult or child individuals with disabilities, regarding their dental care. 

i have heard of many disabled individuals with difficulties regarding dental care. Max is blessed that we are able to keep him with his nonMedicaid dentist.  The comfort the two have together is one of the biggest factors in his terrific dental health.

Here's the notice:

Calling Family Caregivers of Individuals with a Disability

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: A Happy Kid?

  Yes, i really think Max was happy here.  It was an exciting day: he got to ride in an ambulance!

Quaranitine Life with Max

  This is, as everyone knows and is indeed saying, a totally weird time.

  In March,

BOOM: You get a trophy! And you get a trophy!

Hi, I'm Boom. I was born between 1982 and 1997, which makes me a millennial. (Yes, that's right. Even by the most generously late definitions, there are no millennials who are teenagers anymore.) And I have been given a participation trophy.

Staying at Home, and a new IRCA article

 We've started getting requests from Max's providers about online contact with him.  The first was today, and it went well.
  What a new world.  Isolation is one thing, and i thoroughly appreciate the online and other tech connections we can maintain nowadays.*
  A new IRCA (Indiana Resource Center for Autism) article arrived in my inbox.  There's advice about getting assessment and diagnosis for children with autism and mental disorders, followed by a LIST of providers in the state of Indiana & neighboring states whom you might approach for help. If you're in a small town, don't despair.  Most providers are in Indianapolis or Carmel, but several are in small towns and there are some throughout the state.

* You might find these interesting as you enjoy - or not - your self-quarantine.
https://msu.edu/~raezlers/pioneer.html     Not sure why this essay was written, the sort of assignment given, but the writer says about what i might say.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_madness
http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ii.041

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Seeing the New Year in, "in" London

Not Quite Wordness Wednesday: Out with the Old, In with the New

How We See Our Elders

  Max is about a year old here.   He is very intent on something; with Papaw, it's MOVING; with Grammy, he's been distracted by the camera.
  In neither case is he particularly attending to the adoring people who are supporting him.  
  Of course, this only happens with little kids.
  Or does it?

Wordless Wednesday: Kids Having Floor Time

Wordless Wednesday: A Halloween Not So Long Ago

Fall 1993, at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Here, Max and Boom are with a cousin.

New to Me Resource

i LOVE hearing from you who are reading my pages.  Here's someone who added a tip for others of you out there. 

Life with Max, Summer 2019: workshop and a tool

  Recently we were able to get him a spot with a sheltered workshop.  Hopefully eventually he'll eventually learn how to have a job and move on to one that actually pays a living wage.  So far, i've turned in copies of his pay stubs for 3 pay periods, with a total income of less than $15. 
  But it has to be reported to SSI, so they can calculate whether he's making enough to refigure his funding.
  If the workshop works out as well as we hope, he can at some point move to assisted housing, with bus transportation.  Maybe in a few years. . . . .

Paying for the Yoga Class

  Yoga class is $5 per session. He seems to have figured out that he needs to put something in the instructor's little basket, but his concept of the value of money is still shaky.
  Last week, he paid her $10 on the first class of the week.  Before the next class, i checked his wallet and found $21.  Enough for lunch with his aide after class, since he didn't owe anything for the class.
  Later in the morning, i got a text from the aide telling me that he had no money and she had to stand his lunch.
  WHAT??? How did this happen?
  Talking with the yoga teacher, i learned that, having that day's class already paid for, he'd put in a $20
  sheesh.  At least he hadn't lost the money.

  "Punch" Card

  Using our written conversation method, i determined that he absolutely wanted the price of each day's class when he takes the class.
  Well, sure.  But that isn't always possible, and still wouldn't always be possible if i were more on my toes than i am.

  So i made something like this on a scrap of paper.  After class, i made an X on the first box, and again after the 2nd class.  Hopefully this will help him keep track of it, but i'm not sure it deals with the core problem: Money is one of those dollar bills, and they're all worth the same.

Wordless Wednesday: They're so Cute When They're Asleep

This was when we were living at Papaw's while our "Extreme Home Makeover" was going on.

Updating

from days past

  Max and i keep busy. . .

Diploma or Certificate?: Indiana Diploma Decisions

   Last week i received a newsletter from IN*Source with a document link that i wanted to share with ya'll.
  When we made the decision for Max, i don't think we had enough information. You surely won't be able to say that after be able to say that after reading this pdf. 
  You wouldn't believe how hard it was to track it down without using a l
  This is the best i could do.  Most of the links i found take six lines of blog space! This one still isn't even a link to the actual document, however, if you prefer to learn in a video, there's some of those, as well as other resources.
  The one i'm specifically sharing is called Indiana Diploma Decisions.
https://instrc.indiana.edu/family-involvement/diploma-decisions.html
  To get there from here, read the intro paragraph, then click the box in the (horizontal) center of the page.  The one  
  The page below is a search result.  You should be able to get to the same pdf at the bottom of the page.It's the tall skinny one that says Indiana Diploma Decisions. But everything on the page is worth looking at, if that's where you are.
https://instrc.indiana.edu/transition-resources/resource-search.html?search=diploma+decisions
  The organization's home page: https://instrc.indiana.edu/
   Here is the organization which sent the newsletter:   http://insource.org/resources/transition-to-adult-life/

i told you i didn't know how to do this

i keep ordering the wrong fit!

Team Meeting, March 2019

  Last week we had Max's quarterly meeting.  Things seem to be going well with the services.  Our