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.

Reading Old Mystery Novels in Time of COVID

  Like usual, these are novels i've read before. Most recently, it's been several about Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, as well as some of Sayers' other short stories.*

  This go-around, i've been more than usually impressed by the signs of the times, especially regarding: 

Happy Halloween, 2020 Style

Boom and Bride-in-need-of-a-Pseudonym went to the Houston Zoo last weekend and met the Great Pumpkin.
 

Midweek Photo:Some of Grandad's Art

 

On the left, an image of his wife, from 1920s or 1930s?; gateway to Lincoln Castle, when he was stationed there, WWI

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

Words on Wednesday: Current Reading

  My sister is clearing out books again, a never-ending job.  She loves reading as do i.
  i don't know if these are all of her Robin Jones Gunn books.  i know she's still got a couple of Sisterchicks  titles of mine somewhere, so maybe there are more of these.
  Something she said about these books got to me.

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

Midweek Photo: to the left of my desk

Left: My father in law with his clarinet, and my dad, home on leave, with various medals and patches from his WWII service

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.

How are you getting along during COVID?

 One of my special needs resources sent me the link for this UCON survey.  It's designed to help

 figure out where the gaps are in caring for our special needs families in this crisis. It is NOT specific to Indiana.                                                                                                                     
The researchers have titled it, “The knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of parents of children with disabilities in response to COVID-19.”
Below is their introductory letter, though i've not copied their invitation to share. If you find a question difficult, skip it.  You should be finished in about 15 minutes; i don't think it took me any longer and i was bouncing around other windows at the time!

Dear Colleague:

We are writing to ask your help to find out how families and caregivers with children, youth or adults with disabilities are doing during this unprecedented crisis with COVID-19, and what issues they are facing.

The survey

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday: Revisiting Ruth

  A few years back, i did a vew Saturday Sister meditations based on my reading of several Ruth novels.

  Then i couldn't figure out what i could say without spoiling the plots of all of them.

  Recently, i came across some illustrations that i made for posts never written, and thought i'd share them anyway.

This one i could not get to scan nicely, so i redid it in Windows Paint.

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.

Wordless Wednesday: More Exploring in Our Extreme Home Makeover

A few years ago, i commented on an Extreme Home Makeover episode and added our own experience.  Here's where i wrote about it.

Saturday Sisters: Daughters Helping Daddy

  Shallum's daughters worked beside their father on the wall. But women couldn't do that, right?