Wrecked

Man, am I tired. But it is a good tired. Am off to bed soon, but just had to sneak a post in. It has been a huge day. Before Alex's 8:30 speech appointment this morning Kevin told me our therapist, Tahirih, wanted to mostly consult with me (rather than the usual excellent playing with Alex). She, like us, was becoming uncomfortable with our school plan for Alex this year. He has made such massive gains this summer that sending him to the full time Autism classroom again seemed not quite right. Sure, the idea of an already set plan with lots of professionals on board has it's comfort, but there were many questions that were not clearly answered. We sat down and looked at his IEP for the coming year, and reviewed how the meeting went last spring. At the time we were being pushed by his teachers to start him in kindergarten. Not given any other suggested routes or options. It was that or we were on our own, even though his summer birthday is 6 days before the cut off. We were still on the waiting list for the Scottish Rite Language Clinic, and had barely started at Polinsky with Nikki the excellent therapist. In the meeting the teachers assured me this was the best place for Alex, but many red flags went up. First off they kept down grading his expectations for academics. They stated they did not want to aim too high (even in light of the fact he is age appropriate or above for academics). Then their idea of mainstreaming was to keep him in the Autism classroom all day, except for recess and lunch. With no assistance in those most stressful group times. I advocated against that plan, got him time in the class for his favorite subjects, and an aide for the tough open social times. But it still felt wrong. I also did not like that it was only offered full day, and the teacher poo-pooed my idea that I would like to mainstream him within a year or so. "Oh, you'll want to keep him here for when it gets tougher when he is older." Hmmm. When I was older in school I would have loved to have a room to hang out in with a big swing and lots of toys, what's the motivation to leave?? Especially if the teacher has no plan to fully let you go.

So, after discussing all this with Tahirih (who is a miracle woman), and another veteran of the
school district, we started looking at options. Especially in light of all the gains Alex has made over the summer. Did I mention that last week we went swimming in Lake Superior for a couple hours (it was beautifully warm) and he could not contain himself around other children? He was yelling, "Hi! Hi! I'm Alex!! Hi! Swim with me? My friend Alaina is coming!! Hi!!!". I did not stop smiling all day. And there have been many other moments of his connecting with other kids and really wanting to play with them. So, play he shall. We have scrapped the school plan and he is off to pre-school in a couple weeks. An honest to goodness, mainstream preschool. Filled with typical, quirky, half-insane children. Not too many, a 1-8 ratio with 28 maximum. Alex got go there last year to pick up his friend Fraya for play dates, so he is already amped at the idea. I met with the director today, at the initial call she remembered Alex, me, and Kevin from our Fraya pick ups. Cool. And she is very down to earth. Now all that remains is to inform the school district (left a message with the Special Ed director today, who is very approachable) and we will see if the schools will be willing to help us with this plan or will wash their hands of us. We will work it out either way. We are moving from a plan of Alex in class full time, five days a week 8:30-2:30, to three afternoons a week at pre-school. What are we, nuts?? But then we can keep on with the home program, keep going to our therapists, and see how fast we can catch up with the mainstream. Good thing all the work is play based, since play is a specialty in this house. Good-night!

Another Summer Post

A quick and in-between-things post, just to let you know we are alive and well. It is high summer and I am blogging in shorts and a swim top. It is almost hot, which I hate, but will survive. Kevin and Alex are off at the dentist, something Alex looks forward to. Seriously. He likes the suction snorky thing and the neat chair. Hopefully we can keep it that way. Kevin is working hard, as usual, keeping up with Empire orders (! in the summer!) and creating stock, as well as looking into ways to revive Vulpine. It is such a great mission to provide adaptive gear, we just need to figure out how to make it viable. As for me, I am in the middle of my work week. Summer is odd because it is either floating (yuck), or kids that are often very ill and not very nice (yuck), or No Pay Days (yeah). I try to just show up and not get too anxious about the whole situation. Speaking of "situations", I am coming up on 40 and this is freaking me out a bit. I did not think this would happen to me, but never say never. I was warned by a few friends that went before that it is a sneaky one, but thought I'd breeze through like every other birthday. I guess the whole "mid-life crisis" thing isn't just for yuppies. I have been contemplating my errors of the past and fears for the future way too much, and am vowing to Knock It Off. I try to remind myself that I may not be as young as I used to be, but I am also not as dumb as I used to be. Pain has returned to my bum shoulder, which hasn't helped, but I get the next Dr. update next week. It is now one year and a day since I crashed on my shoulder. All things considered I should be over the moon. Maybe there is a touch of Anniversary PTSD going on too.

So, the good news. I had a fantabulous time at the races here in town. Kayaking remains my passion, and I am lucky I found it and grabbed it. We, the paddling families, are starting to strategize ways to get the kids out. Some folks have double whitewater kayaks, we got Alex out on flat water in a canoe, and we met a family whose 10 year old races, who may be willing to sell one of their inflatable kayaks. The trick is to make river time fun for the little ones. We also have friends with rafts, which is another option. So we just need to start going out to play on the river with these different options. More on those adventures to come. And on that note, while family friends went out and paddled with their grade school boy last weekend, we looked after his four year old brother on land, with Alex. The boys had a good time together and Alex was very into his playmate. Calling his name and asking him to play. This is HUGE! We have been very busy working on developmental issues through play this summer, and it is paying off. I can't say what a relief it is to have him interacting on an appropriate and fun level with other kids! We also went to see the movie Wall-e and he is still talking about it. We are also making progress on food issues, which is another big challenge. He has a few new foods, like cucumbers, and apples, with more to come. Overall, we are having a charming time with him. Every day he is coming up with new things to say and new ideas. Funny, goofy things that I will have to start writing down. Plus he remains cute as a bug-in-a-rug and a charmer for the ladies. Most don't mind his shyness!

But, speaking of the boys, they have just returned from the dentist. Must go get the report, and then we will have a new-foods picnic. Hope all are having good weeks.... Cheers!

My Favorite Part

Rowan all geared up.

On my wonderful Wausau trip I had many excellent experiences. Many. But my absolute favorite was getting my dear friend Shereen's boys into boats. Rowan, her oldest, was very interested and because of that we made it happen. During lunch on the second racing day I got him all geared up and we went down to the flat water to try it out. We even got his little brother to try after a bit. Rowan had very good instincts and was not afraid. He had good paddle strokes and a nice sense of boat handling. Look out Shereen, getting in a race boat on flat water at Wausau is exactly how I got hooked!

Two new addicts?!

Room to Breathe

Wow, time is flying. I feel like I just got home from my trip to Wausau, and it has actually been a week. Every moment has been scheduled and this is my first chance to get to my blog. Yowzers. Where to start? Wausau.

Back to my home town. It is always very strange to go back to Wausau. Part of me feels like I never left, but then I run across new stuff all the time. The wonderful, open, grassy square downtown throws me (it used to be a rundown Kresgees). My high school is condos. And there is a new giant building towering over the lagoon where I first sat in a slalom kayak and got totally hooked. My old house looks the same, but the trees are 25 feet taller and much bushier. It is all rather trippy. But also nice and comfortable. I stayed out at the camp I went to as a little kid, that was really cool. And I also stayed with in-laws (my sisters) and friends(my dear friend Jennifer's parents), and that was even better. I met a whole bunch of new paddling folks, and hooked up with many old paddling friends. I was paddling, checking out a slalom clinic, and racing too, and I got lots of on water time. Since I am not as young as I used to be (and not as dumb as I used to be) I stretched every day and did very decent warm ups almost every time I got wet. Not a single injury (knock on wood) and only one power sinus douching. The weather was fine, and the coaching even finer. My biggest problem was my own head, and a fair amount of rusty-ness. I was not very happy with myself for the first four days, but by Sunday I was pulling off some satisfying runs. I was one off in my hoped for finishing places on both days (third not second...out of four), but when it came to the sprint for cash I finally got what I wanted. Second place and $25. What could be finer? I also made it on to the local news (hee-hee).

The whitewater was everything I remembered, and more. They have rearranged the Wausau course over the last few years and there are four new holes. Those were surprising, at first. Then there were the moves the coaches were making us do. Tough, technical, and frustrating. Or I should say, FRUSTRATING. I eventually got every single move that was killing me, at least once, but never quite all together. Oh well, next time. And besides, it was still fun. Or maybe more fun because of that.

And then there were family and friends. I started and ended well. On my first day I got to see my mom, my sister, my niece and nephew, and my sisters in-laws (who are great). In the middle I met up with my old dear friends Shereen and met her boys and her husband. We had an excellent supper and next day I got to get the boys in boats and show them the ropes. They did great! And for the grand finale I stayed with Mom and Dad Davis and my final stop in town was at their new condo (absolutely gorgeous) for a shower, a wonderful bite to eat, and to try and catch the news. No luck, but showed off my medal, hugs all around, and hit the road again. It was quite a week.

I missed my boys terribly while I was gone, and must bring them the next time. It was very odd being out on my own, like I used to do all the time. Especially weird to be at the camp with new people and footloose paddlers my own age. It has probably been a good 10 years since I have done something like that, maybe my last week long instructor clinics. Good to know I can still jump in cold with a group of new people and find my place pretty quickly.

And now, home again home again jiggety jig. I got in last Sunday at midnight and up and out by 8:00am the next morning. We have a chock-a-block activity schedule now so it was all go, all week. And work at night. I kept hoping for no-pay-days but alas, no luck. I did get one...but it was revoked 10 minutes later. Needless to say, I was less than pleased. But I muddled through. Alex is doing really great, his language and concepts are blossoming. We are in at the Scottish Language Clinic for the summer, and moving forward on eating issues with an 8 week feeding clinic. Otherwise know as "Play with your Food!". He even ate a rice crispy bar this week...now that's my boy. And my other "boy" is doing well too. Tired, after sending me to play, but seems quite happy. Looks like our Adaptive work is not so dead, and may simply be in a deep sleep. Will keep you posted.

And now I have a week off. Not a full week, due to some switching, but a good start. Planning on getting a little rest, and a little breathing space. Going camping next weekend, and have our local slalom the next weekend, so still busy, but once I get some downloads in order you can see the grin on my face. Happy summer...

Summer and the Blogging is Slow

Hello readers out there. Summer is truly here in the Northland and the living is busy. And the computer is very uncooperative. It does not like any kind of heat and may take 10-15 tries to get started. Then it may quit at any moment. Needless to say I don't always get to try number 15 before I give up. Especially since timing and time management are not my specialties and I am usually cranking up the computer on a whim. I will get more focused soon, but not until I get to Wausau and have an awesome on water time. This little trip of mine is taking all my extra mental energy, after taking care of my little bug and getting myself to work when required. Blog, home, and all other issues (like good cooking, regular gym time, finances, and anything cleaning) have taken a big back seat for now. Alex is doing good, and we actually turned a corner on home life by investing in "Floortime". More on this after next weeks adventure. Kevin is my hero, as ever, for stepping up to let me go for five days. Not sure why I deserve him but will just be happy about the whole situation. I will get to see my sister, my niece and nephew, my mom, and my dear friend Shereen on my trip too so there will be lots to tell. Hopefully the shoulder will hold out and the boat wont sink. I have actually been training so maybe I wont embarrass myself too much. Or that could just be wishful thinking!

Maybe it's not ALL good : Alex Report #3

Uuufff-da mackie, as we say up north, it's been quite a month. Not long after Alex Report #2, where I stated, "It's all good.", the worm turned. Progress seemed to stop and we even maybe went a little backwards. Alex began to increase his repetitive phrases, his frustration tolerance got shorter and finally became non-existent, his repetitive behaviors increased, compliance decreased, and everything became a fight. Everything. School ended. Summer began. Routine evaporated. Parental tempers became increasingly frayed and finally broke a few times. Alex began to spend a lot of time in time out. It was looking to be a long, long summer. To add insult to injury, there was insurance trouble, things not being covered that should be, and annoying difficulty scheduling his horseback riding, which kept the rest of the summer schedule on hold. Plus the school cancelled one summer school day (down to two from three), and dared to take a one week break. Yikes, what a mess. Meanwhile the weather was going nuts in the rest of the country and world, with floods, fires, and earthquakes, and other friends are having huge upheavals in their lives. At least our problems are minuscule compared to true tragedy.

But they are still ours, and fortunately the worm turned again and we may all survive this period. The big break was a new parent group at the Scottish Language Clinic with my hero Tahirih. She gave us all a primer in the Floortime Method. It is a way of teaching and playing with kids with communication difficulties, and it is awesome. I have more to say but my boys are back from an overnight and it's time for some "floortime" with Alex. Apologies for a short, incomplete post but summer isn't looking so bad after all.

Partly Cloudy with a chance of Rhubarb

Once again, the skies are grey and the air is cold, but summer is definitely coming. The lilies and peonies are up and budding, the lilacs are just about to pop, and my rhubarb is monstrous. I planted it two years ago from a grower at the farmers market. It was about 6 inches across. I was good and did not cut it the first year. I only took about half last year when it was a foot and a half across. And this year I just might be able to feed a small nation with it's five foot spread. I have never seen a rhubarb this big. The leaves are much larger than dinner plates. They make great floppy hats, and could be used for roofing material. Maybe it is time to get going on that dream tree house with Alex. And in the mean time, I get to harvest it all. Most of the stalks are destined to be rhubarb crisps. Bubbly, tart, and hot, with crunchy, buttery, sugary tops. MMMmmmm. Summer in the Northland.