What's New With Us

Well, actually nothing is new with us. I just didn't know how to title this post. I guess I could have just put in "Our Family Update". But I didn't.

So, I hope I didn't get anyone too excited - thinking that we had something wonderful to share. Nope. Sorry. We didn't win the lottery. I'm not preggers. Nandini and Eli still hate each other. There's really nothing to tell.

Well, unless you consider Noah pooping once a day exciting. 'Cause we had a serious issue for a while.

We're all quite excited about it. All my kids are now proud members of the Once a Day club.

I'm thinking about getting a bumper sticker. What do you think?

Let's see. What else?

Okay, so I went to Austin this past week. 5 days on my own. It.Was.Fantastic. I really, truly needed it. I feel absolutely refreshed and rejuvenated. I got zero sleep though. The hotel had cable. And I ended up doing all-nighters watching John & Kate Plus 8. You know the show I'm talking about?

Totally sucked me in. I was hooked. I am so glad we don't have TV at home. I honestly don't know how I accomplished anything over the last 34 years.

Hmmm.. what else? The conference was amazing. I am so excited about it. I know I should be on here doing big update about it, but my mind is still overwhelmed over everything I saw. I mean, seriously, I saw videos of adults who'd spent their lives in state institutions responding to RPM. It's just wild. I came home and did my first session with Noah this morning. We learned about goldfish, and he actually spelled out "gold", "fish", "plants", "tank", "pets", and "shade" on the stencils. Honestly, it just blows me away.

All of us parents had to submit tapes of our children and there were 17 year old's with autism - who many, many people would classify as mentally retarded - spelling out sentences and having conversations on the letterboard. One kid had a whole conversation about how much he enjoyed the "Rolling Stones" Movie at the IMAX. There was one boy who is completely nonverbal who has made a ton of money on the stock market. And his mom reads all the money magazines and websites and all that stock stuff (yeah, I have no idea what any of it is. I hope Noah doesn't develop an interest in that. Bargain Hunting, Noah! That's what you need to like!) Anyway, his mom reads it and asks him questions about the stocks and he tells her what to do via RPM. He's made a lot of money doing this. And he's only 13! And he's nonverbal and what others would term severely autistic. These are kids who are placed in LifeSkills classes at their local schools. Even Soma's son (Soma runs HALO)is in LifeSkills - and he's published 3 books!.

It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Seriously, I have no doubt, now, that Noah will eventually be able get his GED. No doubt at all. The key is in knowing how to identify the child's open learning channel at the exact time that you're wanting the learning to take place. It just kills me to think of all the children and teenagers and adults out there who will never have a chance because people didn't know about this.

Anyway, there's a great article about a kid in Austin who shocked everyone when they found out he could communicate via RPM. He went from Special Ed to winning 4th place in the State of Texas Chemistry competition. You can find it here. . There's also a blog about Mike in his own words about what it's like to be autistic.

The only down side is that I have to spend probably 1-2 hours a night now doing lesson plans for Noah. Apparently, I was doing it all wrong before, which is why I wasn't getting the same results that he got at HALO with Soma and Erika. I'm sure it'll get easier the more I do it, but for now it's going to give me a serious butt kicking. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to blog over the next month or so.

Of course, whenever I say that, I end up on a blogging frenzy. So, we'll see.

So, that's it with us. Nothing too terribly exciting - but a lot of exciting possibilities. Sorry for the randomness and scattered thoughts. My brain just isn't working very well right now - I'm a bit discombobulated.

Actually, I just wanted to use the word "discombobulated" in a sentence. :-)

That's your SAT word of the day.

Anyway, I need to start figuring out what to fix for supper.. which, most likely will involve me standing in front of the refrigerator with the freezer door wide open for about 10 minutes before I slam it shut and and decide to drive through Pop's Chicken for some catfish.

Yes, they serve catfish at the chicken place.

Best of both worlds.

Leslie

Comments

Amy said…
So how was the catfish?? Amy
Nikki said…
Wow, that does sound exciting!

I hear you on the Jon and Kate Plus Eight. I am completely addicted.

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