Autism Journal Archives - Page 2 of 36

Was Homeschooling the Right Choice?

May 31, 2016 By: Nanette

Doubts, we all have them. Am I doing the right thing? Sure we all ask ourselves that especially when it comes to making the right choices for our kids and their futures. I still ask myself, did I do the right thing by choosing to homeschool Bug?

It’s been three years now. Wow how time passes. And as another summer approaches I look back to the day Bug left public school. He left at a reading/comprehension level of 3.2 and a math grade level of 3. After four years of no progress we pulled him from Texas public schools. It wasn’t an easy road to take but it was one I will forever regret not taking sooner.

I look back now and hate myself for not doing as much tracking as I should have. I allowed myself to believe in a system that failed my son. When I finally saw through the cloud of lies I was being handed, once I educated myself on the special education laws and realized my Bug was NOT making progress, I knew what I had to do.

Yes it was a scary choice to make. Could I give him what he needed? Could I teach him what the schools failed to?

parents hopes

No one loves my son more than I do. No one wanted him to succeed more than I did. But could I do it?

YES! I had to.

I am so happy to be able to say that homeschooling was the best thing for him. Sure we have rough days, very rough days. I’m not going to sugar-coat it. Some days are just down right awful. But there are far less bad days than there are good ones.

And more importantly, there’s progress! Progress I can without a doubt prove. He has mastered skills at 100% not 70% like his IEP documentation and IEP team considered “mastered”. He truly mastered them at one hundred percent and those skills carried over to real life. That’s truly how you know a skill is mastered. He’s doing great! He’s now two grade levels higher than he was when he left public school. Two grade levels in three years!!! And last year was one full grade level in one year for reading/comprehension. That’s a first for him and I couldn’t be more proud of him.

Now compare that to four years and no progress. It’s a no-brainer.

So again I’ll ask myself, was homeschooling the right choice?

Yes, no question about it.

And on those rough days, I’m going to come back to this post and remind myself that yes, homeschooling is the right choice and we can do this!

The Unexpected Things

October 13, 2015 By: Nanette

unexpected things

Sometimes you hear the most unexpected things in the most unexpected places but it really makes an impact right when you needed it to.

That happened to me yesterday while I was out shopping with my kids. We were all out together and had been for most of the day in the hot Texas sun, yes even this late in the year it was a sticky hot 93 degrees. The kids were getting hungry and patience was wearing thin on all of us. I guess it showed or maybe she just knew the look either of worn out me or the facial or physical signs of a meltdown on it’s way from my Bug. Either way, I found the words of the cashier maybe a little bothersome and in a weird way very comforting all at the same time.

I was buying Bug a pair of jeans and when I got to the register the first thing the cashier said to me was, “My son has aspergers.” and she looked right at me. I smiled and said, “autism”. “Some days are hard aren’t they?” came a long with a brief smile from her. I sighed deeply and agreed. And before I left she gave this weary mom one last bit of advice, “hang in there, you’re not alone.”

I’m not quite sure if I felt saddness that she recognized the signs in Bug or comforted in her words of support more. Maybe I felt both but one thing is for sure, the kindness and words of support from one special needs mom to another sure meant a lot especially at a time when I needed it. I wish I had thought to read her name off her id badge so I could thank her. Hopefully, I’ll recognize her the next time I go and can thank her personally.

Hearing those kind words of support really helped me get through the rest of the day and helped me cope and handle the oncoming meltdown my son had. Thankfully, we worked through it and had a pleasant evening.

The Silent Pains of A Child With Autism

April 7, 2015 By: Nanette

Our kids need to know they are loved. I just read a post which included a handwritten note by a special needs mom’s under ten year old stating basically that he was worthless since no one would come to his party, he had no friends.

sad_boy

My heart just broke into a million tiny pieces. This isn’t a one time thing, this is a recurring instance, every year, every party. So many of our children who are socially awkward feel this way. No, they don’t all write it out – some do but not all. But they carry this pain within them. Some not sure how to let it out, how to deal with it or how to get past it because they are children. Children who should never feel this way – EVER!

As moms and dads our hearts break for our children when they suffer pain. But can you even imagine what it’s like as the child who feels so unloved not by his family but because of a lack of friends he would write a message of such low self-worth of himself?

And it isn’t just kids with autism, it’s lots of kids – kids with special needs, kids who feel different, kids who are shy, kids who are socially awkward. This should not happen. Not to any child, not ever. I’m sorry, I don’t usually get so verbal about this but tonight my heart just broke not only for this little child but for his mom because I’ve been there. I’ve had my child feel worthless because he didn’t have any friends. I’ve wiped away his tears and did my best to take away the pain but sometimes we just can’t take it all away no matter how hard we try, how much we wish we could.

Was Homeschooling the Right Choice?

The Unexpected Things

The Silent Pains of A Child With Autism

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