Mom, do I have autism?

My son Dominic has autism, specifically PDD-NOS. He was diagnosed around when he turned 4 and has been receiving special services since, mostly with social skills, but also OT to help his sensory needs (he also processes sensory stimulation inadequately and needs more sensory stimulation every day--which explains a lot, LOL!) I don't post a lot about his autism because it is only a part of who he is, and I want to record his whole life, not one part. Still, since April is Autism Awareness month, I make a page and share some of what his autism diagnosis means he is working on and going through right now.

I made this page recently about something I knew I would have to talk with him about eventually: the fact that he has autism. I'll post the journaling in case you can't read it above:

Because Dominic has autism, people sometimes ask me if I watch Parenthood. I tell them no, I watch TV to escape, not to repeat the stress in my life. The last episode I remember seeing Max wanted to participate in a fundraiser for kids with autism. His parents wrestled with what to say to him. This made me wonder what I would say to Dominic someday about his autism.

I recently encountered that situation. When I drive the boys to school, we listen to NPR, one day to a news story about autism. Dominic listened and asked, “Mom, do I have autism?” This was the moment I’d wondered about for a while. I told him yes, he had autism. He asked me what that meant, so I said that people with autism had brains that were different from people who didn’t have autism. People with autism, I said, have a harder time learning to communicate with others. Dominic reacted pretty casually, telling me that he did have trouble talking with people. Sometimes when people were talking, he would say something that didn’t fit with what they said.

I remember reading a book by a man with autism who said he had started to understand that he was different from others when he was around 9 years old. This year Dominic appears to be starting to come to that realization himself.

This conversation happened last fall, which means some time has passed. I couldn't remember Dominic's exact final words in our conversation, just that he had a sense that he had trouble talking with people but that it was OK. He didn't dwell. I suppose I dwell more on his diagnosis than he does. My job as his parent is to not shower him with my worries but instead to share my hopes for him and my belief in him.

I tried to write a lot in a small amount of space, so I worry that it is a bit compromised story-wise. The name of the book was Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison. I read several books about autism, and I found this one to be valuable because it shows someone who is a successful, functioning adult, something I think gives a fuller picture of autism (Not everyone with autism is Rainman, e.g.). The book also shows his journey towards self-awareness, which included pitfalls and quirks that tend to circulate around people with autism. I recommend the book if you haven't read it.

If you are interested in scrapbooking, here are some details from the page:

 

Thank you for letting me share my family's story with autism. I cannot emphasize enough what a privilege it is to be Dominic's mother.

The Twins, a rain delay, and a tree

One week ago today our family went to a Twins game, something we've done before, but this trip was more adventurous.

Weather reports for the evening had been dicey all day, and as we left for the game, I took a picture of what looked to be an Armageddon cloud:

I've never seen a thunderhead building almost directly overhead. Amazing.

When we got to the game, it was sunny, kind of:


It started to sprinkle, so we went under the stands for cover, and we promptly got a rain delay, even though the rain swiftly stopped. Here's why the delay:

Soon after we returned to our seats these greenish clouds came up. And then this sign came up:

So down below we went again.

The clouds were so amazing it made the Star Tribune:

Photo by Kyndell Harkness of the Star Tribune. See the jumbotron on the left? On the far right , about eight rows down, that blob of white is my family. Here's a link to the weather story.

And did it rain:


I saw a little hail too. The boys were happy. The cap Rowan is wearing comes from ice cream:

Eventually (2 hours later) the grounds crew started squeegy-ing the water into the drains on the field (who knew?), so we headed back to our seats, only after we noticed this:

Yes, a rainbow.

We were treated to a stunning sunset when we got back to our seats.

The game was amazing, after an unfortunate 1st inning home run. Later, Jim Thome hit another home run!

It was late, though. The 5th inning happened at about 11 P.M., and the boys were fading fast, so we left. The rest of the game was quick, for they were finished by the time we got home, where unfortunately we found this (photo taken the next day):


My beloved pink crabapple tree split down the middle. I loved that tree. It was mature and stunning. Apparently our town only got about 7 minutes of violent wind, but it was enough to take down our tree, which we spent Saturday morning dismembering. How beautiful was the tree? See for yourself:

Ah, well.

We'll let the stump rot out this season, have it ground down before winter, and plant another one next spring.

At least the Twins won. Woot!

So how was your day?

I was honestly going to post about Vegas today, but I'm going to have to save that until this weekend. Today was a doozy, and I have to share.

Halloween in a high school can be...distracting. Knowing we accomplish less when everyone is dressed up as Pac Man or the scientist from Back to the Future or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (hey, who was that?), I planned lessons where I knew I could accomplish everything planned in the time allowed. Which was good, because we had a fire.

Yep, I said that right. The costumes were NOT the most distracting thing.

We never have fire alarms 4th hour because of lunch, so when it went off 4th hour, my students and I were startled. I told them, "You know what to do!" so they dutifully went outside. We went back inside, then 10 minutes later were dismissed to lunch.

On the way to lunch we encountered a horrible smell in the hall. As soon as I started dishing up some food in the teacher's lunchroom (we had a potluck today), the alarm went off again. We went outside with our chili (it was actually chilly too--hard frost last night) and waited until we were allowed to come back in.

Turns out the money counter in the vault (I had no idea we had either) had started smoking, which started the first alarm. Then (and this is the funny part) when the fire department tried to blow the smoke out of the building, they set something on fire, which caused the second alarm.

No one was hurt, our evacuations went well, and we are left with great stories. To quote a kid in my 5th hour, "This was the best day ever."

In honor of good stories and writing them down, I want to call your attention to this new book from Ella Publishing:

Journaling is hard. Even for professional writers, deciding what to say on a layout can be truly challenging, let alone figuring out how to make it authentic, creative, and meaningful. But struggle no more, because help is on the way!

Journaling that Matters is packed with 51 easy tips to help you write from the heart without breaking a sweat. You'll love the expert advice, inspirational layouts, practical tips, and timeless suggestions that are suitable for writers of all levels—from the most experienced journalers to the most insecure. Kelly, Angie, and their eight talented contributors will help you unlock important stories and tell them with confidence. Also featuring the work of: Linda Barber, Moon Ko, Donna Jannuzzi, Layle Koncar, Audrey Neal, Keshet Shenkar, Wendy Smedley, and Stephanie Wheeler.

If you are interested in winning a copy of this ebook, leave me a comment telling me a story you're dying to scrap or that you love to tell. I'll leave the comments open until Monday night at 10 P.M. CST, then randomly select a winner!

Even if you don't win, I heartily recommend this book; I can't wait to get started scrapping a conversation with my MIL.

More layouts from the crop...

Just a reminder that the Sketchy Thursdays design contest is still going--there are a few hours left--go here if you'd like to vote for me!

I finished up what I started last weekend. Here's one of my summer goals, a mini I started long ago:
I have done lots of LOs with numbers, but none with grammar. I'm an English teacher, so wondered if grammar would inspire anything in me, and it did.

I'm still working on the Christmas mini, which is my other goal for the summer. I hope to finish it soon so I can submit it for a mini-album call.

My friend Chelsie has this t-shirt, which I am so envious of. (I should get it...) Anyway, the Weasley twins remind me of my boys. So sweet looking, but such imps.

So when I saw this photo of my younger boy from last year's vacation, that phrase popped into my head, and a layout was born. (Note: I have scrapped this photo at least two other times. Do I care? No. New story, so that's OK.)I used the color combination from The Color Room:
I wasn't trying to make it look magical, but I like how snaky the color combo is, and the stars and waves make it a little magical.

Another LO from this weekend:
I used Studio Calico's July kit for this. The story isn't so much the photo as how my boys are whenever I take photos. Win awards for my nonblurry photos I will not. They will always be blurry because of these two. But that's them. (Or is it they? I think I broke a grammar rule.)

Three Stories

1. When I brought Rowan to school this morning, he asked me, "Want to see a miracle?" He pointed me down the hallway, so I walked down, trying to find the miracle. Rolls of paper? No. Poster? No. Clean bathroom? No--well, maybe. I looked back at him, and he had the cutest smile on his face, sort of impish, and he pointed, saying, "Up there."

I looked up, and hanging from the ceiling all the way down the hall were green bags made of papier mache, I think. He told me, "Those are chrysalis." The school does a butterfly project in the younger grades every fall, and his grade made these miracles.

2. After I dropped my cat off at the vet this morning to get her teeth cleaned, I turned left onto Elm Creek Boulevard. As I turned, a spider dropped next to my face, hanging from its thread. Inside the car. Now understand, I want to get this shirt: that's how I feel about spiders. I finished the turn trying to kill the spider without killing me.

3. Dominic requested grilled cheese with tomato soup for dinner. I told him we didn't have tomato soup, and he said, "You can make it. Just get a tomato, drop it in a pan, then stir it. Tomato soup."