Little bits of this and that

I have been neglecting my blog. Lots of things have happened, including my taking a short consulting gig that took me out of town several weeks (not all in a row).

David has started going to a new school, New Vista, in south county. He is doing mostly very well. The school is private, and it focuses on high-functioning autistic kids. These are the ones who can do well academically; but, without social intervention, would not be able to hold a job. In addition to academics (the English teacher informed us on our pre-sign-up visit, that she teaches all twelve tenses; to which I responded, "Pluperfect, huh," just to let her know ... :-), they have a heavy focus on socialization. This summer, David will be going to summer school that is focused, with some local employers, on job experience. I am anxious to see how he will do.

Michael continues to be Michael. He has made some progress in school - speaking of tenses, he now occasionally uses past tense, and seems to understand it, at least a little - and he (drum roll, please!) won Student of the Year at his school. I sat in at his last IEP. Our biggest issue with Michael is his need for one-on-one supervision, for the safety of himself and others. If he cannot get past this - and it does not look promising, although we continue to work at it - he will always live a confined life.

Michael is going back to camp this year. He has been talking about camp for the last couple of months - since May I think. He writes about it frequently in his diary. We are working on the social story that goes with it, emphasizing the wait in the airport once we clear security. He does pretty well though security. But last year, we were almost not allowed on the plane, because he got so anxious he threw a temper tantrum when the place was not there. And he is 6'3" and almost 200 lbs. This year, in addition to the prep, I am planning on giving him chlonidine - one on the way, and one once we are there. It will make him very sleepy, but that is much better than risking not getting on the plane.

So ... those are the quick updates.

 Last year, Marc and David accompanied Michael and me on our trip - we rented a home in nearby Georgetown. David had a great time, hiking with us and getting out on his own in town. He even - according to him - advised the owner of the local bookstore on why he had out was effectively miscategorized, and should be "over there" with a different set of material.