It's a bouncing baby squirrel!

Our little squirrel's all grown up, with two babies of her own! She poked her head out of her house this evening and we all were staring at her when another head popped out. Then another! Then she got out on the top of the house below and dragged one of her babies out and carried him in her mouth, and jumped with him into the trees. The other one waited in the house with his head poking out. I'll see if I can get any pictures in the coming days.

School on an Angry Planet

This is school for many children on the autism spectrum.

Imagine being in a world where the gravity isn't right. Somedays you can't make out whether your feet are on the ground. The clothes in this world feel like sandpaper, but sometimes if you wear them tight enough, you can be relatively comfortable. Sometimes you make mistakes on this strange planet because the culture doesn't make sense to you. The life forms you meet think that since you look like them, and seem to come from the same place that you should act like them as well. I mean you don't actually bang your head or anything, and you say smart stuff that they seem to understand. But sometimes you stand too close, or talk too long, or move around in a way that seems strange to them.

You are told that you must play with them. Play with as many of them as possible, even if you feel safer alone. It's called mainstreaming. It's very important to the educational establishment on this planet. But when you play, they touch you when you don't expect it, with their sandpaper hands. Maybe if you make the rules, you would know what to expect. Then they call you bossy. And that you stand too close. Or say funny things. The other kids don't want to play with you anymore.

Some of them tease you. They tell you it's okay to take your pants off in public, because they can tell that you don't know the rules. You do what they say, you're supposed to play with them after all. Then everyone laughs and you think you're the life of the party, for a brief time.

Everyones laughs too loud. They talk too loud. The lights are even loud. Everyone runs around with bullhorns and it hurts your ears when they speak. Sometimes when they get angry with you (and it happens a lot but you don't know why) they get even louder and then you think they might kill you. Especially when you do things like hit someone for making you hurt, or taking your pants off in the cafeteria. You really believe they might kill you. Sometimes people have said "I could just kill you". Then when they grab you with their sandpaper hands, it really hurts. And the world swirls around you. And you feel sick. And you have no control, and you feel so afraid, because on this strange planet when you get upset and you don't understand, you get that fight or flight feeling and it's so hard to make it stop.

On this planet when you feel like people are going to kill you, you are supposed to stay calm. But it's really hard. It's like someone is pushing your head under the water and they can't hear you struggle and scream. You don't know if they will ever let you go, you need to breathe, you are drowning. Calm down. Don't panic. Other kids are swimming. You might scare them if you scream and fight.

Sometimes these grown-ups at school sound very calm when they are angry. Sometimes they get very loud when they are happy. You can't tell when people are being nice anymore. You kind of have your mom and dad figured out. And your home feels very safe. You're not an alien there. But here, it's hard to know when they are really trying to hurt you. So sometimes you try to defend yourself. Maybe grab a paddle, or push somebody, or try to run. Sometimes they catch you. Sometimes they cuff you. Sometimes they put you in jail for kids.

They don't find you a safe, private place to go to get used to this planet before immersing you in it. They won't give you time to learn the language before they expected you to speak it. They don't take the great amount of time that is needed to teach you the rules before they charge you with breaking them. They never ask you if you like being hugged before they do it. You're just supposed to like being hugged around here. They never take the time to find out that pushing you into a corner makes you feel like you're in a cage and that you have to fight and escape. They do this a lot.

They say you have no respect for authority. So they don't really want to help you. Well, not until the paperwork comes in and says that you are officially from another planet. It has to be a planet that is in their solar system. Then they have rules about how to treat your species.

Most of the time you are the only person from your planet. Your planet is named after you. It is you. But that would mean you were an individual. Schools don't have rulebooks for individuals. You try to tell them who you are. Even though you have a hard time with their language. You use signs and behaviors to communicate. These behaviors can get you in trouble sometimes. Because they are extreme. You are extreme. You hear people talking about you, and studying you, and questioning you, and reprimanding you. And you practically live in the office.

Nothing makes sense. Most of the time you just want your mom. Hopefully, she's not mad at you for all the things you've done.

Boy with PDD Handcuffed and Charged.

Here is a story about a child with Pervasive Developmental Disorder being handcuffed and charged with assault and various misdemeanors. He's 9.

They were crowding this kid. The behavior he was displaying usually draws a crowd. Crowds make these kids panic. When an autistic kid panics, he can become aggressive. An autistic kid's aggression causes other people to be afraid. Now he is charged with "inducing panic"- which is a felony in his area.

He's not going to "learn to be normal" by being tried in a juvenile court. It's not going to scare him into behaving. You can't spank out a neurological condition. Trying him won't keep it from happening again, and it won't educate a single person about autism. They'll just keep trying to mainstream these kids, and it will be very traumatic for many of them.

The fact is that they can learn, and mature, and grow up to be relatively normal people. Some of these kids will grow up to be extraordinary people. But they have to be helped in a one-on-one way. The schools need to learn this.

School is such a scary place for these kids, and there are more of them every day. My heart goes out to this mom and her son. I know there are people out there who think she's making excuses for her son, but if people could spend a day inside the head of these children, and feel what they do, they would understand. Recess is so hard for them. Sitting still in a chair is torture. Being out of the safe environment of home can send them into a panic that seems so out of proportion to the actual situation. I have said all of the things she's quoted as saying. I just want to send her a hug. I want the world to understand her son, and make a safe private place for him to learn when she has to work.

Tuckaleechee Caverns

Today we took a little field trip. Josie thinks she's a tour guide. A very loud tour guide. " Look everyone! That's a bacon formation. Look! Soda straws! It's cold! Just rub your arms like this and you'll warm up! Hey! Doesn't that look like a cat!? See Smurf Village?! Oh! I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared! That's a big drop! It really is a big drop!" On and on.

Here's me: "Josie, shhh. You can tell her that later. We're not telling stories today. Stay with me. Get off that. Shhh. Jake. Come. Here. Stand here here here. Look at my finger. See where I'm pointing? Just stand next to her for the picture. Here. Here. Good. Whoops, I know. It's slippery. Just get up. No you don't have to cry. Okay, say 'Cheese'."

"Why do I always have to stand on the left?!! Jake always gets the right! OWWWW-WUH! HE PINCHED ME!!!"

"Okay, Josie just stand on the right then. Shhhh. Jake don't pinch. Smile. click!"

I was kind of expecting the tour guide to say "Watch your step here. Okay. Can I have your attention? Up there is what we like to call Smurf Village. What you see here is brimstone. Over there is fire. We like to call this place we're standing the third ring of Hell. If your under ten years old raise your hand. Okay. Here's your red hot poker. Feel free to dance around your parents in a maniacal and menacing way. Parents, don't step too far off the path, that's the fourth ring of Hell down there. It's a four hundred foot drop, and the kids down there drink nothing but caffiene and red food dye."

Afterward we went to a restaraunt in Alcoa and had some great fish. I had half a margarita and then made the waitress take it away. I'll laugh about it later.

August So Far

Well the month is almost over, and I decided to go over the work the kids have done, and list the things we did, and any interesting things that happened on the start of our educational journey. To start, I paid fifty dollars and became a legal private school teacher in Tennessee. That's what I did. Here's a summary of what the kids did:

Josie read 17 books or magazines

Jake read 15 books

Josie got a penpal

Jake wrote a letter to grandma

Josie wrote a letter to some friends and one to grandma

Read 17 chapters of despreaux

Jake did 11 pages of math plus a placement test , has a clear understanding of math concepts for 2nd grade

Josie did 9 pages of math plus a placement test, there were a lot of problems to solve on each page and she handled this well. She has a good understanding of these math concepts (rounding to the nearest 10th, and 100th. Reversing a sum to come up with the difference. Adding and carrying the one) This is review from last year.

Jake has done a handwriting worksheet for every day he didn't write a letter.

Josie is practicing writing in cursive and her handwriting is nice.

We learned about human evolution. We learned about the skeleton, the muscles, the organs. Learned about digestion and the role of the pancreas. Began assembling the Visible Woman. Went to Atlanta to see the body exhibit, viewed black lungs, a baby at all stages of fetal development, handled a rubberized brain, liver and gall bladder. Saw the circulatory system suspended in water.

Played with friends at least three times a week.

Went to Cades Cove, the Cove Park, to the library twice, to the post office where they mailed the letters themselves and purchased stamps from the machine, to the vet twice, learned to sing Love Me Tender, and A Fool Such as I, discovered Josie shares musical taste with her dad, while Jake tends to like the kind of music I do.

Josie designed art for book bags

Jake made up a story and drew a picture to go with it (this is big for him).

They learned to make pizza on their own

Josie captured a cicada killer and fed it grasshoppers. It died. Caught fish in cades cove three weeks ago and of four two are still alive and thriving, oxygenates their water every night by passing it from cup to cup and pouring it back in.

Bought a microscope and learned how to use it.

Mad Libs

For physical education learned the tortoise and the hare, the bear walk, the frog sit, the inchworm, the crab walk, the wheelbarrow, the gorilla walk, and the russian hop from hell. Riding scooters with our friends. Swimming.

Don't get me wrong. We watched a lot of TV, and I surfed the web a lot. We did cut down on the Playstation. But it's just so interesting how much kids do and learn that you miss if you don't keep track. We never sat down and did schoolwork on paper for more than 2 hours at a time. Often we would do worksheets after dinner, and reading at bedtime. They have accomplished all of this in 28 days. Not all of these days were spent "schooling" either. Yep. So far it's working out just fine.

BEWARE!

A little tidbit about my kids. They are allergic to the outdoors. Well, not entirely allergic. They only seem to swell up with the hives and burst into trembling fits of drama if I suggest that they play outside. Today, I demanded that they play outside. I should have had my phone set for the suicide hotline (or the daytime emmy nominating committee), because demanding they play outside poses risks more incredible than I could even imagine.

"Mahahahahmeeee! I don't wahahn't to plaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy on the swihinghinghingset, cause Nellie poohoohoopt by it-uh!"
(So she had to get two bags and clean it up herself.)
"You just wahahant me to bahaahaarf! You haaaattte meeee-uh!"
(Then she cleaned it up.)
She sat next to me bawling. I was telling her that we just had to get outside for a bit, get some vitamin D.
"I Haaaaatttee vitamin D!"
So I launched into one of my little lectures about whining, and learning how to express yourself in a way that will get what you want, and how it's good for kids to get outdoors daily.....
"Mom! Stop Talking! The mosquitos are coming! And they're attracted to CAR-BON-DEE-OX-IDE!"
The kid literally had tears on her neck from crying so hard about having to play outside. I almost fell out of my chair laughing. Such a cruel mama.
Anyway, a minute later a monarch landed on our butterfly bush and all was right with the world. They even ventured outside of the chain link fence to view it and forgot about the war zone they were in. Children are so resilient.

Today's Activities

Today I had Jake do some creative writing for me. He loves Dragonball Z, so I asked him to write me a little something using some of the characters. He sat right down and started drawing and writing. He has some trouble with spacing, and he was under the impression that every time he hit the right margin he was supposed to separate the word with a hyphen. He moved an "s" all by itself to the next line. But notice he did use the apostrophe correctly. Here's the story with mispellings included:

Broly Fighting Goku

Once Broly fought Goku. Broly's gigantic medeor deflected back to Broly by 3 Ka ma ma waves.

Josie drew these designs so that we could print them up on some tote bags. We'll use these to carry library books. Notice the one she made for Jake has "U.S.A." written on the side of the helicopter. She drew that backwards and reversed so that we could print it on to the transfer properly. I did not tell her to do this. I didn't even know what she intended to do with these drawings she made until she told me. Anyway, they both got to iron them on by themselves.

We've been reading Despreaux and the kids really like it. It's kind of dark in some places.

Jake did two pretty difficult pages of math today. He likes to hit himself in the head when he's frustrated, but he laughs when he does this.

So far this week they have completed a lot of work on their visible woman, and read a lot about the human body from our book. We have also played with friends, and Josie tried to ride Rain's bike at OT today. We discovered she still has a lot of hurdles to overcome with balance and knowing where her body is in space.

Carnivores and Pizza

Here's a life skills lesson. The kids made pizza for the family. I tried to stay out of it. I basically just opened the packages for them. I also put them in the oven.

Josie used olives for the crossed eyes and freckles.

This is called a cicada killer. That's really it's common name. It's huge! As big as my thumb. He's dining on a half-dead juicy cricket that came from a connecting compartment. Josie has stocked this compartment with bugs and they travel up a channel only to discover a giant bent on stinging and eating them. Nice, huh? I seem to remember crying about these things as a child. I had a friend Johnny who liked to pull the heads and abdomens off of ants to make little red spiders. This really troubled me. Now my daughter sets up insect death matches and I just think it's so endearing.

I also bought them some carniverous plants and we learned to care for them.



Subjects: One page of math, visible woman (brain and nervous system), handwriting, science (botany), swimming, bike riding, scooter, and played with a friend.

Nanny's Birthday

It was Nanny's birthday today, she turned 87. She got to wear a zinnia behind her ear because she was the guest of honor. She walks with a little cane that has four feet on the end of it so she can keep steady. Josie made this card for her. The flowers "grow" when you push the tabs up through the card. To me it is more than cute. It's that kind of extreme cute that makes me feel a little teary.

Liquids on Planes

I just had a thought while I was reading the story about the crazy woman that caused that plane to be diverted. Isn't urine a liquid? If mixed with an explosive powder would it combust? Could a terrorist blow up an plane this way? Hmmmm.

August 17th

Started with all the exercises. Went to OT, then the park. Jake rode his bike and scooter. Josie just rode her scooter, her bike's too small now. She never rode it either. Waited until after dinner to do math, reading, science. They wrote letters too and mailed them.

Got More Books

National Parks Coloring Book. Very detailed, she's coloring it with pencils. What Happens to a Hamburger, a book about digestion. And Eyewitness Medicine. Just ordered the Human Anatomy Coloring Book. I may end up doing that one instead of surfing the web at night.

Tuesday August 15th

Did a page of math in the workbook. Wrote letters to people (you'll know who you are in a couple of days). Learned about diabetes and the digestive process.

First Tests

I gathered together some practice tests for the kids to do this morning so that I could see where they were academically. They covered spelling, reading comprehension, synonyms, and finding words to fit the context of a sentence. They both flew throught this portion of tests. Jake for grade 2, Josie for grade 3. So I think I'll test them in math skills tomorrow. I believe we can handle most of our language skills through reading in the afternoons, but I want them to know how to take a test. We also covered the process of elimination, going with your first guess, and what is fact and opinion. Side note: we found a spelling mistake in the instructions on Jake's test. Descibe.

MicroBiology

I don't know if I should even tell you what this is. It's not mine, that's for sure. But you can't get between a little girl and her curiousity. My friend "Dharma" brought over her daughter "Rain" and Rain would like to be a biologist someday. We spent the good part of the afternoon playing with the microscope. We looked at fly innards, a mushroom from the yard (it really had things swimming in it), dog hair, a beetle's wing, some fungus, an ant we killed with some mosquito repellant and Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (cause it seemed stinky and poisonous and she promised she wouldn't lick her fingers), a paper towel, and some spores from a very rotten apple. It was all very enlightening and fun.

Too Many Choices

I can get pretty easily overwhelmed when I'm introduced to too many choices. I get that where- do- I- start feeling. Lately I've been avoiding the grocery store like a plague. If I have to go in, I try to get in and out as fast as I can. I used to think it was because the crowds annoyed me. But I'm beginning to think that I'm more of a corner market sort of girl. I think my Food City could be about one fifth of it's current size and I would be happy. See, if I want Cheerios, I get Cheerios. Usually Honey Nut, or Original. Of course now you can get Triple Berry, Chocolate, Yogurt Burst, Frosted, Multi-Grain, Apple Cinnamon, Berry Burst Strawberry, or Team Cheerios. Or if I think I might like some wheat thins, I get wheat thins. But then in the cracker aisle I look up and wonder, well should I have Low Sodium, Reduced Fat, Harvest Five-Grain, Multi-Grain, Honey Ranch, Big, Baked, or Harvest Garden Vegetable? Don't even get me started in the cookie aisle. Let's just look at Oreos. There's Double Stuff, Fudge Dipped, White Chocolate Dipped, Mint Creme, Coffee and Creme, Mini, Chocolate and Peanut Butter, Uh-Oh, and Reduced Fat. You can also get them in bar form. And how many cereals do we really need? All of the actual food in the store is pushed out around the perimeter, all the aisles are just packed with endless varieties of processed crap. Not sayin' I don't like the flavor of that stuff, but just hearing my kids beg for it makes me insane. "Noooooooooo Mama! I wanted the Mirror Lucky Charms!" "I wanted the Mint Chocolate Chip Pop-Tarts! Not the Fudge Fudge! I don't like the Berry kind!" Blahblahblahblah! Remember what pop tarts used to look like? You had blueberry, cherry, and strawberry. No frosting. You cooked them in the toaster and put butter on them. OOO. Salty and sweet. Anyway, just sayin.

Farook Mahommed's Day Off

Since when have you been able to get 11 people together, on the fly, to ditch class? In a gigantic city that is foreign to you? And miss your flight to Montana to do it? Oh, and risk being deported by the authorities? Wow, these Egyptian college kids really know how to plan a party. I think it must have been number 10 that planned it all. He's got that hunka hunka burnin' look about him. He wanted to do the whole lip-sync- on- the- parade- float thing. Of course they were all pretty bummed when they found out that they couldn't pretend to float 100 stories up in the observation deck at the World Trade Center. Just some things you can't do anymore in New York City.

Update: I want to hear the whole story.

Ultrasounds and Autism

I'm beginning to think that the theory that immunizations may cause autism because of toxic preservatives is flawed because there were toxic preservatives in the vaccines of my generation the previous generation and they don't have the high rates of autism we see in children today. But ulstrasounds are being used way more often now, right?

Anyway, the autistic brain has very poor long distance neural connections, although each individual section of their brain may have many more short connections than a normal brain, which explains the sensory integration problems, and how reason, emotion, touch, coordination, language etc. are not integrated with each other.

A good study would test the rates of ADD, ADHD, and autistic spectrum disorders in children never exposed to ultrasound, and compare it to normal exposure, then to children who were exposed to ultrasound very often.

Here's some information on Sensory Integration Dysfunction to explain why school is so difficult for these kids, and why we go to OT. The article never mentions how children's sensory issues can change daily. For example, some days a kid could be very bothered by crowds and chaos that wouldn't trouble them at all on another. It's very hard to pin down, because it is a very inconsistent condition. I also think the idea of putting your kid in a study carrel in the back of the room with headphones on and eliminating recess and gym sort of defeats the whole purpose of mainstreaming special needs kids for socialization. And if you're going to be alone all day anyway, why school? Or at least, why go to school before you have all the occupational therapies you need to better cope?

Flat Squirrell Part 3

The Visible Woman

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Science and Stuff

Today we went out to Sevierville in the new Jeep. We went to a hobby store out there because no Knoxville hobby stores seem to have models of animals for Josie to assemble and paint. We didn't find any animals out there either, but I did get a Visible Woman. So we'll put her together soon. We also went to Toys R Us to look for models, found none, but got a microscope for $20. We got it home and looked at rat hairs, fly wings, finger prints made with paint, leaves, and some teeny bug I smooshed.

We also decided that it is time to shave the dog. So I will post pix of that soon.

Science, following directions.

Today's Lessons

Josie's mood improved so much after vigorous exercise. We added some deep breathing, led by Jake, and some stretching. Once again we did the Bear, the Inchworm, the dreaded Russian Hop, the impossible Frog Sit, the Crabwalk, the Ape walk, and the Tortoise and Hare. The only exercise I can't do is the wheelbarrow. I tried Josie on my right foot and Jake on my left. There was a lot of stumbling and hooting, then a big crash.

We studied a bit more about the brain today, especially the associative parts of the brain. They control our language and communication. I talked with them about how a baby's cry really tells us very little, and how good it is that we have language as we get older so that we can express precisely what we need. The associative part of the brain also helps us to communicate our culture to our children. We talked about what centers of the brain we were using while we did our reading and our exercising.

There was also a bit of discussion about why humans are so highly evolved. The book we were reading theorized that humans became so advanced because they had to use their brains to survive in difficult environments like the African savanna. That our brains needed to become more complex in order to craft tools, hunt and find food and protect ourselves from predators. I thought about this a minute and wondered then why so many animals with much smaller brains and bodies as vulnerable as ours have managed to survive for so many millions of years without developing human intelligence. Meerkats, giraffes, zebras, etc. have survived just fine on the savanna without tools or spoken language. I told the kids that we were smart because God made us that way. That we love in a way that animals don't (might be an exception here for dogs, being that they come straight from heaven), that the reason we are so smart is that we're made to share that love. That perhaps we are not animals at all, but something different.

Then we worked on our word searches. It was a very short schooling session today, but I think there will be days that they are open to learning more.

Next week we're going with some friends to Atlanta to see the "Body" exhibit.

Reading and Comprehension, physical education, science, handwriting.

Word Searches

Our OT wants us to work on making word searches. It's a fun way to work on fine motor skills and to help them plan. I'm sure she can tell me all the other reasons why this is a helpful exercise. All I know for sure is that I have a little boy who needs a lot of help in this area.


This is Josie's word search. She made the chart herself. We're supposed to try it without charts.
But it is more complex than what I expected, and she did pretty well.

Jake's word search after I made him a chart to go by. He forgot to put the word "hole" in.

This is Jake's first attempt. Look carefully. Can you find the words "rat", "key", "car", and "hole"? Sheesh.

Now, I am a pretty good portrait artist, which I do believe takes some skills. I can also play the guitar fairly well, and my handwriting is pretty if I do say so myself. When I was 7, I totally sucked in all of these areas, and my parents can attest to all of the milk I spilled and all of the food that had to be cleaned from my shirts. So I think we can cut the boy some slack, if he wants to work on it, he will improve. No one's asking him to design a rollercoaster. thank god.

Moods

I guess I could use this journal to keep track of someone's little mood swings so I know what to expect. Yesterday was an exceptionally good day. Lot's of exercise and play, and schooltime was pleasant . She played with her friends for a good long time in the pool with no conflicts pretending to be a superhero. Today she wants to lay on the floor, and the little tears dripping over her nose. And everybody hates her because she can't do what she wants. So I brush her hair and she doesn't scream. I get the rat's nest out that followed her home from Indiana, so gently. She can play a game on the computer then have lunch. Maybe then we can all pick up where we left off yesterday.

Ratty Yin-Yang

HMMMM

My daughter, who supposedly hates to write so much that they were checking her for dysgraphia, has just done 5 Mad Libs with me, and wrote a three page story poking fun at her brother in her diary. It's all about the "wanting".

Individualized Attention

I think most kids with problems in school just need individual attention, which is understandibly in short supply at any large school.

We started out by doing different exercises. The Bearwalk, the Inchworm, the Crabwalk, the Wheelbarrow, the Russian Hop (OMG I thought I was going to die), the Frog Sit -make sure you put a pillow on the floor in case you fall on your face, you have to balance on just your hands while resting your knees on your elbows( Not for those of us with boobs.)

Next we sat down and learned about the evolution of human teeth, brains, and eyes. They wrote and defined the words stereoscopic, canine, cerebellum, cerebrum, and cortex. Both of them were excited to try writing the words and definitions without my help. Jake did surprisingly well on his spelling. One thing they have a hard time with is spacing their words, so I had them go over each others work and critique it with a red pen. I know, not very "unschooly" but we were having fun with it and they were having a great time showing off for me.

Jake tried to write some of his definitions in cursive, and he got out the dry erase practice board that has all of the cursive letters on it so that he could copy off of that.

Josie had to stop at one point and check to make sure she didn't have a papercut on her nose, which sould have been a disruption in school I'm sure. "Mrs. Teacher! I have a papercut on my nose!!! I have to get some ICE!" Then she would have gotten some kind of mark for disrupting the class, and it would have been written in a little folder for me to sign, then it would have been discussed at an m-team meeting. These little "outbursts" as they liked to call them would happen quite often in a day, so it was very disruptive to the class. We just got her a little ice, then she decided she didn't have a cut after all. After that she sat down and wrote her definitions.

They both decided that they wanted to use their notebooks as diaries. I explained to Jake that a diary was like a private blog on paper. Funny. I had to learn that a blog was like an online diary. So now we will keep our definitions on regular notebook paper and store them in folders.

Handwriting, Science, Journaling, Physical Education