It's that time of year: the kids' three different school calendars are closing out, one by one. Mali's last day was Friday, Leo's last day is today, and Iz's last day is Thursday. We no longer have a kindergartner, and never will again. *Sob*. The smaller people in this house protest going to sleep while their room is still lit from outside. We held Leelo's transitional IEP for the school he'll start attending in the Fall. We'll be gleefully piling ten peoples' allotment of camps, vacations, boat trips, weddings, conferences, and book launches onto five peoples' shoulders.
No wonder some of us feel a bit rattled. And so how appropriate that Leelo almost stepped on this enormous western diamondback rattler during our weekend hike:
We've got some fantastic posts up on The Thinking Person's Guide to autism: SLP Jordan Sadler's thoughts on what prognosis means for your child, Jean Winegardner's (Stimey) classic essay The Autism Path, and today's Laura Shumaker anecdote and list of tips about our boys and puberty. We've got essays from Kev Leitch, Kristen Spina, Mike Stanton, Kim Wombles, and many others coming down the pipe. Worth your time. Have a look. Spread the word. Pitch us an essay.
I also wrote an essay for BlogHer on the many ways in which Leelo rocks his iPad. Robert Rummel-Hudson kindly contributed his perspective on iPad/AAC device IRL venn diagramming. Also worth a read, if only for the many many cute videos of Leo kicking iDevice ass. Okay, here's one video:
The girls, meanwhile, are totally addicted to the iPad; we're having to use TimeTimers. But there is much non-app fun happening. Here's our girl with the "Zoobo" hands and feet she developed so that she can tap on big peoples' shoulders. A preview of the kind of creativity and verve I hope all our kids get to revel in this summer.
Witnessing the iPad making such a difference in your family is inspiring. It's inspiring for technology, and for the children who benefit. Thank you for taking the time to write, to document on BlogHer, and for the video of the results.
ReplyDeleteHow in the name of $deity$ did you have the presence of mind to photograph Crotalus (I think it was probably C. oreganus oreganus)?...
ReplyDeleteUnless that was a file photo.
In my family we refer to them as snattlerakes in order not to draw their attention...
Thanks Lorraine. Leo is an inspiring boy!
ReplyDeleteLiz, that is the actual snake (under my shadow), which I felt safe snapping as it was slithering away from us. I was taking pix for a social story book about our weekly hikes, so our camera was already at the ready.