G’s Place

for Autism Awareness month (sorry Bri it’s sorta faspie)

This semester is over in two weeks, so I have two huge papers looming. I think I can write on close to the same subject, so hopefully that will help.

My big pre-GA project at work is almost over - my last deliverables are next week. Then the fun of turning it into steady-state training happens. Since I have been managing the project from the start, I have tried to make the learning objects as reusable as I could. It’s a little difficult since the pre-GA training is only differences training, and of course some things in pre-GA may get resolved. I think the assets I created for each learning module (there are 2) are pretty reusable…so hopefully the development effort won’t be too painful. Also, there may be a trip to ATL which means I’ll get to see my bigmama.

This summer I am taking a class called “Designing Content for Online Collaborative Learning”. I am really excited for that !! In the fall I am taking the last of my core classes: “Intro to  Distance Learning” and “Intro to Systematic Instructional Design”. I actually think I have  one more intro class - an Inquiry and Measurement course. At any rate, I need 12 classes, and after this semester I will have 3 done. Turtle’s pace, but I’m getting there!

Brianna got a letter that she’s graduating with honors in May. YES!!! Now she needs to find a job. If you are in Boston and looking for a quiet, smart, hardworking research assistant, I have a great candidate for you.

Kenny is in a frat. Still not sure what I think about that. But he has to keep a 3.0 to stay in, and they make him perform community service. I like that. The two guys I met that are his “brothers” seemed very nice. It’s just weird to me.

We had our first Parents of teens and young adults with Asperger’s Syndrome meeting - didn’t get a huge turnout but we’ll keep trying.

I read a good post about how to blog, and that post recommended asking questions. So here goes - is anyone else out there in a very demanding job and in grad school at the same time? Do you feel like you are insane at the end of the semester? Do you just break down and clean because you have to let things go in order to get your work and school work done?

Here are my blurbs for autism month:

We are having our first parent support meeting in Hopedale MA. It’s for parents of teens and young adults with Asperger’s. We are affiliated with the Asperger’s Association of New England. Our first meeting is April 2 from 6:30 - 8:30 PM at the Hopedale library. Feel free to email me if you have any questions - or just show up!

There is an awesome article written by a woman who is a manager at CNN, and also aspie.

Bev has posted a great awareness video.

And my (not-so) little aspie will be graduating from college with honors.

!!!!

I don’t know if he is….but his interview with a girly-tech reporter sure makes it look like he may be. She asks him questions, he responds with one-word answers, she thinks he’s responding one way and all the geeks in the room (and watching online now) know he’s not responding they way she thinks he is.

People who aren’t geeks shouldn’t be allowed to be the filter for geek news.

And if he is aspie - how does he deal with the cameras constantly clicking?

This post is from a psychology professor who is making his students blog (cool). The prof also focuses on Asperger’s Syndrome.

So he makes is abnormal psych (WHY IS IT CALLED THAT!!) read John Elder Robison’s book, and also blog about it. Well, John has been responding to some of the blog posts. How cool - you are in college, evaluating a book, and the author responds to what you think of his work.

In a bigger sense, you have an aspie responding to what future psychologists (who will no doubt work with other “aspergians”) think about his idea of how the world is. THAT is way cool.

I should be working on my needs analysis paper (it’s for AANE…) but I just don’t wanna……bleh!!!

I am going to write a paper based on AANE, so I am getting info from their site, and it has been redone..and it looks really nice. They have a great video about the organization here.

Check out their online support groups, look for a social skills or support group, or  consider becoming a member (well worth it!).

Or just donate!

So, bri calls me about an email she got from a professor. The prof has dropped her grade a letter and is threatening to drop her from the class because he says she has missed class “no less than four times”.

Bri says she has never missed class - she was late once and apologized ( to which the prof said it was ok).  She has turned in all her work. She disclosed to him one day, based on things he said they were going to be expected to do.

Ok, her disclosing in itself is a HUGE deal. Two years ago, she would have talked to me for an hour and a half before she let me know why she was upset, and then would have firmly resisted just explaining to the prof about her concerns. Nowadays, she just goes up and says, listen I have Asperger’s Syndrome, the best way I can explain it is it’s a mild form of autism, and because of that it is going to be hard for me to _______________ (<–fill in some sort of social interaction here).  I am SO happy she is able to advocate for herself a bit.

I’m hoping it’s a misunderstanding. I’m hoping the professor (ok, he is a visiting author) is just confused. Or, maybe bri is supposed to be doing something and she has missed it. Still confusion.

I got her to email the prof back, saying basically wtf ??? Until she hears back, I am going to be riled up. I am trying to learn that she has to do it….I just don’t understand why she doesn’t get mad about it. She has internalized it - so that is where I am focusing my energy that is coming from my anger.

She is like, well I don’t talk alot…everyone else knows each other in the class, and  are very social. Maybe that makes me invisible. Is that why I am always invisible to people.

To which I say oh HELL no….you are paying to be in this class, he has no right to just ignore you!! It’s his job to draw you out, and help you develop your craft. (I have said on here how bri’s Aspie “THING” is stories haven’t I???) God how do I keep her from thinking this is something she did “wrong” or “bad”? And who the hell is this man to make my daughter feel that way?

So, the way I see it, my lesson is to hold back, support her, let her handle it. SO SO HARD!! Her lesson is to not let people push her aside and demean her because she is quiet, shy and different. Jeez I wish she would raise a little hell!!

I go back and read some of Bev’s posts  @ Asperger’s Square 8, and it upsets me so much to realize how much bridge-building work needs to be done.  I read about how web 2.0 instruction is bringing together Aspies (John Elder Robison to be specific) and Psychology students…that is fantastic. I think challenging how future educators and psychologists are being taught is the only way to start building those bridges.

Bri, if you read this…there ain’t nothing wrong with you. It’s the prof. You have to stick up for yourself a bit though!!  I love you, I know some of that gene is inside you, let it out!!!

I am listening to a podcast about Nikola Tesla , who most likely had a form of autism. We would not have electricity as we now know it if it were not for his genius. He was a proponent of AC power, and Edison was bought into DC power. The podcast is really good if you don’t know anything about Tesla.

So of course I started to look for some information about Tesla, and ran across an article entitled Autism and the Internet or It’s the Wiring, Stupid

It is a fantastic article - it ends by saying “NT is only one way to be”.

It’s going to be associated with Sacred Heart by the sounds of this article. Of course, the article has lots of bad, fear-mongering quotes….be forewarned.

It looks like the center will focus its support on children. But at least its a start.

Go see the new bumper sticker on Asperger Square 8.

Related stories here and here.